‘Alice Edwards goes places’ dress - dates and style thoughts

[Impey]

Dear all

I’ve fallen in love with this amazing Alice Edwards dress. I wasn’t familiar with the label but found some great information from Liz Tregensa’s blog. That suggests that the Alice Edwards Italian range was in the 1950s, with the ‘goes places’ line focused on evening and cocktail dresses.

What do people think in terms of dates? It’s not the typical shirt waister / circle style so I’m wondering whether it’s 50s or early 60s (the Alice Edwards label seems to have changed to a much plainer style by the mid 60s).

I had a couple of technical questions - what is the little internal belt for? And why the little fabric ties from the waistband - would they have been to attach some kind of petticoat?

Also, what is your best guess as to fabric? Some kind of printed tulle? Or chiffon?

 

[Jonathan]

That's quite... unsubtle! The highish waist accented by the purple ribbon is a late 50s feature - 58ish I would think, since the hem is still quite long. The ties are possibly loops that were cut - and were intended for hanging to remove some of the weight off of the straps, but I see it has loops under the arms, so that should have done it. It might also have possibly been for a crinoline, which was removable. It kind of reads as nylon to me in the pics, but the lining looks like it could be silly. I wonder if it is actually Italian - if so, then I would expect silk, but if its American, then I would expect nylon.

 

[Impey]

I know, it’s definitely a marmite one! Thanks for this - it’s a UK label (I think) so I would guess it’s nylon. That’s really interesting about the higher waist and longer hemline. And yes, I did wonder whether it had some sort of petticoat / crinoline type affair under it - certainly it seems to hang better with one than without!

 

[denisebrain]

I would guess the lining is likely un-ribbed acetate taffeta and agree about the nylon. I love the name Alice Edwards Goes Places—Alice could have gone to Carnival in Rio in this dress!

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

That is a super "fun" dress! Like being wrapped in a cellophane crinkled candy wrapper!