The Lavender Hour | Vintage Bill Tice Velvet Hostess Gown
Soft, luminous, and quietly opulent, this vintage Bill Tice hostess gown is cut in crushed lavender velvet that changes beautifully with the light. The fabric moves from silvery lilac to deeper violet as it drapes, giving the otherwise restrained silhouette remarkable depth.
The gown falls in a long, fluid column from a softly gathered scoop neckline, with full-length sleeves and an intentionally generous silhouette. Delicate metallic-gold lace trim traces the neckline, providing just enough ornament to catch the eye without competing with the richness of the velvet.
Why We Love It
The color of this gown is everything. The lavender velvet has an almost liquid quality under changing light, appearing silver in one moment and richly violet in the next. The result feels romantic, slightly decadent, and unmistakably luxurious.
This is the kind of piece we imagine worn for cocktails at home, holiday entertaining, or simply because an ordinary evening deserves something beautiful.
Details
Designer: Bill Tice
Era: Circa 1970s–1980s
Size: One Size
Style: Hostess gown / lounge gown / caftan
Fabric: Crushed velvet
Color: Lavender / silvery lilac
Trim: Metallic gold lacework around neckline
Neckline: Wide gathered scoop neckline
Sleeves: Long
Silhouette: Full-length, loose and flowing
Closure: Pullover
Measurements
One Size
Condition - Good
Collector’s Notes
Bill Tice was not simply a designer who happened to make loungewear—he helped elevate the entire category. After working for several New York fashion companies, he became head designer for Royal Robes in 1968 and later designed for Swirl from 1975 through 1984. He became particularly known for innovative caftans, jersey “floats,” robes, and hostess pieces that blurred the distinction between dressing for home and dressing to be seen.
His work was recognized by the fashion establishment as well: Tice received a Coty Award for lingerie in 1974, and the Fashion Institute of Technology maintains a Bill Tice archival collection documenting his work from the 1960s through the 1980s.
That history makes this gown particularly appealing. Its sweeping volume and emphasis on beautiful fabric are signatures of the type of at-home fashion for which Tice became celebrated. Rather than treating loungewear as something meant to disappear behind closed doors, he created garments intended to make a woman feel beautifully dressed even in her most private surroundings.
More than fifty years later, that idea feels surprisingly modern. This is not merely a vintage robe—it represents an era when dressing at home could still be an occasion.