1980s Bill Blass Couture Black and White Beaded Evening Dress

Gorgeous, heavily beaded Bill Blass evening dress. Form fitting floor length maxi dress with wide jewel neckline and long sleeves. The dress is primarily black, save for contrasting sleeves in a lightly crinkled white fabric. The sleeves are heavily beaded in a romantic curving design that resembles curled ostrich feathers. The sleeves have a pointed end and feature buttons. Neck to waist zipper on back.Bill Glass grew up in Depression - era Indiana, where he sought refuge from the bitterness of life in cinemas. Blass looked up to the silver screen and found inspiration in the leading ladies and their fantastical costumes.Glass studied at Parsons School of Art and Design in New York, funded by his winnings from a Chicago Tribune dress design contest, and later by his commissioned sketches for Seventh Avenue garment houses. Glass’ career and education were interrupted by WWII, where he was assigned to US 603rd Camouflage Battalion, a part of the famous “Ghost Army” Allied collaboration