Vintage Suit Sybil Connolly Dublin Black/White Huge Plaid /Huge Pockets 1960s 38-26-38
Fantastic rare vintage women suit of fine wool, in black and white large scale plaid by designer Sybil Connolly of Dublin. (see more about Sybil Connolly below)
The fab knee-length coat is very mod, with huge deep faux-flap pockets that open on the sides. Long darts from the top shape the bodice. Back belt with button detail, and long back pleat. I think the lining is silk, but I'm not sure- it is black.
The buttons are black leather covered.
The A-line skirt has neat details, such as a double zipper on the front sides. It has a deep box pleat in the back and a smooth front. It is also lined in black.
COAT:
Marked Size: none
Bust: 38”
Waist: 37”
Hips: 46”
Shoulder: 15”
Sleeve Length (from underarm): 15”
Sleeve Length (from shoulder): 22”
Total Length: 38”
Length (shoulder to waist): 16”
Length (waist to hem): 22”
SKIRT:
Marked Size: none
Waist: 26”
Hips: 38”
Total Length: 25.5”
CONDITION: Excellent- the only flaw is a spot on the back belt,right next to the button, a wear spot, sort of a hole but not really.
Sybil Connolly, who died at 77 in 1998, popularized Irish fabrics like tweed, poplin, lace, and linen by softening their colors, their textures, and their construction.
Today, Sybil Connolly pleated linen dresses from the 50s and 60s are harder to come by than Dior at auction houses.
Sybil Connolly was a global celebrity - as famous as the people she dressed -
Elizabeth Taylor, Merle Oberon, Helena Rubenstein, Julie Andrews, Rosalind Russell (for whom Sybil Connolly designed the costumes of a 1965 film called Mother Superior),
and Jackie Kennedy. Jacqueline Kennedy was actually painted for her official White House portrait wearing one of the designer’s pleated linen dresses.
Connolly's success started with a red flannel petticoat, the much-lauded "Irish Washerwoman Look" so popular in NY in the 1950s. Pleated linen and easy elegance remain her indelible emblem. "You have to decide," she once said, "whether you want to create the beautiful or the merely fashionable." Sybil Connolly made her public debut as a designer in 1952. And by the following year, her gown was featured on the cover of August 1953 Life magazine, with the title, ‘Irish invade Fashion World’.
Her ballgowns were also photographed by Norman Parkinson for the July 1954 edition of Vogue.
