1952 gown with plastic zipper? Is that possible?

denisebrain

denisebrain

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I got this gown set from a very nice, compos mentis, older woman. She told me it was a bridal gift to her dating from her 1952 wedding. There is a long gown, cape-like jacket and one garter. Tula is the label. The gown has a back zipper and it has different sort of plastic teeth. I've never seen such a zipper from the early 50s--can this be from 1952?

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It's very pretty!

Wasn't the plastic zipper created around the 30s but didn't gain in popularity and wasn't mass produced until the 60s, 70s? I think it's rare, but they have been found in older items.
 
The quality and pleats scream 50's. I fit were 70's it would not be as nice. I would not let the Zipper throw you.

I was watching PBS they had something on the great market crash... They mention the emergence of Rayon in the 30's or earlier I think.... That drove me nuts!

-Chris
 
Cool--I appreciate your help! I honestly haven't seen a zipper like this before, but I have no reason to doubt the woman I got it from.
 
Yes.. I may not know much but I do know that the "spiral" or "Coil" zipper did not come out until 1968 with a model that worked and boomed in the manufacturing market...

Now the plastic coil zipper was invented in 1940 on paper and test models were made that broke repeatedly so they were not used in manufacturing, you will rarely find some metal coil zippers but they break easy also, however when the war (WW2) came about the government urged companies to go to plastic zippers to help with metal shortages, so some companies (far and few in between) did go to plastic zippers but with individual teeth like yours. You rarely see it but if its individual teeth then it is authentic....

I hope that helps... Zippers the one thing I studied greatly!!! lol
 
Sorry just wanted to ad to the war thing.... from my research it was really 1951 that the goevernment went "public" with metal concern.. we were on the brink of the Korean war and after WW1 and WW2 they were expecting it to be as big and wanted americans to conserve... well you know america.... Conserve.. whats that lol! so thats why you dont see the plastic zippers that much. I have had one dress that had the plastic teeth. I kinda like them better (if the dress is nice of course) because it has history to it and I collect for the history!
 
Individual teeth...that's what looks so different! Thank you very much for the great info!
 
I find this really interesting...I didn't think there were differences between the US and Australia regarding zippers but there must be....I've only seen one dress with a "coil" zipper, it was a heavy metal one, dating from the early 1940s and I had to replace it because it was so clunky and hard to use.

I've never seen a coil plastic zipper: all of the zippers we have here have individual teeth, both vintage and brand new. That's what I love about the VFG: always something new to learn!

Nicole.
 
Wow that is so cool to know nicole... yes I think pretty much everything here is on a coil nylon/plastic zipper.... the teeth is the main clue for vintage... all my modern clothes (minus pants they are still metal teeth) are coils. They are alright but if you clothing gets caught in them you can pretty much bite it good bye...

Now some stuff, especially better quality, coats pants and what nots have teeth, but not like the older ones...

I thought clothes were the same... and just when I was getting the hang of american fashion lol..... now i gotta start getting books for everywhere else! lol

Thank you Nicole that was neat for me to learn also!
 
Really interesting discussion, as I didn't know there were differences between U.S. and Australian zippers!

Maggie, your set is so lovely! And everyone who has weighed in is correct--it's rare, but you can find items with plastic zippers dating into the 50s and earlier. In the later 50s, some high-end designers started using plastic zippers, but they weren't widely used until the 60s. I have some of Irene Saltern's pieces from the 50s with plastic zippers, and dating them can drive me nuts because many of her designs were those "timeless classics."
 
I'm old enough to have forgotten far more than I retain....but I vaguely recollect a 1930s crepe hostess dress/robe with a prominently displayed HUGE celluloid?/bakelite? zipper down the front--high neck to crotch--in a madly contrasting color...no concealing placket and it drew with a BIG circular ring. Definitely meant to be seen from a mile away...the zipper was THE design feature.
 
Maryalice, I've seen a few like that, heck I have one right now: they're great! I think it was Schiaparelli who popularised that idea in the '30s, of making a big feature of it, although usually it seems to be a house-dress treatment.

Nicole.
 
Schiaparelli did plastic teeth zippers in the 30s as a design element, so it makes sense that they were used by others.

Lots of people confuse plastic and nylon in talking about zippers. Heck, I was around when nylon coil zippers became available for home sewers, and we called them plastic!
 
Lizzie, I still call nylon zippers "plastic," and I, too, was around when the nylon zippers became widely available for home sewers. I think the first dress I ever made (c. 1966 in my freshman home-ec class) had a nylon zipper, but we called it plastic. Just something that has stuck in my vocabulary--hard to teach an old dog new tricks, for sure!
 
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