Meet Wisteria, a HOLY GRAIL rare early 1970s Cotton Laura Ashley Made in Wales prairie dream dress. This beauty is phenomenal and truly a precious piece to behold. She has the classic Laura Ashley silhouette with pintucked bodice, high neck, super full skirt and voluminous sleeves. She has the most beautiful white contrasting print on a purple base and gorgeous classic Laura Ashley cotton lace trims. This beauty is honestly a true spectacle and a rarity to behold indeed.
This girl would work on UK sizes 8/10/12 depending on desired fit.
Bust - up to 38"
Waist - 32"
Length - 55"
For reference our mannequin, Norma, measures to a UK 6.
The Wisteria has been freshly laundered and is ready to wear. She can safely be washed at home on a cool setting. She is in good vintage condition, she does have a few flaws to note. She has a small darned mend on the back bodice, has been neatly done and backed with interfacing to secure it, it is very small and unnoticeable. She also had another small nick near her zip, not quite a hole, but I have added some interfacing to secure this anyways. She has a few small flaws in her fabric which come with ALL early Laura Ashley pieces due to the hand printing method used. Her lace trims are clean, but do have a very faint pinkish tinge, this will be from when her previous owner washed her for the first time and she has a few marks inside of her collar, again these are minor and unnoticeable. I also feel like her previous owner has changed her zip, usually Laura Ashley zips run higher, to the edge of the collar.
Regardless of these minor quirks, this dress is rare and amazing, and truly a piece of fashion history and she has lots of life left in her. She has been priced accordingly. Without these flaws this dress would be priced at £265+. See last several photos for more.
This beauty has minimal signs of vintage wear, but please bear in mind that our pieces are true vintage, they’ve been danced in and they have been lived in, so all of our garments will carry your usual signs of vintage wear. Anything that we think is outside of what would class as usual vintage wear, we will state.