special dress from designer Yves Saint Laurent's Spring 1989 Rive Gauche collection. walked the runway that season. made of a stiff bright apple red what feels like cotton, the dress has a shallow v-neck, slightly fitted waist, pockets at the hips and hits right above the knee in length. the real show-stopping feature of course is the enormous ballooned sleeves, seen here without any arms and still delivering major volume, with some internal structure ensuring they keep their shape, aided as well by the stiffness of the cotton. the sleeves are finished off by that amazing pleated effect at the shoulder.

very good vintage condition. slightest fading to the red, though this is extremely slight and does not affect wear (note that the colour is deeper in these photos - see tag photo for better sense of colour). dry-cleaned and ready to be worn.

made in France. material and size tag removed. fits M or US 8, shown here clamped on US 2 mannequin.

• bust: 38"
• waist: 28"
• hips: 38"
• bottom/sweep: 40"
• shoulder: 16"
• arm: 20"
• length: 37"