Vintage 1990s does 1940s Lillie Rubin dark Jade green cocktail hitch drape wiggle bodycon dress mesh top shiny studs diamante side leg split
 
Ah this is a dress for a femme fatale. It is so glamorous and sexy as you may expect from Lillie Rubin.
Lillie Rubin began in 1946 in Miami and so was born at the time of the film noir femme fatale and the never forgot that glamour, and especially not in the 1980s and 90s when they revived it. With designers like Victor Costa and Tadashi doing special pieces for them, it was always going to be about Dress to Kill glamour.

This is a size 8 UK I would say for perfect fit though a large 6 or a UK 10
as its composition is high % lycra so will bodycon. It is in a dark jade green as is the mesh top and sleeves. The metal embellishments swirl around the shoulders and caress the line of your shoulder blades, and plunge down to the deep v cleavage in front. And no need to be taping inside of dress or anything the mesh and bust structure holds it all in place. I mean, oozes sex appeal in a very elegant film noir girl kinda way.

While it is polyester, the fabric is quite sturdy due to the lycra and there are no scags or damages to either the body or the dress. The mesh has a fabulous design of small metal multi faceted shiny studs which catch the light beautifully, so has a real sense of contemporary 1990s take on the 1940s, then has the odd one which is a very sparkly diamante.

I mean I put this on and wanted to grab a vintage microphone and sing in a steamy smokey nightclub, slink into a Ferarri, or make an entrance into a swish and romantic cocktail bar slipping off my fur and the subtle lights making the ornament on the mesh stop sparkle. Ah such simple pleasures ...but we can dream and that's what a dress like this is all about. Ah you say nowhere to go to wear it? Hell then we moan you don't have anything to wear when we get asked! Me too ha hah but I recognized this cognitive dissonance and have been rebelling against it in my own way for a while now! Let's make the places to go to wear such fabulous pieces!

Lille Rubin started to struggle the late 1990s as ludicrously glamour was on the wane, and it seemed frivolous to the wealthy who let's face it can easily afford it to spend $600-$1000 on a glamorous dress and that trend cost skilled American manufacture and retail jobs suffer and make life so dull. But bless their selfish hearts they can pretend to be sparrows sitting on rough hewn canteen benches drinking out of jam jars and thinking they are like the rest of us but we see them eh? Hell if you've got it flaunt it : we LOVE glamour - I mean you haven't read this far because you want to be a shrinking violet or wear a hemp dress have you? So let's remind them what we skilled working class women used to make and sell & on the odd occasion save for and wear and rub shoulders with the great and good at luxury cocktail bar piano venues or a cruise you saved years for or worked on, and take pride in it. This is American Glamour class 101.

So CACHÉ also known for their glamorous gowns took them over , and the brand kept going until 2006 but while the stores carried on under the Cache brand, eventually they went too in around 2016. But the legacy of their beautiful dresses and those of Lillie Rubin live on in vintage pieces and serve as reminder of what we have lost.

Remember the late Tejano singer Serena? She has immortalized Lillie Rubin though it wasn't until 1997 and a biopic about her that the story of her Lillie Rubin dress came to light
https://
pagesix.com/article/selena-quintanillas-iconic-1994-grammys-dress/

Put that link together to read about it.

And so despite their failing fortunes, Lillie Rubin was still late 90s the height of aspirational fashion...and through the 1980s and 90s so many big fashion models modelled for them. Deborah Harris, Tracie Mills, Ann Bezamat, Terri May, Carrie Nygren and many more modelled for the label in ad campaigns; and the brand even had their own parfum.

Ah the beautiful ones....hey that reminds me of another Suede song....'She's in Fashion' 1999 and these girls certainly were. Hence the video inspiration and if you enjoy the fun as I try to bring these vintage fashions to life, please follow me on Instagram for the longer version.