Label ‘Jean Muir London’
This dress was part of the Autumn/Winter 1973 Collection of Jean Muir, one of the most admired designers of the later decades of the 20th Century. It appeared in the magazine Vogue and retailed at £165 at Fortnum and Mason amongst other stockists. Characteristic of Muir’s work is the combination of a fine fabric, in this case voile woven with self-coloured tufts and silver tinsel, with the soft, high quality leather punched with a pattern of small holes with which it is trimmed. Originally the dress had a matching leather tie belt, possibly lost by its previous owner as fabric had been cut from the hem to make a new belt. Jean Muir was particularly fond of this very dark shade of navy known as ‘midnight’. According to John Knox of the Yorkshire worsted manufacturer John Knox & Son,
‘Miss Muir wanted the darkest navy we had ever produced, rejecting various samples before declaring a cut of black crepe to be the right shade… known in the trade as ‘new black’ whilst to Miss Muir it was ‘midnight navy’.’
