• This dress is from the Spring 2004 Valentino collection
• It was made under the creative direction of the original, Mr. Valentino
• We have included some photos from the Spring 2004 Valentino collection of dresses with similar elements to this one. This is a dress that was produced for the shops and it is absolutely gorgeous.
• The dress is made out of a feather light black silk chiffon and the lightness of this fabric choice creates a soft and romantic feel as it floats over your body.
• The entire dress is cut to allow it to drape beautifully over the body and highlight your curves.
• The bodice is finished with tiny and precise pleats that wrap all the way around to the back. The top of the bodice is gathered into a sweetheart and the back sits on a slight curve to leave the upper back bare and exposed.
• A ruffled panel of black silk chiffon is set along straps that are meant to sit off the shoulder. Once this is on a body, it will sit around the upper arm. I think, depending on the space between the shoulder and bodice you might also be able to wear this on the top of the shoulder.
• The waist is cinched and seamed to follow the curve of the body.
• From there it curves out and over the hips and the panels of chiffon that make up the skirt float around you as the skirt falls to the floor.
• The skirt is a little masterpiece in its own right. It is actually made of a series of panels that are all set in around the waist. They are attached together to just under the hip and sat in a way so that they overlap each other as they fall to the floor.
• Each panel is a long rectangle that widen out to their curved ends. Each of the individual panels are finished with a ruffle of a matching black silk chiffon that runs all the way around the entire panel. I love how the ruffle is smaller near the top of the hip and then also widen out as it circles around the bottom of each panel.
• The panels overlap each other as they curve around you but there is no inner lining. It is the overlapping and the multiple layers of the panels that make it opaque enough to wear.  Besides making it wearable, the separation of the panels once they get past the hip area is what allows the extraordinary amount of movement that the skirt has when you move. 
• The silk chiffon that was used is feather light and the dress is a dream in person.
• The dress is fully lined in a black silk chiffon through the bodice and the skirt is constructed as described above. It closes with a hidden set side zipper.  It is in its original uncut length. I see a tiny repair near the hem and along the hem. Both extremely minor. It otherwise.appears to have been worn very little if at all.
• Tagged a vintage Valentino 6
• Excellent condition.

Bust: to 17" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 12.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: to "20 flat across from side seam to side seam
Bodice: approx 16" from the top of the shoulder to the waist and the bodice on its own is about 9.5" from the top edge to the waist
Length: 64" from top of the shoulder to the hem, 

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-SML

Item# DD5442

Reference Photos: Spring 2004 Valentino.

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