My Collection

[Henry Wilkinson]

I have recently made a video about my collection of Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy pieces, answering questions about the pieces and showing them in detail.
I hope you all enjoy and that it can offer 20 minutes of respite.

 

[nsweezie]

Thank you so much for this- my children and I thoroughly enjoyed your video.
We look forward to seeing more of your Givenchy/Audrey collection as I’m sure it will grow.

 

[Henry Wilkinson]

Thank you so much for this- my children and I thoroughly enjoyed your video.
We look forward to seeing more of your Givenchy/Audrey collection as I’m sure it will grow.

Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it.

 

[claireshaeffer]

Henry, your video and Collection are delightful.

Givenchy was one of the first houses where I visited the workrooms. I have a few photos from one workroom. I now have digital copies if you would like them.

 

[Henry Wilkinson]

Henry, your video and Collection are delightful.

Givenchy was one of the first houses where I visited the workrooms. I have a few photos from one workroom. I now have digital copies if you would like them.

I would love that Claire, thank you! I visited the house a few years ago but didn't get to see the workrooms.

 

[claireshaeffer]

I visited the House in the mid-eighties. the photos were originally slides which I had digitized about 20 years ago. The color has really deteriorated.
The two photos here show the models dressing room. If you look carefully, you can see the models' name.

 

[claireshaeffer]

These photos are in a workroom. They were making the toiles and designs for the press fashion show. The envelope on the table is the pattern for a design. There are swatches and a sketch on the envelope. The over-exposed photo shows a muslin prototype hanging in front of garments which have been finished.

The third photo shows 3 sewing machines. These were the only machines in the workroom. The workers were hand sewing at tables. When they were ready to sew, they took their thread and bobbin to a machine to stitch.

The last photo show the pressing station. She's pressing a shoulder pad over a tailor's ham to shape it. Look carefully at the wall behind the pressing station. There is a bag like a hanging shoe bag to hold small pressing tools.

 

[INVINTAGEV]

Omg wonderful

Ilaria

 

[Henry Wilkinson]

These photos are in a workroom. They were making the toiles and designs for the press fashion show. The envelope on the table is the pattern for a design. There are swatches and a sketch on the envelope. The over-exposed photo shows a muslin prototype hanging in front of garments which have been finished.

The third photo shows 3 sewing machines. These were the only machines in the workroom. The workers were hand sewing at tables. When they were ready to sew, they took their thread and bobbin to a machine to stitch.

The last photo show the pressing station. She's pressing a shoulder pad over a tailor's ham to shape it. Look carefully at the wall behind the pressing station. There is a bag like a hanging shoe bag to hold small pressing tools.

These are incredible, thank you so much Claire. It's such a treat for me to get a glimpse behind the scenes. You can see from the pattern envelope, these are probably from 1986. It must have been an wonderful experience!

 

[Henry Wilkinson]

Just had a look in my files and the completed collection on the rails is Autumn/Winter 1985, and the seamstresses are beginning work on the Spring 1986 collection.

 

[claireshaeffer]

Thanks for the info about the Collection.

Givenchy was one of the first workrooms I visited. I wrote the Attache de Presse to make an appointment. He went to Hanae Mori later so I visited the workrooms there.

I learned to take lots of photos. When I returned home, I could study them and frequently saw things I had not noticed when I was there. Visits were always short, but because no matter how hard I tried, it was disruptive for the workers.

 

[claireshaeffer]

I have some nice, but not spectacular, Givenchy designs. This is one of them. It's a wool knit. Here's the photo from Tailoring Techniques.

 

[Henry Wilkinson]

I have some nice, but not spectacular, Givenchy designs. This is one of them. It's a wool knit. Here's the photo from Tailoring Techniques.

I think it's really lovely! A great example of Givenchy's tailoring, and his easy-to-wear style. Love the sand colour of the wool too. Thank you (again!) for sharing them.

 

[claireshaeffer]

Henry,
Can you identify the dates with the bolduc numbers?
Most of the items I have were bought because of the construction.
This Givenchy is the best design I have with a convoluted placket. the opening is a CF. When it unwraps, this is what you see. The grosgrain is at the waist. It fastens first, then the zipper.

 

[Henry Wilkinson]

Henry,
Can you identify the dates with the bolduc numbers?
Most of the items I have were bought because of the construction.
This Givenchy is the best design I have with a convoluted placket. the opening is a CF. When it unwraps, this is what you see. The grosgrain is at the waist. It fastens first, then the zipper.

I can identify this one for you because I recognised it straight away. It's from Autumn/Winter 1988. The construction is wonderful.
There is no 'formal' way of identifying Givenchy pieces from the bolduc number, but I am able to roughly assign the year it was made from the couture number with all the information I've accumulated. If you have them to hand I can check for you.

 

[claireshaeffer]

That would be wonderful.

Thank you for the photo and date for my dress. The number on this dress is 76526.

Most VFG members know that the bolduc--the tape under the label--or a number on a label like Dior and YSL--is helpful when dating many couture designs. Many Houses number garments sequentially so if you have a number and a date and another number without a date, you can at least determine whether the second design was made before or after the design you can date precisely.

Some houses don't use sequential numbering and some, like Dior, have numbers all over the place, but most Diors have the collection date on the label.

On a skirt suit, the jacket will have a label, but the blouse and skirt frequently do not. There are exceptions.

 

[Henry Wilkinson]

That would be wonderful.

Thank you for the photo and date for my dress. The number on this dress is 76526.

Most VFG members know that the bolduc--the tape under the label--or a number on a label like Dior and YSL--is helpful when dating many couture designs. Many Houses number garments sequentially so if you have a number and a date and another number without a date, you can at least determine whether the second design was made before or after the design you can date precisely.

Some houses don't use sequential numbering and some, like Dior, have numbers all over the place, but most Diors have the collection date on the label.

On a skirt suit, the jacket will have a label, but the blouse and skirt frequently do not. There are exceptions.

Absolutely. Unfortunately the Givenchy archives weren't established that long ago, so a lot of the information regarding the bolduc numbers has been lost. But I have been matching couture numbers to years for a while now and so have been able to create a reference system. The Givenchy numbers were sequential, with the odd anomaly. The number 76526 matches exactly to 1988.

 

[claireshaeffer]

I'll make a list. Early on I didn't list the couture numbers when I entered garments in the Inventory, but I can put this together.

This dress was sold through the Bergdorf Goodman Custom room so it has the label with the customer's name and the date as well as the original Givenchy label.

Early when I went to the Met, they had muslin toiles of five Givenchy suits. Customer could order the suits through Bergdorfs. They would be made to the customer's measurements and, if any fine tuning was needed when they came in, Bergdorfs would do the alterations.

I don't know whether the date on the Bergdorf label is the original order date, when the suit came into Bergdorfs, or when it was delivered. On a man's suit, the date is the date the suit was ordered and some American houses did the same.

This dress is beautifully made; it's a silk print in a patchwork pattern. Based on the style and condition, it had very limited wear. The number is 43977.

 

[Henry Wilkinson]

I'll make a list. Early on I didn't list the couture numbers when I entered garments in the Inventory, but I can put this together.

This dress was sold through the Bergdorf Goodman Custom room so it has the label with the customer's name and the date as well as the original Givenchy label.

Early when I went to the Met, they had muslin toiles of five Givenchy suits. Customer could order the suits through Bergdorfs. They would be made to the customer's measurements and, if any fine tuning was needed when they came in, Bergdorfs would do the alterations.

I don't know whether the date on the Bergdorf label is the original order date, when the suit came into Bergdorfs, or when it was delivered. On a man's suit, the date is the date the suit was ordered and some American houses did the same.

This dress is beautifully made; it's a silk print in a patchwork pattern. Based on the style and condition, it had very limited wear. The number is 43977.

This is very interesting because I looked at this dress and immediately thought Autumn/Winter 1970. It was a very popular collection and many clients ordered pieces. I then had a look in my files and found a photo of it, worn under a velvet tunic. The couture number also dates it to 1970.

But the Bergdorf label says it was bought in 1981, which is a bit of a mystery! I'm not sure what's going on there...?

 

[claireshaeffer]

I'll also look at how and where the Bergdorf label is sewn. This could also be a good example of an auction customer adding a label from another garment. I hate it when they do that.

I'll get the dress out to see if it might have been altered in 1981. As I remember the dress construction, it's pretty pristine.