Thea Porter combined exoticism, embellished ornamentation and luxurious fabrics in her pieces and her work was a phenomenon during her day. This is one of her Gipsy dresses and it has been one of her most loved styles since it was first created in 1968. The Thea Porter book that accompanied the 2015 Fashion and Textile Museum exhibit "Thea Porter 70s Bohemian Chic" (for which over a dozen pieces were pulled from my archives) has many example of stars from that time period wearing their versions... Kate Moss is perhaps the most notable of modern girls who have one and caused a sensation when she wore her blue version for her wedding rehearsal in 2011. I was thrilled to find that The Met has a near identical dress to this one on their archives. It is truly a very special piece. The Thea Porter book by @laurakitty states that the Gipsy dress was 'generally made out of a combination of three different fabrics. If the skirt was in plain cloth cotton, the bodice was usually in brocade... We made the dress in every conceivable fabric, from embroidered chiffon to liberty cotton‘s to velvet.... The silhouette of a slimmer torso combined with a full skirt (composed of 4.5 m of fabric) and sleeves became the basis for Porter‘s gypsy dress'. The book goes on to talk about the cut and design of these dresses saying that 'the bust became an integrated part of the body, ending directly below the breasts to create an empire line. The cut is such that the bust is held in securely, yet pushed up, removing the necessity of wearing a bra. The uneven hem of the Gipsy dress evolved as a form of collaboration between Thea and one of her first seamstresses, Meg Lake, who was self taught and didn’t realize that a circle of fabric cut on the bias would fall irregularly and need to be trimmed. Porter love that effect and the mistake became a design signature.' The bodice of the dresses were crafted in antique brocade silk like we see on this dress and then Thea added velvet ribbon trim. This is a classic Gipsy dress that follows all of those design tenets. BONUS... swipe to the last pic to see the original owner in it ❤️ Available in the shop now.... #theaporter #fashionhistory #vintagecouture