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Dating a nightgown

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Vintage Fashion - Ask Questions Get Answers' started by acceber, Dec 29, 2020.

  1. acceber

    acceber VFG Member

    I don’t know what to think of this one. I believe the fabric is silk chiffon and it reeks of age. The seams are serged, otherwise I would have thought it was 1940s-50s. The hem is poorly sewn. The back makes me think 30s. It just seems all over the place to me. What do you think? Thanks!

    0E14486F-3095-48FD-89D4-DA8ACF9AA0FE.jpeg C194C29B-BF1C-465B-AEE2-7AC3AEE0652D.jpeg 205B4892-7B2A-4C2F-B350-D08D23CBBA7F.jpeg F33F6C53-2139-44CB-8E6C-1103609B6DB5.jpeg 46D82099-1818-459B-9A93-C88D1D99A917.jpeg 9F8ACF87-F72B-4127-8380-4A9AEDA0CCB1.jpeg 5FB83724-573B-4FD4-A46C-DB0D0A52392E.jpeg
     
  2. bycinbyhand

    bycinbyhand VFG Member

    I believe that this is late60s to early 70s and that the hem is a home alteration not original to the gown.
     
  3. poppysvintageclothing

    poppysvintageclothing VFG Board Member Staff Member VFG Past President

  4. acceber

    acceber VFG Member

    Thank you. I’ve done some digging. I also went over this nightgown very carefully. The hem is original, just that it’s coming undone in a few places and I happened to get a pic of one of those places. The serging is only along the side seams. The rest of the seams are raw unfinished seams. I also found a label. It says “corhan-noumair inc” on it. I googled that and found a lot of 60s dress slips and bed jackets. I also found the obituary of the guy behind the label. He was born in 1927, did a few years in the military, owned and operated this corhan-noumair” business until he retired. It doesn’t mention any dates but I think it’s safe to assume it was after his military service and if he enlisted out of school, he would have been 20s-30s when he opened his business. That would make this nightgown no more recent than the 50s. As for the label, mine is much different than all the search results I found. The search results labels seem more recent. Here’s mine:
    695460C3-4552-40C1-A2AC-3E727F590DE1.jpeg

    And here are the ones I found:

    CD612B0B-8769-4D27-B242-CD68CA4733D0.jpeg CD58FA91-36BC-4F48-85EC-566DC9B4C20B.jpeg 53E1B225-17C6-48C2-87DC-0A10AC962C9B.jpeg 55A17515-7356-4972-83DA-53B9D0B023E7.jpeg

    All those labels are from Etsy sales and google images, 60s and 70s, and all the slips and such were polyester. This gown is definitely a silk chiffon. Could it be from the 50s-60s?
     
  5. Barbara Robson

    Barbara Robson Registered Guest

    The silk chiffon thing is interesting because it seems that Corhan sometimes used Barbizon's 'Crepe Remarque' in production. I had a skit around the internet to see if I could find anything and all I got that was different to yours was this slip: https://nylonnostalgia.com/buy-vintage-lingerie/ols/products/1970s-full-slip-by-corhan which has a label that is just Corhan on it's own, without the Noumair bit. According to the Barbizon fabric and label dating guide, Crepe Remarque was first created in 1954 and was still in use as late as 1978. It's still a wide date range, I know, but if your nightgown is made from the same fabric then it should point to being no earlier than the mid-50's.
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2020
  6. amandainvermont

    amandainvermont VFG Member

    It certainly is pretty - I love the swirling cut.
     
  7. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    For some reason I think your nightgown is newer. Here is an ad for another one very similar I think by Corhan-Noumair from 1979. I saw it advertised starting in 1977
    3D28D73A-AC10-4E2D-97BA-6C11368B10C7.jpeg
     
  8. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    In case the text is unreadable, it says
    89FBA623-1982-44D3-A05F-664786F69B0D.jpeg
     
    Barbara Robson likes this.
  9. poppysvintageclothing

    poppysvintageclothing VFG Board Member Staff Member VFG Past President

    The real clue is most likely the label with the wording being Corhan-Noumair Inc. , the Inc...is probably important in dating it correctly.
    The lace that was used in yours does not strike me as 70s nor does the width of the straps.
     
    acceber likes this.
  10. bycinbyhand

    bycinbyhand VFG Member

    For clarification's sake... what is THE label for YOUR gown?
     
  11. acceber

    acceber VFG Member

    This is the label from my gown. There is no size, no care instructions, just what you see.

    99D9B665-B6E2-46A2-8470-B5B2B134777B.jpeg
     
  12. acceber

    acceber VFG Member

    I agree, my very first impression was that it was from the 40s due to that lace. It’s very similar to a bunch of nightgowns I have that are from the 40s. I thought due to the fabric and cut of the skirt, that maybe it was late 40s/early 50s until I started researching the label. It can’t be that old but I don’t think it’s from the 70s either.
     
  13. Vintagiality

    Vintagiality VFG Treasurer Staff Member

    The company was founded in 1963 according to Lexis Nexis
    A2DFF3D5-6AF5-4F48-B22A-B6B79CA58F1D.jpeg 5CAD8397-5436-424B-BF05-D05ECD84AB60.jpeg
     
    Distantdetails and acceber like this.
  14. poppysvintageclothing

    poppysvintageclothing VFG Board Member Staff Member VFG Past President

    Great sleuthing, Victoria. Fun to see the telex number!!!
     
    Vintagiality likes this.
  15. bycinbyhand

    bycinbyhand VFG Member

    late60s to early 70s then
     
  16. acceber

    acceber VFG Member

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