Recent content by Circa Vintage Clothing

Lovely dress. It would help if you could tell us more about it, but on the available information, it appears to be late 1940s in my opinion. Unusual shoulder treatment. Nicole

Thanks Maggie, I had a look for this label, because it's new to me too. Can't find anything in my usual sources but I did find one mention of the unusual surname in relation to clothing manufacturing: the City of Sydney has a document - '19/21 Buckingham Street Surry Hills. Use for the...

What do you want to know? I'm not sure if I can help but I'll do my best. Your Lycra tag appears to be in German (?), that's interesting. Maybe investigate if Jantzen made for the German market. My '70s Jantzens all have Jantzen labels as well as the diving girl, perhaps you could see if there...

I think it's '70s or even maybe '80s judging by the higher cut leg. It looks like a slightly out of date style for an older woman, as it has the sort of bust cups that were popular in the '60s-70s and the foam shape may have been cut out due to deterioration. If there's no other Jantzen...

What's the fibre content? Different fibres are used at different times. Nicole

They were still using hand-written labels like this in the early '90s. It's a basic technique used over a long period of time. Nicole

Karin and Ruth are right: samples are sample garments made up to show buyers (from other retailers or manufacturers). They were usually one offs, made as test garments for orders to be taken. Sometimes they weren't very well made, as the style is the thing, so the seams might be unfinished, and...

Lovely slips! They appear more '40s -50s to me. It's a classic style that was popular for quite a long time and '30s slips tend to be longer so I agree with your late '40s to early '50s dating. Nicole

Hi plousia, yes you're right: the older rayons are lovelier but they weren't very robust. Tend to shink and/or rip when laundered, or needed dry cleaning. They changed the recipe in the '50s so modern rayons are stronger, can be machine washed but aren't as nice. I do love the older rayons...

1972 Laura Ashley ADDED TO THE LR 2-24-25, THANKS NICOLE! Nicole

Yes, more photos would help - along with photos of any other labels (care etc) but the presence of a multi-size label suggests that it's more recent than 1970s. I don't know when they were introduced but I didn't see them until about 1991. If you look at the label resource, you'll see this...

Thanks Karin, you're right: it's a big name in Melbourne outerwear, or was. From the sizing label it originates from between about the late '70s to the late '80s. Nicole

Home made, agreed it's fairly modern. If it had large armscyes (armholes) and wide or dropped shoulders I'd go with '80s but it looks like it doesn't so I'll suggest more recent. Looks like a crinkle silk georgette. Someone's put a lot of love into this. Nicole

Thank you for sharing this sad news. Claire was an extraordinary woman: I was privileged to meet her a few times when she came to Australia, notably for the Ring Cycle opera and I found her to be lovely, kind and generous with sharing her expertise. She was a world expert in her field and...

Thanks for the photos: suspect the skirt is on the wrong way and should be swiveled 90 degrees - so the seams are down the side, not front and the zipper is at centre back, not side. Likely had a matching jacket originally. Skirts got shorter into the early '90s so you can often help date by the...