1920s Milgrim beaded dress

[sofia C]

This beaded 'Spider Web" dress has "Milgrim Brothers" label attached to the waist band.
I tried to research the designers name and found this :

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1007672/bio

From this article I learn that:
1. Milgrim Brothers were manufacturing men's closing.
2. Sally Milgrim was married to one of the brothers and was designing dresses.

Do you think this dress is an early work by Sally Milgrim?

Thank you!

 

[Pinkcoke]

That's fab! Make sure it is stored flat and boxed in archival materials, as this is worth preserving.

 

[sofia C]

Thank you, Melanie.
Unfortunately, this dress is on the way out and archival materials are not going to help much. There are three layers of silk, the top beaded layer is shredding like "spider web". The silk is too fine to last. The second silk layer is identical to the top beaded layer and looks strong. Do you think it is possible to salvage this dress by attaching those layers?

 

[Pinkcoke]

From what I understand those on net, rather than chiffon fare better, hopefully Nicole, of Circa Vintage will be along to give her opinion, as she has worked beaded dresses like this before.

 

[sofia C]

Melanie, it is fine chiffon. The black net is part of the lining.

 

[Jonathan]

Sally Milgrim is very likely:
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/milgrim-sally

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

Stunning!!!

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Stunning dress. I recommend seeing an expert, who can identify the issue that is causing the silk deterioration, but on the available information it sounds like it could be dry rot. You might like to read my blog post on dry rot in '20s dresses - you can see it here.

There are a few different issues that can affect silk textiles but I don't think any of them can be halted or reversed. The dress is worth saving however, and if you're of a patient sort with a good eye and a big chunk of time you could line up the top and under layer and effectively rebead the beads onto the lining and then remove the damaged portions of the top silk. It's a lot of work though. I did something similar with this dress.

 

[amandainvermont]

Yes - stunning dress. Did you notice in Jonathan's article. she lived to be 106?

 

[sofia C]

I did something similar with this dress[/URL].

Thank you for this information, Nicole. I think the reason of its damage is gravity.
I am afraid, I will cause more damage.
The dress is staying in the shoe box, probably, not the best place.