1980 s LORIS AZZARO black ruched off the shoulder dress

Stunning black dress designed by Azzedine Alaia as seen on the spring 1990 runway. The dress has a deep V neckline with wide, angled straps and ribbed panels along the sides and cen...

Very rare, jet-black halter style dress designed by Azzedine Alaia dating to 2000 as seen in numerous places including; Karolina Kurkova as photographed in Elle US September 2001 Stephanie Seymour in New York, 2001 and in an editorial and the 2001 Alaia couture...

Black silk cocktail dress with glass shiny buttons on the left side. Invisible zip on the right side. A bit draped on the left side. SIZE 38 (Fr) on tag but fit S

This timeless quintessential corseted, shirred, ruched and topstitched "little black dress" produced by Victor Costa in the 1980s was made for the high standards of New York's trendsetting Bergdorf Goodman. It was the first U.S. luxury department store to order exclusive special-occasion dresses from this Texas designer and subsequently to give him a namesake in-store boutique. He soon became associated with the feminine glamorous gowns worn by "PYT" (Costa-speak for pretty young things) on the Dallas-based television-series "Dynasty", which idealized status-conscious Texan women mostly via fashion. With a strapless curvaceous sweetheart neckline, narrow sinuous folds of crepe silk-blend jersey cross diagonally below the decollete, while contrasting vertical ruching defines the seven bones of the invisible corset structure that is fully lined on the interior. Under the bust in front below the empire-like peaked high waist, the fitted tucked underlay of the cocktail dress wraps around the back to end as an overlay in front, where the opening on the left side extends to the bodice like a discreet slit. The freely hanging bias-cut overlay in front is gathered underneath each breast for a forgiving central drape that adds additional curves to make the wearer's torso underneath appear in sleek condition despite a potentially less than ideal figure. The dress closes with a concealed zipper in the center of the back, with exterior hook-and-eye fastening to narrow the waist. There is a second concealed hook-and-eye fastener at the top of the zipper. Although the only remaining tag is the Costa/Bergdorf label, it is a contemporary U.S.-size 8, which will also suit a large-busted size 6 or a svelte size 10. Now 88 years old, Victor Costa (b.1935) became widely known by the 1980s in The States for perfecting affordable luxurious gowns that could be mistaken for one-of-a-kind flamboyant designs by foreign couturiers Christian Lacroix, Arnold Scaasi, Oscar de la Renta or Valentino Garavani. Early on, the avid female sketcher...