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This dress is so much "Sandra Dee"!! Circa 1961 or very early 1960s. So cute.

1930s bias cut silk satin floral print dress with wrap bodice.

Welcome Carly!

It looks like Guipure lace to me. Beautiful!

It looks like Guipure lace to me. Beautiful!

Love that and love the music! Thanks for including me too.

WOW! That Lilli Anne suit is knock out! Diana, I can see Lana Turner in your black crepe dress with the knife satin pleats on the side. Perfect for a dangerous woman! And Mary that black Paul Parnes!!!! Killer! Everyone has posted some fabulous things!

A mid 1940s black felt wide brim with a mysterious veil for the classic femme fatale! Classic late 1940s - early 1950s men's Open Road style fedora. Usually worn by the sheriff/cops or local good guys chasing the tragic star of the film. From the sold Archives

I agree, I love a psychedelic paisley too. Really great colors on your dress. This strongly reminds me of a dress my mom wore, with a very similar print and exact same colors. Hers had long, slightly bell sleeves and was a mini dress. Even with 3 children and in her 40s, my mom would not...

I also see mid to late 1960s. Very pretty!

That is going to be difficult, but lets hope not impossible. Is it a large area or just a few spots? Is it silver or is it gold lame' or have a color added? If the metal has a dark patina and you try to remove it, the surrounding metallic threads will also be effected and change in color, or...

Welcome to the VFG, Kate. I am beyond impressed with your work, your creativity and your writings. I have to delve more into the world of visible mending. Wondering how that would work on hats??

If you can find a little snippet of fabric, in the hem or seam allowance maybe, to cut off. Then do a burn test by holding the fabric snippet to a flame (not a match), quickly blow it out and smell the smoke. If it smells like burning hair (pew!) it s silk and if it smells like paper it is...

I agree that vintage wedding dresses, as you say, can be a hard sell. However yours seems to have a few things going for it such as that fabulous portrait collar, the seaming and simple beauty of the construction, (not a lot of lace and frou-frou) and the long cathedral train. While the sheer...

Possible. Although I am leaning more to thinking this is a woman's riding top hat. Here is an interior from one of my own lady's riding top hats. There are a variety of inner construction techniques that ID it as a lady's and not a man's, this represents only 1 type of them.

Exactly!

22.5 is not small in mens hats, it more of a medium. If it is a woman's hat 22.5 would be on the larger size for a woman's hat, which is a good thing as it increases the value. Women's formal riding hats are less common too and highly sought after.

OK, I can see it now. Interesting indeed. I might be way off here, but are you sure this isn't woman's formal riding hat?

That is interesting, although in the newer hat's marks it say they have been making hats since 1865. So they themselves claim to be hat makers, not just a hat shop. Hmmmm.

In the close up the sweatband looks like fabric, with an almost netted look to it.

That is a great looking hat. You are right these can be really difficult to date. My overall 6th sense tells me it is post 1900, but not t00 much later than 1920s. What is the sweatband made of, and is that lacing going through it?

I always think of Toyo straw as paper straw. I had not seen it used in hats much until maybe the inexpensive summer hats of 1980s, 1990s or around that time. I have not done any research on when that use started or if it is still made of all paper, a blend, etc. I have seen men's hats made of...

Maggie, To answer your question, yes it is the flecks that made me suspect a coated straw.

Well, is is very difficult to be sure from a photo. Having it in hand makes it easy. I think your hat is a coated natural straw braid, but again would need a closer examination to be sure. If you can scrape a little bit of the surface in an unseen place or take a snippet it will give clues...

For me, it is hard to be 100% accurate as she is sitting down. The dress length is a really good clue as to dating it. I am sticking to my circa 1917-1919 date for her dress. Basing it on the high waist, matching collar and cuffs, and for me a good clue is the round buttons on the high...

The hairstyle looks fine for 1918. Kind of an Isadora Duncan style. Although I think dress is a little earlier than that, more mid 'Teens era, maybe 1916. Cannot pinpoint it better as she is sitting down. And it may be the dress she wore is older than the date the photo was taken. Lets see...

That is a sweet little hat. I would date it to the mid to late 1950s to possibly very early 1960s. The veiling looks a bit older, probably old stock left over in the hat shop or hat making company, as it is a little nicer than typical 50s veiling.

Looks classic 1940s to me, and gorgeous.

It looks to me as if you open it as shown in the last photo and lay your belt/ribbon/sash between the top and bottom and then clamp it closed, with the prongs piercing the fabric to hold it in place as you snap it shut again?

Looks to be from the 1940s, possibly late 1930s. Hard to tell for sure from just the photos but it has that look. The fur is what they used to call Hudson Seal, which is not seal fur but another fur such as rabbit, another small mammal, etc dyed to resemble seal fur. It was very popular in...