#2604 $975
Zandra Rhodes printed silk chiffon dress, 1980s
One of today's most creative and original designers, Zandra Rhodes (b. 1942) is first and foremost a textile artist. Her print designs, like a stylized form of handwriting, set her apart from other designers—not surprising, considering her background. She studied lithography, intending to become textile designer but instead gravitated to fashion design, where she has made a brilliant career.
She never loses sight of the raison d'etre for fashion: to make the wearer feel pretty and desirable. Each of her unique creations, no matter how unconventional, blooms like an exquisite flower. If she has to break the "rules" of fashion to reach her goal, she goes for it.
Made from red silk chiffon, the dazzling dress is printed with one of Rhodes' Chinese water circle designs, inspired by viewing stone carvings of water on a trip to China in 1979. The red-black-gold print has a lapidary incandescence. The cerebral water circle design is perfect for the ethereal construction: delicate ruffled layers flutter like butterfly wings.
Lined with matching red China silk, the dress is trimmed with gold tone beads and Rhodes' signature ball drops. It closes in back with a nylon coil zipper. I love the sheer chiffon neckline insert.
Red is the most chromatic and saturated basic color and thus the pre-eminent one. The flaming vermilion red will trigger the right sort of mental vibrations in the male psyche. Like a moth circling a flame, men are drawn to the electric excitement of this thrilling red.
Rhodes' exotic originality makes her work among the most copied in the fashion world today. In recent seasons, interpretations of her prints have appeared on the runways at Dior, Miu Miu, and Fendi. What her rivals know but can rarely obey is Fashion Commandment #4: if the design is outré, it must also be extravagantly beautiful!
The condition is excellent. It looks like it was never worn.
The size is marked English 10/American 8.
It measures: 36" bust, 32" waist, 38" hip, and 42" from shoulder to hem.
