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Lot Essay
In a feature on Margot Fonteyn, Fonteyn - Prima Ballerina assoluta, Envoy magazine, Vol 1. No.1, May 1967, Margot Fonteyn is photographed by Keith McMillan modelling this dress in Yves Saint Laurent's Paris Salon, Spring, 1967. Similarly in Keith Money's book Margot assoluta.
Photographs show that Fonteyn wore this dress on a number of occasions over twenty years. Keith Money described this dress as ..The glorious YSL evening dress with the Aztec patterning..so heavy with encrustation that it could stand up on its own. An engrossing feature was many hundred of tiny cowrie shells sewn into a pattern, along with all the sequins. These shells set up a susurration which was exactly that of a tropical beach on a very calm evening...
The last occasion Fonteyn was photographed in this dress, was at the charity gala of Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Opera House, May 30th, 1990. A Tribute to Fonteyn which also raised money to set up a trust fund for Dame Margot, who didn't have a pension. Newspaper reports commented on Fonteyn's striking sequinned dress, Sandra Parsons of Today giving her feature the headline Frail Fonteyn dazzles on a star-studded night and continuing ..In her full-length ..sequinned evening gown she stood out like a rare and delicate tropical flower.. even Diana, immaculate in a cream and pink backless sheath evening dress, could not outshine the real princess of the evening...
Photographs show that Fonteyn wore this dress on a number of occasions over twenty years. Keith Money described this dress as ..The glorious YSL evening dress with the Aztec patterning..so heavy with encrustation that it could stand up on its own. An engrossing feature was many hundred of tiny cowrie shells sewn into a pattern, along with all the sequins. These shells set up a susurration which was exactly that of a tropical beach on a very calm evening...
The last occasion Fonteyn was photographed in this dress, was at the charity gala of Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Opera House, May 30th, 1990. A Tribute to Fonteyn which also raised money to set up a trust fund for Dame Margot, who didn't have a pension. Newspaper reports commented on Fonteyn's striking sequinned dress, Sandra Parsons of Today giving her feature the headline Frail Fonteyn dazzles on a star-studded night and continuing ..In her full-length ..sequinned evening gown she stood out like a rare and delicate tropical flower.. even Diana, immaculate in a cream and pink backless sheath evening dress, could not outshine the real princess of the evening...