Vintage Fashion, Antique Costume & Textiles

Vintage Fashion, Antique Costume & Textiles | London

Lot: 150 to 400 - 25th Mar, 2025 9:30
Lot: 401 to 691 - 25th Mar, 2025 14:00

Lots: 543

Only three months into the year and we’re back with our fifth auction of 2025! This incredibly varied auction features over 540 lots of fabulous vintage fashion. As always, we are kicking off the sale in style with a fantastic selection of Chanel including classic ready-to-wear pieces by Karl Lagerfeld and Philippe Guibourge, as well as haute couture offerings. Great British designers are well represented with names such as Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen as well as a selection of rare designs by John Flett.

Lots 184 to 203 of the auction feature a selection of statement gowns by the designer Michael Halpern, mainly dating from 2020 to 2023. Fantastically sculptural and lavishly embellished, these dresses are wonderful examples of the ‘unabashed glamour’ and demi couture technique Halpern’s designs are known for. Another contemporary cult designer represented in this auction is Carol Christian Poell. The reclusive avant-garde Austrian has never adhered to typical fashion seasons and operates on a limited release basis. Lots 204-218 feature a collection of rare and important leather jackets, boots, and suits that all embody Poell’s penchant for construction and unusual materials. These extremely collectable pieces are all fine examples of Poell’s alternative design sensibility. This auction features a wide selection of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche pieces from the 1970s 1980s. Many of the fabulous pieces from Yves Saint Laurent in this auction are well documented and can be seen photographed on the catwalk. Other iconic designers of the era featured include Alaïa, Gianni Versace, Thierry Mugler, Zandra Rhodes, and Ossie Clark.

We are thrilled to be offering a selection of garments from the personal collection of Dame Mary Quant, who passed away in 2023. Quant had a ground-breaking career and is often credited as being the inventor of the mini skirt. Her designs are known for being emblematic of British ‘Mod’ style and she was the focus of a retrospective exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2019-20. Lots 544 to 579 feature fantastic examples of Mary Quant’s most iconic designs of the 1960s and 1970s, such as mini-dresses, hot pants, pinafores and coats, most of which were worn by Quant herself. As well as designs from her eponymous brand we also have a selection from Quant’s wardrobe by a variety of different designers from Chanel to Comme des Garçons!

Towards the end of the auction, we have a lovely selection of 19th-century dresses and accessories, including unusual and interesting corsets and other examples of historical undergarments. We also have some fabulous silk gowns: two particularly stunning examples are lot 672, a green figured silk brocade evening gown, circa 1845, and lot 666, a sapphire-blue taffeta gown, late 1860s - early 1870s. If you missed your chance in February to participate in our historical Empire of Fashion auction, fret not: we have a further selection of pieces from the renowned Baretto Lancaster collection of Napoleonic & Regency Dress on offer in this auction, including a lovely roller-printed day dress, a fabulous pink spencer, and a lavishly embroidered gentleman’s coat.

For more information on how to bid, please click here. Live bidding is now possible via our website on sale day. In order to bid online, please ensure you have created an account with us and that your account is enabled for live bidding - new clients will need to email us a form of photo ID, proof of address and paid invoices from other auction houses where appropriate. Once you have created an account and have been approved to bid, please click the purple 'Pre-register for live bidding' button which will appear on the online catalogue. You then need to accept the terms and conditions to proceed. On the day of the sale, a button marked 'Bid live' will appear on the website and clicking this will allow you to access the live bidding platform. Please note that there is an additional 1.5% charge plus VAT for any lots won via our online bidding platform. Please also note that online bidding is automatically capped at £6,000 in total - if you envisage that you will exceed this amount, please contact us directly so we can remove the bidding cap - we may ask for further information from you before doing this.

Clients who prefer to bid via Invaluable still have this option and can access the catalogue here. Please note the charge for bidding online via the Invaluable platform is 3% plus VAT. Please note Invaluable's new dynamic pricing system which may affect your live bidding charges on your invoice after the auction, for more information please click here. We strongly advise that you register to bid in advance of the auction and not the day of, as we cannot guarantee approval once the auction has begun.

Clients who prefer to bid via Drouot still have this option and can access the catalogue here. Please note the charge for bidding online via the Invaluable and Drouot platforms are 3% plus VAT. We strongly advise that you register to bid in advance of the auction and not the day of, as we cannot guarantee approval once the auction has begun.

View Results

Lot 630 - A summer riding habit, 1920s

Sold for £572

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 631 - A beaded silk evening dress, circa 1920

Sold for £195

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 632 - A Mariano Fortuny black silk 'Delphos', 1920s-30s

Sold for £2,080

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 633 - A black beaded tulle tabard, circa 1915

Sold for £91

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 634 - A Liberty & Co silk overdress and a negligée, 1915-20's

Sold for £468

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 635 - An embroidered Liberty bodice and dress, circa 1913

Sold for £247

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 636 - A Joseph Horne Co embellished satin evening gown, Pennsylvania, America, 1911-13

Sold for £286

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 637 - A pink silk day dress, circa 1911

Sold for £221

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 638 - A cream wool and tape lace coat, circa 1910

Sold for £338

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 639 - A group of women's clothing, mainly circa 1910

Sold for £650

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 640 - An ivory silk duster car coat circa 1910

Sold for £624

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 641 - Two black velvet walking suits, 1910s

Sold for £221

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 642 - An ivory Battenberg tape lace gown, circa 1910

Sold for £416

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 643 - Two evening dresses, 1910s

Sold for £338

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 644 - A lamé and beaded evening dress, 1910-11

Sold for £624

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 645 - A farmer's smock, circa 1910

Sold for £572

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 646 - A Jeanne Hallée satin evening gown, circa 1908

Sold for £208

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 647 - A group of lingerie and nightwear, 1870s-1910s

Sold for £468

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 648 - A L'Irresistible corset, French 1904-06

Sold for £416

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 649 - A group of longer-line corsets, 1900-1910s

Sold for £624

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 650 - A H & W 'Adjustable Bust Former and Corset', circa 1900

Sold for £845

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 651 - A group of black mourning garments, 1900-1910s

Sold for £260

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 652 - Two ivory evening gowns, 1900-1905

Sold for £338

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 653 - A Thomson's Glove Fitting English Netting summer or sports corset, circa 1900

Sold for £468

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 654 - A Madame E Yost evening gown, circa 1900

Sold for £416

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 655 - A group of stoles, aprons, and veils, 19th century

Sold for £520

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 656 - A Ball's Corset Style B, 1893

Sold for £468

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 657 - A pair of quilted embroidered chintz jumps and matching waist cincher, late 19th century

Sold for £910

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 658 - A group of clothing, 1890s-1910s

Sold for £624

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 659 - Four bonnets, circa 1890

Unsold

Lot 660 - A W.E Watchspring No2 corset, circa 1890

Sold for £780

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 661 - A grey silk dress, circa 1890

Unsold

Lot 662 - A ladies walking suit, circa 1890

Sold for £286

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 663 - A Marshall & Snelgrove yellow ribbed silk evening gown, circa 1895

Sold for £260

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 664 - An interesting group of corsets and suspenders, 1880s and later

Sold for £1,040

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 665 - Two silk gowns, 1870s

Unsold

Lot 666 - A sapphire-blue taffeta gown, late 1860s - early 1870s

Unsold

Lot 667 - A Thomson's "Empress Resilient" cage crinoline, Spring 1872

Sold for £260

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 668 - A group of eveningwear, 1850s-90s

Sold for £286

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 669 - A group of dresses, 1850s-60s

Sold for £390

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 670 - A group of dresses, 1840s-50s

Sold for £520

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 671 - Three pairs of shoes and assorted stockings dating from the 1840s

Sold for £312

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 672 - A green figured silk brocade evening gown, circa 1845

Sold for £260

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 673 - A beige China crêpe dress, American, circa 1815

Sold for £364

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 674 - A pink slubbed challis spencer, circa 1815

Sold for £585

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 675 - A roller-printed cotton day dress, French or English, circa 1810-12

Sold for £650

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 676 - An ivory silk dress, 1806-08

Sold for £650

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 677 - A gentleman's embroidered brown velvet court coat, circa 1800

Sold for £1,560

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 678 - A brocaded ivory silk robe a l'Anglaise, 1780s

Sold for £975

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 679 - An embroidered batiste skirt, late 18th century

Sold for £520

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 680 - A rare embroidered leather 'church' or wedding coat, Transylvania, Romania, 1937

Sold for £598

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 681 - A woven kashmir shawl, Indian 1860s

Unsold

Lot 682 - A woven wool 'Moon' shawl, probably from Norwich, circa 1835

Sold for £390

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 683 - A gold lamé and shot silk aba robe, Syrian, 1920s-30s

Sold for £260

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 684 - A woman's red ground silk gauze summer robe, chang fu, Chinese, circa 1900

Sold for £5,460

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 685 - A red, purple, blue and green brocaded Anteri robe, Ottoman Turkish, 1860s

Sold for £650

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 686 - A Chinese embroidered pink silk skirt, qun, circa 1910

Sold for £1,235

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 687 - Three pairs of Chinese silk shoes for bound feet, early 20th century

Sold for £338

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 688 - An embroidered ivory silk shawl, Cantonese for the European market, 1920s

Sold for £650

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 689 - An embroidered ivory silk shawl, Cantonese for the European market, 1920s

Sold for £1,040

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 690 - Two Cantonese silk shawls, Chinese for the European market, 1920s

Sold for £286

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)

Lot 691 - An embroidered silk shawl, Japanese for the European market, 1920s

Sold for £1,235

Buyer's premium: 25% (exclusive of VAT)