Vintage 1950s Ceil Chapman party dress

Nope, I did not make this!  My friend with the unerring eye for vintage quality, picked it up somewhere.  Because I was expressing interest in boning, she suggested I have a look at this vintage dress.  Naturally, I had to try it on, and it fits!!  Actually, it fits like it was Made. For. Me.  Smashing!

Details of note:

The dress is made of flowered silk and lined (bodice to hip) with (I think) acetate.  The fitted midriff is boned at side front and side back seams.  The boning perfectly supports the draped upper bodice in its off-the-shoulder style.

The drape is cut on the bias and tacked by hand to the lining at front and back.

There is a line of tiny perfect piping below the bust drape, and another one at the waistline.

The waist dips in the back as you can see in this next picture of the side of the dress.  There is a metal zip in the left side seam, and it has pockets!

Here's a picture of the inside front bodice.  Seams are pinked, and the waist and under-bust seams are finished with rayon seam binding.  The upper edge of the lining is finished with a bias strip facing, which is hand-sewn to the lining.

The horizontal tuck just below the upper edge, at CF, is key to the close fit in the bodice of the dress.  It totally hugs the body, no gapping at all.

The draped tucks of the bodice are hand-tacked to the lining near CF and CB.

The skirt is full circle (side seams only) and it is stiffened with horrible antique Pellon.  As you can see in this picture, the underlining is lining fabric to the hip level to ensure it falls gracefully below the waist seam, then the Pellon. 

According to www.vintagefashionguild.org, Ceil Chapman " is often said to be Marilyn Monroe’s favourite designer and although this may be rather a sweeping statement the star did indeed wear some Chapman designs as did a variety of other stars such as Deborah Kerr, who was a personal friend, Elizabeth Taylor for whom she designed a wedding dress and Mamie van Doren, who chose a white, beaded, strapless Chapman gown to attend a film premier on behalf of Universal Studios publicity machine that was ‘marketing' her as a star.

Ceil designed for the movies and television and specialised in cocktail and more formal evening wear."

Oops - DIGS reminded me of a critical bit of info - the skirt is indeed below-the-knee length.  It measures 44" (approx) from the back neck point (112cm).  Here's a not great full-length picture.