.. I always consider myself privileged to have contact with all the lovely things I sell, but being custodian of this dress is an incredible feeling.

.. As you can see in the photographs below, this dress was worn by Natalie Wood at the 1969 Academy Awards where she presented the award along side Jane Fonda. As the story goes, Natalie broke her leg skiing, but insisted on attending the awards. The little starlet even sported high heels. The picture of Natalie being carried by Burt Lancaster is from the Oscar Style book published by People Magazine.

.. The dress is unlabeled, but I am pretty sure this was designed by Edith Head. Natalie and Edith were reportedly good friends, and she wore her dresses often. In fact, Edith made for Natalie the dress she wore for her wedding to Richard Gregs in 1969. According to the Christies Auction of Oscar Gowns, Edith Head designed the lavender chiffon gown worn by Elizabeth Taylor at the same award show, which fetched a high bid of $150,000.

..The style of this dress is very Edith Head with the layers of silk chiffon, the bold use of color, and the dramatic one shoulder scarf. The bold print is repeated in 3 colors, red, green and an almost black blue. The shoulder scarf is actually the train of the back red panel, that sweeps up over the back of the dress and was attached to the shoulder. The edges of the scarf were, of course, hand rolled. In fact, the dress is flooded with couture details, like hand finished hems, and weights at the neck. Besides the silk chiffon, there is a lovely underdress of ivory silk charmeuse .

.. Condition wise, I am happy to report there is a flaw or two at the hem of the dress, in the form of a few pulls to the chiffon, as well as a dime sized hole in the last few inches of the scarf. Remember, Natalie was wearing a cast, and high heels when she wore this dress. I expect, and am thrilled to find this kind of slight damage. Gosh, just touching this silk gives me goose bumps!

.. Natalie was a tiny gal, and this dress will fit a size 4-6. The only label is a size 8 tag, but of course in the 60s, size 8 is more like a modern 4.