Vintage Gianni Versaci Houndstooth Double Breasted Dress?

I drove to a gas station close to my house to get a couple of energy drinks to get me through my estate/garage sale today & on the way I saw a Yard Sale sign in front of a house with clothes hanging on the fence around the front of the house.

I stopped to see if there were any comic books or cool art or - honestly I just wanted to look; I can not drive by a yard sale without stopping, it's an addiction!

What I found was some cool vintage clothes for $5, $7.50 & $10 - including this Versace dress with a $595 price tag on it for $7.50! (+ a Chevigon flying gear leather bomber jacket for $7.50, a vintage Polo Ralph Lauren Hawaiian shirt with surfers on it for $5 (found the same one had sold on eBay for $71!) + a Versace Hawaiian shirt also for $5 & a Gianni Versaci houndstooth men's jacket for $7.50!)!

Can anyone tell me if this dress is real? The workmanship on the inside doesn't appear high end to me - but I'm a jeans & t shirt guy 95% of the time. I first thought it was a waitress's uniform!
Also googling it I found double breasted dress suits, but not this one - so any help before I list it would be appreciated.

Thank you!

 

Very much doubt it. Quality is not what would expect of genuine VERSACE. Any tags in addition to label? Content? RN?

Debora

 

Not sure if it's real, but when I was thinner and younger, for the right price, I would have jumped on that. When you're thin, everything looks good on you!

 

Can't say for sure real from photos, but the font on the tag seems to match the era of the dress. Also seems like sort of an odd dress to make a fake copy of to mislead, but who knows.

Googling, looks like "C. Madeleine's" was a huge vintage clothing store in Miami, now closed. One would think they'd have some knowledge about designer stuff, obviously the store thought it was real due to the tag and price.

From the internet:

C. Madeleine's a 10,000 sq.ft. vintage paradise in N. Miami Beach, FL 33181. Shop in store or online for one-of-a-kind vintage, couture and designer fashions.

 

Bit of a scam artist from what's to be found on the internet. And sold at inflated prices.

Debora

 

It sounds like when they closed, people had their consignments still in the shop and never got paid, pretty bad. That seemed to be the major complain, no idea if they sold fake versions of things too. Agree, $595 is an insane resale price for this. I wonder if they routinely got that kind of money for things.

 

IMHO, this would have been from a ready-to-wear department store line for Versace, just like Dior eventually sold lower-end mass-produced garments in department stores. Looks 1990s-ish and was never worth anywhere near the price that vintage store tagged it at... maybe $25 on a good day.

 

Agree with the $25.

Debora

 

I wonder if that dress actually was a uniform. I’ve a Dior suit which was worn by sales assistants.

 

Cosmetics counter uniform? That's a thought.

Debora

 

Why cosmetics counter?
Or was that a joke, Debora?

 

No, not a joke. The VERSACE fragrance & cosmetics counter in a department store. That would explain both the label and the quality.

 

Ah ok - I was thinking why not the jewelry counter? (but that's a male mind trying to understand - it's like trying to understand quantum physics; I'll never get it!)

 

THe dress says late 80s/early 90s to me too, both from the houndstooth and the cut of the dress. If it never had shoulder pads I'd say later rather than earlier. Definitely not up to Versace production standards, so counter help uniforms makes sense.

 

IMO counter uniform.

 

Yes, I had a dress of that style (not fabric) in the early 90s.

 

Even if one is still thin, the body changes in shape somewhat. I used to have something like this one but would never wear it now. even if it was in style.

 

That dress is a counter smock and has no value other than to someone who doesn't understand that it’s not Versace.

 

There are collectors of counter items but I agree that value, if any, would be minimal.

Debora

 

I suppose there are collectors of everything but that smock as a collectible is pushing it.