In its heyday the Gene Shelly of California label was a must have. Gene Shelly dresses are amazing and they are some of the best of the early sequinned vintage pieces that you can find. All of the sequin work that covers this dress was done by hand in Hong Kong on American manufactured knit. The company would send the fabric to be hand beaded and then the dresses were made form the resulting fabric back in the US. At the time, Hong Kong was doing the best sequin and bead work in the world outside of the specialty ateliers in Paris and this kept the cost down as well - a gown like this would have probably cost about $600 dollars in the mid-1960s - which is the equivalent of about $4700 current USD.

The base of the dress is the labels signature stretch knit done for this dress in a pink. Onto this are thousands and thousands of tightly spaced, iridescent sequins. Each sequin has been meticulously applied by hand into place. Every inch of the fabric is literally covered with sequins. Set in among the pink sequins are cream and gold flowers. The petals of each flower are made from a larger cream paillettes that is hand sewn into place and set on its side so that they have a more 3D feel. Gold glass seed beads outline each petal of those flowers and are used to create the stems of the flowers that connect them all across the dress. At the center of each flower is a large clear crystal marquis shaped stone in a prong setting. Additional pear shaped cream colored beads with an iridescent finish are used to make the leaves. The dimension and texture created from the result of all of this hand work is wonderful. The dress itself is immensely flattering with its one shoulder silhouette and one long sleeve and figure hugging shape. The knit base makes it very comfortable to wear as it conforms to your curves. The knit is set on the bias so it shapes and molds to your figure once on.  Excellent condition.

The base is a pink stretch knit and the dress closes with a painted metal zipper at the back. The sequins are all applied by hand and I see no bare spots. The measurements are taken flat and shows the comfortable range of each spot. Note that it is a touch deeper hue of pink in person. It appears to have been worn very little if at all. The stretch will allow for a variety of sizes

Sleeves: 20" approx.
Shoulders: no defined seam
Bust: 16.5-19" flat across from side seam to side seam
Waist: 14-16" flat across from side seam to side seam
Hips: 17.5-19.5" flat across from side seam to side seam
Length: 53" from top of dress to hem

Modern Sizing Equivalent: XS-MED

Item# DD2690

Reference Photo: Cherie, Owner of Shrimpton Couture, by Erin Leydon.

This garment has been professionally cleaned, pressed and is odor free. Thoroughly checked over before shipping, it will be ready to wear upon arrival.