Is this vintage YSL Variation dress genuine?

Fridanoodle

Registered Guest
Hi!
I'm new to the forum and would like some help judging whether a dress I have found is genuine YSL (as it is quite pricey..but really pretty!)
  • Couldn't spot the exact same label in the Label Resource. The Variation labels pictured have a border around the text, but I'm hoping there may have been other versions used..
  • Another warning sign to me is the fact that the buttons haven't been sewed on straight. Seems like a basic thing that a real design house would get right, but then again Variation was YSL's cheaper line from my understanding
Thoughts? Let me know, I greatly appreciate your help! Also, if it is real, I'd love a date on this thing, my guess is late 80s, early 90s :)
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Hello there, I'm no expert but after a bit of research online I think that the Variation label refers to a line of ready to wear clothes specifically produced for distribution in shops like Dickins and Jones and Harrods.
 
Pretty dress - I'd have bought that one too! As per the forum rules, we cannot authenticate items here. But it is from a ready to wear line, where you would not find the same measure of detail as in a couture item. Im guessing these buttons were sewn on by machine, and speaking from my own experience as a sewer, with some buttons it's actually not that easy to get them all straight, so I would not worry too much about that.
 
Variation and Encore were inexpensive rtw from YSL. Rive Gauche was the most expensive.
Dress is very nice and I would have worn it too.
 
Also, you find most machine sewn buttons on garments don't last that long at all as they are not finished off - this means the wearer is often forced to sew them back on themselves, and well, some people just aren't fussy about which way a logo goes :) I love the detail in the buttons though. I'll bet they cost as much as the fabric used to make the dress.
 
Melanie, something I've noticed with buttons and the way they are sewn. When they have a stem (which they should), they frequently twist. Even though this was an expensive rtw dress, the buttons were probably sewn by machine.
 
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