1920s/1930s night gown??

[cozmicstar]

Hi I was hoping for some help with the possible date of this night gown and how to wash it as well. It was sold to me as a 1920s/1930s night gown but it is a larger size so I'm not so sure (bust is about 40 inches and it's similar or a little larger all the way down). It feels like a natural fibre and is very silky. I tried a burn test but I only have matches here and I'm useless at it so I really couldn't say, although I felt the ash was grey. It's cut on the bias (I think) and had various different stitching, some machine and some hand. I'm not sure if the hand stitching are alterations or repairs (bottom is taken up by hand but it's still a little longer than my 5'4" height). The lace is hand, but the sides and seams are machine, although there has been several hand repairs.

Anyway it's lovely and I intend to wear it! So I need to know about washing - I'm not sure it's silk, I'm leaning towards cotton; so I think I should be able to hand wash it. Thoughts?

Thanks again for all your help!

Rach

 

[cozmicstar]

Here's some more shots I took of the stitching (the other shots are from the seller).

Machine stitching under bust
Hand stitching back of lace
Machine stitching and then hand stitching over raw edge under bust (inside)

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Beautiful nightgown, I would say '30s or possibly '40s and it's probably silk or rayon. I think I can see some spotting where an iron has spat some hot water at it, so that suggests silk.

As to washing, I hand wash these, as I can't see our grandmothers dry cleaning their nightgowns - certainly I'm yet to have an issue with hand washing them. PS, bias cut styles tend to look longer/taller than they are because they go sideways when you put them on.

 

[cozmicstar]

Aw brilliant thanks Nicole!

 

[EndlessAlley]

Beautiful nightgown!!! Agree with Nicole on date and care. My 30s, 40s silk and rayon bias cut nightgowns all came out beautifully after a careful hand wash. I also added a tiny bit of hair conditioner to the water before a final rinse, but I don't know if Nicole agrees with that step. Then after rolling the gown in several towels to remove excess water, I laid the nightgown flat to dry on large dry bath towels.

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

That is really lovely! And I agree with 30s, possibly early 40s. I also agree to wash by hand, and, like Alice, I add hair conditioner to the water. I use the hair conditioner in the final rinse water, too. This keeps the fabric supple and, especially with rayon (which I think your gown might be, but it's too hard to tell from a photo), it helps prevent shrinkage. While it's drying, I also will gently reshape during the process a couple of times, because I've found that these can tend to shrink....

 

[cozmicstar]

Thanks everyone; I washed it and it's come out grand. I hadn't read some of the tips when I first washed it, but will definitely do the conditioner one next time! And thankfully no shrinkage!