This is an incredible full skirted dress with peplum, self tie belt and weighted hem. Monochrome colours it’s a size 12 Vintage so nowadays a size 8. 26inch waist.

When you spin, the dress flows around you. Button bodice and concealed zip on waist, button cuffs and stand up collar.

There is a fault, I found a small hole, a few millimetres only. see last picture, 2nd Daisy across. I don’t see personally so untouched. Can’t see it when folds of fabric drape but maybe it was a burn back in the day?

A bit about the designer…

John Bates is possibly one of the greatest forgotten talents of the 1960s and 1970s. With no formal training, he took an apprenticeship at London couturier Herbert Sidon in the late 1950s. He was asked to start the Jean Varon label in 1960. "I called it Jean Varon because at the time an English name like John Bates meant nothing, you had to appear to be French. Jean is French for John and Varon because there was no 'V' in the rag trade book. Jean Varon made a good graphic image'" (John Bates quoted in

'Boutique' by Marnie Fogg).

As far as is known, all Jean Varon labeled garments were designed by Bates. Early garments are innovative with space-age fabrics, see-through panels, cut-out holes and matching accessories right down to the tights.

As an aside, Bates is also sometimes credited with the 'invention' of the mini-skirt. He popularised trousers for women and encouraged the first 'underwear as outerwear' style, through precision cutting and the use of lace and mesh. An example of this work won him the 'Dress of The Year' title in 1965.

His reputation earned him the ultimate commission; designing a wardrobe of outfits for the second half of the first Emma Peel season on The Avengers in 1965-

1966.

In the later 1960s and 1970s, Bates continued to innovate but the garments moved towards a softer, feminine look. Bates concurrently designed for an own-name label, which was more avant garde and innovative. He was still designing for Varon throughout the 70s.