c1953 Travilla "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" Purple Silk Dress designer-yves-saint-laurent The top of the dress

The top of the dress is unlined and the skirt fully lined with a built in stiffened crinoline made of dressmakers horsehair "paper" to hold the shape

Very chic and a great early Suzy Perette

Audrey Hepburn and many

pressed and are odor free - it came through beautifully

The skirt flows to the ground with yards of silk brocade and has some fullness to balance the volume of the top portion

c1953 Travilla "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" Purple Silk Dress designer-yves-saint-laurent The top of the dressDuring the 1940s William Travilla solely designed for the movies and many of the most iconic dresses from this time period, worn by some of the biggest stars, were created by him. By 1953 he had started to also design for the public as demand for the dresses women were seeing on the big screen increased. By the 1950s he was close friends with Marilyn Monroe and did the costumes for a series of her movies including "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in 1953.