Dress, evening dress

This intricately embroidered evening gown was designed by Rahvis in 1952, and was worn by Lilian Ivy Rivers Kirby, neé Stroud.

Lilian was born on March 3rd 1913 and grew up in Chiswick. In 1939 Lilian was working as a ladies hairdresser in Esher, Surrey, near Hampton Court Palace. In 1947 she married stockbroker Frederick Harry Rivers Kirby in Paddington. The couple lived in Ilchester Place, Kensington, for 18 years. Lilian loved London, but the couple also travelled extensively, and spent many winters in Gstaad, Switzerland. They entertained a lot at their London home, and Lilian developed a strong dress sense, purchasing formal wear from Rahvis and attending the Paris collections. Lilian was a talented painter much admired for her oil paintings. She also loved music, particularly Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and classical ballet music.

This dress is a rare survival of the Rahvis brand, a highly successful London couture house headed by the sisters Raemonde (“Rae”) and Dora Rahvis (also known as Dora Mautner). While the Rahvis name is not as familiar today as some of their male contemporaries, a history of the brand was recently featured in the book London Couture 1923-1975: British Luxury, edited by Amy de la Haye and Edwina Ehrman.

After first establishing their business as “Rahvis Gowns” in 1929 at 9 South Molton Street, the business had moved to 19 Upper Grosvenor Street by 1938, and was renamed “Rahvis Couture”. For around 50 years the Rahvis sisters were recognised as leading British couturiers, known for their creative and sometimes quirky designs as well as their strong personalities and canny self-promotion. By 1958 they had over 100 employees, had featured regularly in the British fashion press, and had many celebrity clients. The sisters also designed costume for film, with credits including Blithe Spirit (1945) and The Good Die Young (1954). In 1981 Raemonde Rahvis designed the wardrobes of the two leading female roles in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.

This full length strapless Rahvis evening gown has been made primarily from cream and pink silk satin, with concentrated areas of embellishment. It has a deep pleat at the back filled with godet of pink satin extending from the waist to hem. The bodice is boned, and the garment is lined throughout with a paper-like non-woven interfacing material, providing stiffness and support. It fastens with a metal zip at the centre back, and has label on the inside waist that reads: “Rahvis, 19, Upper Grosvenor St, W1”. The most striking and unusual component of the dress is the embellishment on the bodice, skirt and back. A variety of materials and techniques have been used to create repetitive geometric patterns accompanied by trailing floral forms. Materials used for the embellishment include silk and chenille threads, rhinestones, glass beads, metallic thread and ribbons shaped into artificial flowers. This last detail was a common feature of the Rahvis sisters’ work.