1980s Mary McFadden Couture Blue & Deep Dusky Pink Pleated Dress w Extra Long Braided Belt designer-altuzarra An attached tie in the

An attached tie in the same fabric wraps around the waist

It really does a wonderful job of combining a chic silhouette with a bit of a "vamp" feel

It is also a wonderful example of the mod baby doll look that swept the fashion world at the time and still feels fresh even now

pretty air about it that it literally makes me happy just to look at it on the hanger

The perfect finishing touch to the dress is the individual cut outs of butterflies that have been added to the straps and all over the body of the dress

1980s Mary McFadden Couture Blue & Deep Dusky Pink Pleated Dress w Extra Long Braided Belt designer-altuzarra An attached tie in theMary McFadden patented her Fortuny inspired pleating technique just a couple of years after launching her label in 1973. By the eighties she had many licensing agreements and her dresses were being made on a larger scale. She called her pleated fabric 'marii' after her own name. She went around the world to source the fabric she wanted and her pieces ended up being made out of a synthetic charmeuse that she sourced from Australia. The fabric was then