Yves Saint Laurent Faux Tortoise Shell Lucite Belt/Necklace
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Length: 37 in (939.8 mm)
- Style:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:c.1970
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Sharon, CT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3238219306262
Yves Saint Laurent
French designer Yves Saint Laurent pioneered “cross-design” in fashion, taking inspiration from street trends to modernize haute couture.
Saint Laurent was the first to launch a ready-to-wear label, YSL Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter. He was the first couturier to open boutiques for both men and women. Using traditional menswear fabrics and designs for women, Saint Laurent also literally cross-dressed, giving men and women alike chic pant suits, elegant tuxedo jackets and urban safari gear.
By blurring gender-specific design, Saint Laurent empowered individual style while creating a scissor-sharp fashion aesthetic of sensual ease and beauty. Many of his designs are today considered timeless classics. Saint Laurent also consistently used Black models, like Mounia, Iman and Naomi Campbell, and he drew endless inspiration from different ethnicities and cultures, in no small part because of his Algerian roots.
Born to French parents in Oran, Algeria, in 1936, Saint Laurent went to Paris at age 17 to study fashion at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Just two years later, in 1955, his remarkable sketches were shown to Christian Dior, then the world’s reigning couturier, who hired him immediately.
Surprisingly soon thereafter, Dior publicly chose Saint Laurent as his successor, which sadly proved prescient when the fashion legend died unexpectedly, in 1957. A mere slip of a youth, the 21-year-old Saint Laurent was nevertheless up to the challenge. He shook the traditional couture clientele to its core with youthful silhouettes and styles like the A-line trapeze dress that hung with seeming effortlessness from the shoulders, the antithesis of the pinched waists and molded skirts that had been all the rage after the deprivations of World War II.
After a mandated spell in the torturous French military, Saint Laurent suffered a nervous breakdown and was dismissed by Dior in 1962. Out of the ashes rose the Age of Yves. With Pierre Bergé, his then-lover who became his lifelong business partner and friend, the designer founded Yves Saint Laurent YSL to encompass prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear. In 1966, they opened the first YSL Rive Gauche women’s boutique in Paris, followed soon thereafter by YSL Rive Gauche for men. Saint Laurent had given birth to a global brand.
His revolutionary Mondrian mini dress from 1965 is a core element of his fashion biography. It is a prime example of how Saint Laurent, an avid art lover and collector, looked to painters, from Goya to Picasso, Ingres to Matisse, for inspiration.
With its pure lines and hues, Mondrian’s ground-breaking 1935 color-block painting Composition C transmutes beautifully into a dress that is highly valued by collectors of contemporary fashion and widely copied commercially to this day. The design is the epitome of Saint Laurent’s aesthetic, requiring a meticulous hand-piecing of each color block so that, despite the body’s curves, the visual plane is as flat as a canvas when the garment is worn. Mondrian’s purity met its match in Saint Laurent.
“I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style,” Saint Laurent said four years before retiring, in 2002. After a long period of ill health, he died at his home in Paris on June 1, 2008.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Yves Saint Laurent evening dresses, shirts, handbags and other clothing and accessories today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Sharon, CT
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Elsa Schiaparelli BraceletBy Elsa SchiaparelliLocated in Sharon, CTPebble shaped clear crystal over gold nuggets connected with smaller matte gold pebble shaped beads- all out of a resin material. Safety clasp with mirroring arabesque shaped conne...Category
Vintage 1950s French Modernist Link Bracelets
- Ted Muehling Twig & Pod 18K Gold Plated Brooch & EarringsBy Ted MuehlingLocated in Sharon, CTForm, proportion and balance, all come together with Meuhlings' imaginative approach to natural organic form to create a highly original style. This vintage 'twig and pod' brooch an...Category
Vintage 1970s American Contemporary Hoop Earrings
Materials24k Gold, Gold Plate
- YSL Yves Saint Laurent Brooch and Earrings SetBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Sharon, CTYves Saint Laurent Brooch and Earrings. Gilt with raised arabesque designs of faux sapphires and emeralds. Brooch diameter 2 1/8", earrings 1 1/4...Category
Vintage 1980s French Modern Brooches
- Pave Set Diamond Flower of Life Pendant in 18k White GoldBy Zahira Fine JewelleryLocated in Bangkok, THOur Flower of Life Pendant is expertly crafted from shimmering 18k white gold and high quality diamonds. This intricate design captures the esse...Category
Early 20th Century Thai Modern Pendant Necklaces
MaterialsDiamond, White Gold
- Lavender Chalcedony Bead Graduated Sweetie Necklace in Yellow GoldBy Susana LangLocated in London, GBHand made using 9 carat Yellow Gold, the suspended Lavender Chalcedony beads are threaded together with a solid gold wire and graduated onto a delicate 1.7 mm cable chain. The lovely soft lilac centre bead is 12 mm in size, 10mm the two following, 8 mm the next, 6 mm the last one, with a little 3 mm yellow gold ball to finish it off. It hangs at about 15 inches. Part of our Sweetie Collection emulating edible candy jewellery...Category
21st Century and Contemporary British Contemporary Beaded Necklaces
MaterialsChalcedony, Yellow Gold
- Pearl and diamonds, necklace by Michelle MassouraBy Michelle Massoura Fine JewelleryLocated in Nicosia, CYOur ‘Petal Pearl Necklace’, features a freshwater petal shaped pearl and is casted from 18Karat Yellow Gold and set with natural diamonds. Each petal pearl is handpicked for its lus...Category
2010s European Contemporary Chain Necklaces
MaterialsDiamond, Pearl, 18k Gold
- Pearl and diamond necklace, 18k Gold by Michelle MassouraBy Michelle Massoura Fine JewelleryLocated in Nicosia, CYDrawing inspiration from the rising foam in the sea, this necklace features a soft curve of five freshwater pearls and is illuminated by glimmering natural diamonds, set on an 18 Kar...Category
2010s European Contemporary Chain Necklaces
MaterialsDiamond, Pearl, 18k Gold
- Rondelle Line, Necklace in white gold diamonds and Black agatheBy TorriniLocated in Firenze, ITRondelle Line is a traditional Line, first created in 1983 and after 40 years still a Must. The small rondelle circles are put togheter one piece at the time. The flexibility is tota...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Chain Necklaces
MaterialsCoral, Diamond, Black Diamond, Emerald, Black Pearl, Natural Pearl, Rock...
- Alana Necklace, 24k GoldBy Angelina AlvarezLocated in BRISBANE CITY, QLDThe Alana necklace features a hand-beaten starfish and is the perfect necklace for weekend wear. Enjoy this one-of-a-kind handmade necklace on your next European getaway or tropical ...Category
2010s Australian Chain Necklaces
Materials24k Gold
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake YSL Bag
Counterfeiters know that savvy fashionistas cherish YSL bags. Learn how to tell if yours is the real deal. Of course, you don't have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where every seller is highly vetted.
Quiet Luxury May Be Trending, but These Famous Interiors Prove That Quality and Quirk Endure
Because truly timeless design requires personal vision, transcendent taste, real fortitude and top-notch objects, even if the wider world hasn’t caught on yet.