Extraordinary Winter 1954 Cristobal Balenciaga Haute Couture Strapless Black Silk Dress w Lace Bodice designer-john-galliano / (5) Sylvie Vartan in

/  (5) Sylvie Vartan in Yves Saint Laurent by Helmut Newton for ELLE

Sarah Burton has pinned it to a theme she called “thinking about a woman’s obsession with the possessions she treasures

The pants are amazing - they are a extra high waist with a gathered panel cinching in the waist even more and then the legs are cut loose and easy through the hip and narrow to the hem - making your legs seem a mile long

Note that there are some fine vertical slits in the skirt

It falls in a long and lean column when still but there is a volume there that will show when you move or walk

Extraordinary Winter 1954 Cristobal Balenciaga Haute Couture Strapless Black Silk Dress w Lace Bodice designer-john-galliano / (5) Sylvie Vartan inThis dress is extraordinary. It is from the Winter 1954 Haute Couture collection and is impeccable. A more elaborate black version of the dress is held in The Metropolitan Museum's permanent archives and we found photos of a white version from one of the Balenciaga books. Balenciaga designed 193 looks for the Winter 1954 show and there was a full series of evening pieces that featured the silk lace netting embroidered with the dots that you see on the