20s dress

T

TartDeco

Registered Guest
Hello again! I recently discovered a dress in a box in the attic of my duplex. The house was built in 1884 and there were numerous decades of clothing stuffed into a huge box! I have managed to save a few of the articles, but this particular dress is a bit of a puzzle for me (most of my experience is with 40s/50s). I am almost sure it dates to the late 20s and is handmade (there were other handmade garments in the box from the 40s/50s). Due to the poor storage I doubt it could be repaired to wear, but perhaps someone who is experienced in rehabilitating clothing this old may prove me wrong. The pictures show most of the damage.

Part of the puzzle is what to do with this dress. Should I attempt to clean it (have it cleaned) or leave it as is to sell? I have been airing it out for months now so there is no odor. Is it in too bad of shape to make it worth selling? I wouldn't mind having it as a research piece, if that was the case.

Any thoughts? Here are the pics:

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Front

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Back

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Lace detail

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Collar detail (velvet trim)

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Damage- this is the worst, the other side has a small rip as well, but not nearly as bad.

More pics can be seen here-
flickr set


Thanks for your input!
 
How lucky to find a box of clothes in your attic! What fun! This isn't my era at all but I'd say it's definitely 20's as skirt lengths went considerably shorter. It's such a shame about the damage but considering it could have been stored in your attic for decades it's no wonder. :)

I'm sure there's a market for this sort of dress, even with the damage. Like you say, it would be an interesting piece to study for construction. Personally, I wouldn't have it cleaned, I'd sell it 'as is' - who knows what further damage could be caused to the already delicate fabric.

I'd be interested to see what other frocks you found in your treasure box. :)
 
The perspiration damage is pretty severe and cannot be fixed.

This is a Catch -22. In theory, the sleeve could be removed and the armhole recut lower for a sleeveless dress, but it looks like the new armhole would have to be cut too far forward to remove all the damage and would look odd. The finish would be a tiny bound edge and that is difficult to do in chiffon.

So what you have is a dress with a costly, major, permanent alteration which is a turn off fo the collector. It might be wearable, and it might look better, but won't be worth what it costs to have the fix done well.

The market for this dress would be only be pattern or salvage. I have sold quite a few of these when all else failed, and found that market prefers beaded dresses for salvage or or sexy styles for pattern. So this dress, while lovely, is too sweet and innocent for most of that crowd. It would sell, but not for a good price.

It sounds like it has much more value to you that that as a neat find in the attic and for research. You can always sell it later if you need the space. OR if you know who owned your house in the 1920s, and associate a name with it, your local historical society might take it as a donation.

Hollis
 
I cannot help with any advice on what sewing etc,
however there is a opportunity there for it as most modern dress makers have a rough idea of what a 20's styles is, but very few know enough to get the detail spot on, so it could be used to make a true copy
and kept as a research item.

Date wise I would say 1925/26, looking relativly short would be right for around that time period and the hem also is the right also maybe even into 27.
Still a wonderful dress.
 
Thanks everyone so far. You have pretty much confirmed my initial thoughts. I am actually starting a 1920s/30s singing group (Bootless Betties) so I will keep it to try and make a pattern for performance dresses. If anything, I could probably make more selling the pattern itself than the dress:)

As for the other stuff I found, it ran the gamut of doll and baby clothes from the 30s to men's dress shirts from the 70's, to pajamas that someone threw in 10 years ago (ew). I was able to pull about 3 garbage bags full of clothes to restore and so far I have a silk shirt (probably late 40s), 50s house dress, 50s bolero, 60s dress and 2 aprons (most likely 40s) that are in sellable condition. Of course, all in a smaller size... sigh.

I will be at Reenactor's Fest in Wheeling, IL the weekend of Feb. 8th with most of these, if anyone is in the area and wants to stop and say hi.
 
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