Vintage 1960s Dress by Georgia Bullock | Small | 60s 1950s Polished Cotton Dress with Painterly Bubble Print in Blue and Teal

Beautiful early 1960s dress by high-end designer Georgia Bullock, in a painterly abstract print that looks like bubbles in shades of periwinkle blue and teal on a white background. The colours are incredibly bright and vivid! The dress has short sleeves, a flattering wide neckline, fitted bodice with sculpted princess seams through the bust and waist, and a structured fold-over sarong-style cut over the hips. The dress also comes with its original matching belt.

Georgia Bullock dresses were very expensive and this is reflected in the exceptional construction of the dress, which features bound seams, wide seam allowances, and beautiful quality fabric – I'm not quite sure how to describe the weave, but it is a robust textured cotton with a slight sheen. The bottom half of the dress is lined with a tulle-like mesh fabric to help the skirt keep its structured shape.

This dress dates to around 1961 – I found an ad from January 1961 with what looks to be the sister of this dress (shown), also by Georgia Bullock, with the same print and same bodice cut but a bow belt instead of a buckle belt, different colours in the print and possibly a more tapered skirt – but it is unmistakably the same dress otherwise. This dress retailed for USD $69.95 in 1961 which is the equivalent of over USD $600 today! The text of the ad reads: "Georgia Bullock's blithe bubble-printed sheath, beautifully fashioned in Swiss cotton print of orange, gold, white." There's also a little write-up about Georgia Bullock herself: "Georgia Bullock, one of the youngest and most imaginative of the California designers, creates a collection with the look of today ... the promise of tomorrow. Preeminent socialite, culinary expert, talented decorator and exciting artist, each of her creations exemplifies her personality and reflects the life she leads."

In another newspaper clipping from 1959 you can see that Georgia Bullock shared the stage with Travilla, Peggy Hunt, Don Loper and Edith Small in Los Angeles fashion shows.

This dress is in excellent condition, clean and ready to wear. It's from my own personal collection; I originally bought it on Etsy in 2017. When I first got it, the dress had a number of light marks in the darker areas of the print which I was able to completely remove by hand washing the dress – it's come up beautifully, with the colours more vibrant than ever. You won't need to worry about cleaning this dress as it stood up to washing extremely well. The only flaws I can find on the dress are a hand-written label on the inside of the back collar (not seen while worn), a bit of ghost stitching at the back near the zipper where I think the zipper has been replaced. The belt shows some wear on the edges of the buckle, it's cracking a little at the back (not seen when worn) and there is a little bit of discolouration on it as well. You could easily wear the dress without the belt – it looks just as nice, I've shown it both ways (the dress has belt loops which I've pinned back for the photos but you could snip them off if you wanted). The dress closes with a back nylon zipper; it may have had a metal zipper originally but I don't know for sure.

I estimate that this dress will fit a modern size small, but please check measurements to ensure a good fit.

Measurements:
Waist 26" (snug 27")
Bust 36" (snug 37")
Total length 41"
Shoulder to waist 16"
Waist to hem 25".

The dress has been gently pinned on my small short-waisted dress form to show fit.

Please feel free to convo me with any questions, or if you'd like to see more pics – I took lots!