A Supreme Addition to MY Collection :)

I was prompted by Darin's thread to create one of my own:

A few weeks ago, I was browsing the internet and came across a vintage clothing store that was offering a Gene Shelly sequin dress. Gene Shelly, you may recall, was a designer that outfitted the Supremes on several occasions, most notably, a silver sequin gown with blue accents that they wore for a performance of "Reflections".

From what I understand, Gene Shelly dresses were purchased off-the-rack, so of course there were several made. It's nice to have the provenance of Mary wearing the same dress, whether or not this is the EXACT dress.

Either way, I purchased it, and it's a really delightful addition to my Supremes collection. The pictures don't do the garment justice; it's a brilliant pink and lime green.

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That's a very cool addition to your collection!
Have you tried it on, haha?! :p
Darin

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Originally Posted by DWSheffer

That's a very cool addition to your collection!
Have you tried it on, haha?! :p
Darin

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Have you ever seen POLYESTER when Cuddles was trying on Halston? Lol.

Very nice! I had no idea things like that could still be found. Looks like it’s in great condition too.

This reminds me that of a gown that was on sale ebay two years ago. This was the same the Supremes wore on the Mike Douglas show [[http://dianarosssupremes.free.fr/TV-...%20Douglas%202).

I suppose that at that time the Supremes were still buying gowns at 5th Saks Av, or so, and that multiple copies of that gown exist.
Anyway, nothing indicated that it was a personnal belonging of the Supremes [[and in case you were wondering I didn' buy it) and I just saved pics for the details of the fabrics and the color.

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Laurent.....I don't want to highjack marybrewster's thread of his find, but I bought the pink dress above for my collection. I've posted it in other threads on the topics of the Supremes' gowns. There is a lot of mystery surrounding it, and really there's no way to verify today if it was or wasn't one of their gowns. For the last 25-30 years it was traded in the vintage clothing market as "Diana Ross' gown". This was very interesting to me as it would have been very difficult to have ascertained that before Youtube made the Mike Douglas Show video available, and furthermore, WHO would have even remembered what the Supremes wore on this show at the time?! Another interesting tid-bit the seller relayed to me was Mary Wilson was aware of this gown's existence and there had been some back and forth conversation with Mary's people regarding the gown.

Ultimately though you are correct, this is an off the rack Eloise Curtis for David Styne gown that was sold in high end retail stores in 1965. For those who don't know, Eloise Curtis also designed the gold lurex gowns worn on the Holland Dozier Holland LP cover, which were also sold "off the rack". The girls evidently liked her designs! I was told the three HDH gowns are in a private collection, along with a 4th back up gown of the same design. I was unaware that they still existed!
Darin

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No worries about hijacking the thread! It's all so very interesting to me. Now, that gold dress above with the bow: I know Mary had at least one of these in her collection. She wore it in a YouTube video with a blonde wig for Halloween; she was dressed as a 60's Mary Wilson. I believe she even joked she couldn't get the back zipped up.

I couldn't pass on the Gene Shelly. It actually came in the original box from a boutique in PA. I did some digging and saw that the Supremes were in that area in late 1965 and mid-1966, right around the time that this dress would have been photographed on Mary. So I don't know. I am also under the impression that this is NOT in Mary's collection. So is it hers? Is it not? I don't know. Again, knowing this was sold off the rack I have to believe there were several. But this one somehow still survived.

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Originally Posted by DWSheffer

That's a very cool addition to your collection!
Have you tried it on, haha?! :p
Darin

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Honey it would be a pant leg on me, lol.

threads like this make me think,

"life is good!"

Very cool find, Mary Brewster :) I'm sure Ms Wilson would have loved to have seen this dress that you found.

Reminds me of this silver sequin Gene Shelly gown, which sold for $2,500, and is the same version as the one worn by the ladies on Hollywood Palace in 1967...

https://www.shrimptoncouture.com/pro...tch-knit-dress

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

threads like this make me think,

"life is good!"

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I agree. For me, in some small way, also puts in perspective how far I've come. There was a time I could hardly afford to pay my rent AND have enough money to eat until my next paycheck. I remember his badly I wanted a set of Bob Powley sculptures. Never, ever did I think I could afford such a luxury.

Life is good. I bought my first set several years ago, which I absolutely treasure. And now I have a "supreme" gown in my collection.

I am very surprised these iconic clothes were bought off the rack. Did the girls find them or did Motown have someone looking for clothes for the different acts?

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Originally Posted by marybrewster

Have you ever seen POLYESTER when Cuddles was trying on Halston? Lol.

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"Damn these designers!" ;););)

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Originally Posted by marybrewster

I agree. For me, in some small way, also puts in perspective how far I've come. There was a time I could hardly afford to pay my rent AND have enough money to eat until my next paycheck. I remember his badly I wanted a set of Bob Powley sculptures. Never, ever did I think I could afford such a luxury.

Life is good. I bought my first set several years ago, which I absolutely treasure. And now I have a "supreme" gown in my collection.

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https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/p...gurine-art.jpg


Fascinating!! I do not know this artist. Most cool!!!:cool: