1940s Wedding dress

C

carrie_courtney

Alumni
Hi and good evening,
I have a wedding dress,veil and head dress recently purchased, its British made, from 1942, it is a war rationed dress but originally purchased from a dept store in the Midlands of the UK,
Im so puzzled what the fabric is, it has an almost spider web silky Nylon feel, reminds me slightly of a Victorian Tape lace design, and also, why is the front so much longer? its almosted trained, it is cut Bias, the label is on the back under the hook and eye,
First i thourght it may be maternity, but the rayon lining is cut straight, then i tryed to change the back to the front, still looked wrong.then i thourght it could have had the front pinned to the small front belt, but there seems no sign of any fixings,
I just cant seem to make out why the front would be this long,

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wow, i LOVE that veil/tiara, it is absolutely breathtaking!

so, are those bustline darts?? that should be your hugest hint at front/back. it very well could be a key-hole neckline front with button up back...

i actually thought that type of veil was pre 40's...
 
The veil is likely mom's/grandmother's...the 'old' as in....something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Can't be maternity....a bride pregnant enough to show would never have appeared in public, wearing virginal white....until the 70s...
 
Hi Mary,thank you for your reply, The head dress is lovely, i added a close up,i have no history on the dress apart from the original box with the Store name on it and the date ,but i think maybe the veil head dress may have been passed down mother to daughter,They are wax flowers, mock orange flower?,ive only ever seen one like this before and that was with a 20s wedding dress,

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Hi Maryalice,
Thats just what i thourght about the veil too...
The veil is really delicate and rather holey where its been folded in the box for a long time, but the dress has survived far better
 
Carrie, it is backwards! :D I just studied the photos better now and it isn't a handkerchief hem like I thought but that IS a train.

If you look at the sleeves, the wrist cuffs are at a wrong angle for them to be facing towards the back. The buttons are at the back and that is indeed, a keyhole neckline :)

Lei
 
Can you show the label and the box with the store name and also the side zip? Does it have the CC41 Utility Label? How do you know it is from 1942?

In Britain clothes rationing began in June 1941 with strict limitations on fabric, embellishments etc. Many wedding dresses were borrowed or hired because of the cost and the coupons required.

The veil length was not uncommon during this decade and again could have been borrowed or re-modelled or handed down from the previous decade.

The length of the dress at the front may have accommodated someone with a disability or perhaps in a wheelchair. As Maryalice has pointed out a pregnant bride would not be seen wearing this dress.
 
Hi and thank you all for your replys,the person i got the dress from it was his wifes mothers dress she married in 1942
picture with dress turned round as back is now front, there arent any bust darts either side

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back of dress with buttons

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label in the now front of dress

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box and box label

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label in lining of dress sorry for the wobbly label,

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popper fastenings to left hand side

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Great photos, thank you. Too bad about the bust darts! The keyhole is the back of the dress.

I think it may even be a wedding dress from the late 1930's and was worn as you indicate by the bride in 1942. I am not sure that factories - and the label indicates a workroom - were producing wedding dresses during the war years because of austerity measures - but I could stand to be corrected .

The box may be original to the dress and looks like it came from the previous decade too but the boxes would have still been around and used later. Greys store in Birmingham was taken over by Debenhams.
 
That label in the neckline looks to me like a dry cleaner's/cleaner's label so it wouldnt have been original. You say with the keyhole neckline in front it now snaps up the left side? Makes sense that way....agreed, style of late 30s and perhaps an older (beautiful!!!) veil.

Ang
 
Lace and net were not rationed in Britain or France, so as long as you could afford the luxury tax for the purchase, this dress would have been available during the war. It looks 1942 to me -- small shoulder pads, round collar, natural waistline. I have a lace wedding dress in a similar style bought new and worn in Exeter in 1943. It is also trained and does up the left hand side with dome fasteners and hooks and eyes. Mine is cotton lace but yours looks like it could be rayon.

I know its hard to believe compared to the stories you hear about the war and the make do and mend attitude, but there were still plenty of clothes being made in France under Occupation and in England that don't look anything like utility at all. Luxury goods like hats, furs, lace or net wedding and evening dresses, etc. were all unrationed but expensive and made more expensive with the addition of a luxury tax that could be 50% of the purchase price. ENgland needed the money, so it was a way of getting funds for the war, by making goods that appealed to citizens that still had money. What was in short supply was cotton and rayon for day dresses.
 
Agree with Jonathan about the dress.

The veil is similar to styles worn in the 1920s: the flapper brides loved orange blossoms (real or wax) in their hair, with long, lace trimmed veils like yours. I suspect it may have originally been worn by the bride's mother back in the earlier era. A lovely gown.
 
That looks better Carrie, now it's the right way round :) The sleeves hang better now. When in doubt, I look at the side fastenings which are almost always on the left side. :)

Lei
 
I agree that the keyhole goes in front. The dress looks much better now!

A gorgeous veil - in modern terms, it would be called a mantilla style veil. I wore the same style at my wedding, but they're hard to find because they aren't the traditional puffy look. I had to make mine.

Yours is absolutely beautiful.

Do you have any photos of the bride?

Laura
 
Hi everyone and thank you all for all your replies,
i wrote to the man i purchased the dress from last night and asked if he could email me a picture with his mum in law wearing the dress, and i will post it on here,as soon as i get the picture.

Thank you all for all your help and advice,
Carrie xx
 
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