70s Loulou de la Falaise Vogue dress!

Joanna lumley

Joanna lumley

Registered Guest
Hi Everyone, I just received this dress in the mail and had to show you! I had been eyeing this dress online for a while because it reminded me of something... and one day I was reading in Vintage Fashion Complete by Nicky Albrechtsen which included the Vogue magazine photo below (right image) and it clicked :)

I do have a question. I don't find the description of the magazine spread very clear. Which dress is which? Is Loulou wearing a Saks fifth avenue dress or a Surjit & Adarsh design? Or is it a Surjit & Adarsh sold by Saks (I included a label from another dress).

And yes, I had loads of fun trying to imitate the look ;)

Thanks in Advance for your reactions / opinions! :)
 

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*Forgot to note: The dress in question is unlabelled. The main dress is composed of two layers and a slip; one printed silk chiffon and a red silk chiffon layer underneath, plus a satin lining.
 
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Just to complicate matters, this is a dress I sold by Surjit and Adarsh Gill for Saz, sold at Saks. I didn't find out much about the label, but: "Its Saz Boutique label is that of the sisters Surjit and Adarsh Gill when they were working in NYC in the 1970s. The dress has a lot of hand sewing, and it was made in India, the homeland of the Gills."
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I discovered that many articles that talk about them refer to Surjit as Surgit with a G and that gave me quite a bit more. This article from 1977 says:
“The Saz collection is made in Surgit Gill's native New De'hi, where all the beading is traditionally hand done by men and the hems hand-rolled by women. Surgit alternates designing roles with her sister Adarsh Gill, spending part of her time in New York where the sisters first started designing nine years ago. "Saz is a combination of my sister's and my name and means melody," says Surgit.
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And another article about them says that they had made a success “in two lands”, employing more than 1000 people “and soon three times more”.
In 1973, Surgit had a collection of clothes and jewelry at Helen of Memphis, “the costliest collection the shop has ever shown”
“Their story is a fairytale born in a rich family in Bombay and reared in “great seclusion” the two sisters came just five years ago to New York City to shop. “My sister and I looked at the clothes We decided we could make them better" said Surgit “We both entered the Mayer Fashion and Design School to learn this art Our business began “All of our materials come from India The 18-carat gold embroidery and the h a n d-sewn semi-precious jewels on some of our gowns are done in Delhi Bombay and Up But our jewelry is made by Indians in Hong Kong and Italy as well as India"
They have the same last name Gill because they married brothers from Panama. (Another article stated that Surjit had been in an unhappy arranged marriage and she rebelled got divorced and ran to Panama which upset tremendously her very traditional family)

“And though their family owns textile mills in Bombay the mills are for muslins and similar less expensive materials than the Gill sisters use in their designs “We do not use synthetics” she said “but real silks cottons georgettes chiffons”

Among Surjit’s customers were Jackie Onassis, Doris Duke, Ginger Rogers, Adele Astaire, Barbara Streisand and Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller.

Please do not reproduce this information anywhere as it is copyrighted and for educational purposes only.
 
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Rue_de_la_Paix said:
This is what I LOVE about the Vintage Fashion Guild. Learning about so may talented designers I knew little about, or had never even heard of.

A gorgeous dress and a great piece of the past to learn about!
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I totally agree! Didn't know a thing about Surjit & Adarsh Gill and I'm so happy I did. Their designs are beautiful.
 
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