I recently inherited some beautiful clothes. This vintage Chanel dress was in the mix. It has a Chanel Paris label that may date to the 20's, based on this site's label resource - I assumed it was from the 50's based on my limited knowledge of the style. Also. It has a few small holes and a missing button. Can those be repaired? Trying to decide what next on this one. The purple parts of the dress are very see thru. So I assume it was worn with a slip dress underneath. I have searched and haven't found anything similar yet. Thanks in advance for any info you guys might have for me. I have a few other dresses that I will post about. A Fontana evening gown for one.
Lovely! I'm seeing 30s/40s, but let's see what others think. Does it have shoulder pads, or perhaps threads where pads once were? And what kind of fasteners (and where) below the waist?
There is a small zipper at the side of the waist that is about 10 inches long. It looks like that might be a newer zipper. It seems like it may have been replaced. No shoulder pads or threads.
30s was my first thought. Does it say Adaptation at the top of the label? It looks like it does. To quote the label resource: Label note: Adaptation labels were used not by the designer, but by US firms that were making fashions that were adapted from the designer’s work. Many firms did adaptations, and an adaptation might be a faithful reproduction of the original, or it might be very loosely based on the designer’s work.
I'm seeing either late 1930s or 1940s. The 1920s didn't have zippers in clothing and zippers weren't used in 1930s until later on in the decade. She's a beautiful dress. Do you know what the fabric is?
You are correct. It does say ADAPTATION. Online, I'm seeing some adaptation Chanel dresses still worth something. I will keep researching. Thanks for spotting that.
I am not very knowledgeable about fabrics. The darker purple is a very fine mesh that is completely see-thru. It has some weight to it.
It can't be 1940's, as her last collection was either fall 1939 or spring 1940, and she didn't get back into business until 1954. I suspect its late 30s.
But does that automatically mean the adaptation can’t be later? I read that during those years (the 40s), American women bought a lot of “adapted” fashion since they couldn’t afford the ones from Paris.
I was thinking the same thing - that since it's an "adaptation" it have been made after Chanel closed. The label is very close to the 1920s label but it's also close - except for the color to the 1930s label so it could be very late '30s. I just read that Chanel closed her shop in 1939. This label is from our Label Resource. It's definitely a great find!
