This luscious, black silk satin 1950s skirt suit has a fitted, short jacket and a full skirt. It is technically a cocktail suit, originally intended for evening wear. The New Look silhouette of the cinched-waist jacket is created using many darts. The side seams of the jacket have small slits, below the waist, each fastened with a functional, silk-thread-covered button. (The right side-seam button is missing some of its silk threads--see close-up photo.) These lovely buttons match the 5 that close the jacket's front opening. The unique, asymmetrical collar is notched and pointed on one side, and has a rounded/shawl collar shape, on the other. The slightly tapered sleeves have medium-sized shoulder pads, and tiny slits at the hems, in back. The full skirt is shown here with a very full crinoline (not included), but would look equally lovely without one. The skirt has been altered by a previous owner to make the waist larger, by lowering and re-fashioning the waistband (using the original skirt fabric), and replacing the original (probably metal) zipper with a shorter (plastic) one. This alteration means that the skirt waist is now about 2 inches larger than the jacket waist (see measurements for details). The skirt is unlined, and the jacket is lined with silver-grey silk taffeta, which has some light yellowing to the underarm area. This yellowing is visible on inside/lining only, and has no odor. Freshly dry-cleaned and ready to wear, the suit is in very good condition, with no other issues to note. The beautiful fabric and fine details make this a very special 1950s skirt suit! We know that the suit dates to after 1949, when the Young-Quinlan Shop in Minneapolis MN was purchased by Maurice L Rothschild & Co. (see label). It almost certainly dates to the first half of the 1950s.

SIZE: XS (jacket) and S (altered skirt)

JACKET

Bust: 36" flat, to fit approx. 34-35"

Jacket waist: 25" flat, to fit approx. 24"

Jacket length: 19" from shoulder to hem in front; 20" from back of neck to hem

Underarm to waist length: 7. 5"

Sleeve length: 22"

Shoulder to shoulder: 14. 25"

SKIRT

Skirt waist: 27" flat (as currently/altered), to fit 26"

Hip: 42" flat (full skirt)

Length: 28. 75"

Sweep at hem: 45" flat (90" around, doubled)

LABEL: Young-Quinlan Shop; Maurice L Rothschild

This item is sold from a vintage boutique in Chicago, IL.