This is a black silk taffeta dinner gown with long fitted sleeves, pussy bow styling at the front and cuffs, and a full skirt. British designer Hardy Amies, born Edwin Hardy Amies, was best known for creating well-cut and finely tailored suits for both men and women. Following his stint as the Managing Designer and then Managing Director at Lachasse in the 1930s, Amies started his own fashion house in London’s famed Savile Row in 1945, selling both couture and ready-to-wear pieces. In 1950, he designed several outfits for then Princess Elizabeth’s royal tour to Canada and was subsequently issued with a Royal Warrant appointing him as a royal dressmaker in 1955. Amies was responsible for creating the gown won by Queen Elizabeth in her official Silver Jubilee portrait in 1977. He made fashion history in 1961 by presenting his inaugural men’s ready-to-wear collection and becoming the first women’s couturier to also design for men.
