I bought this vintage gold gown at an antique store and I am wondering how old it is. The material is very silky but I have not done the burn test yet so I do not know exactly what it is. The zipper is metal but because it is handmade, I'm not sure if this helps with dating. One thing that makes me think it's older is the extra fabric on the back of the dress. It has a ruched bust and all the seams are machine sewn and then hand finished. The work is very good on it. It's floor length and it has a very sleek silhouette. Any help would be great.
Very nice. At first glance I would think it is late 1930's. I am sure it originally had a jacket or bolero to go with it. The fabric appears to be rayon satin. I hope others weigh in. Marian
I was going to say 1940s, A central back zipper is unusual in the 30s, and not very common in the 40s. And I think that bustle-back effect was a 1940s thing? As Marian says, I also hope others weigh in.
It has a few elements of earlier in the 1940s, and even 1930s elements (back ruffle, gathered bust,) but that back zipper is throwing it off. However it is hard to be sure as it is very wrinkled and hung up on a hanger, and we cannot see the actual silhouette of the skirt and way it falls from the waist area. I cannot see where the waist seam is (if there is one), or how wide the skirt is. These 2 clues alone are very helpful to us in dating it. If you can iron it and show it on a person or mannequin that would be very helpful. I think perhaps it was made in the late 40s by someone who still liked the earlier styles. Possibly it may have been altered from an earlier dress, with the zipper added at a later date. Can you tell if the skirt is bias cut? If so, then it is likely altered from an earlier time (1930s), as a zipper would not appear on a bias cut dress. Ditto if it has a high waist seam which is another 30s element. The bustle back started in the very late 1930s out of Paris, and then was revived again after the war ended. Is it just a row of ruffle there, or is it a true bustle back? Again, we cannot tell with the way you show it. I agree it looks a lot like rayon satin.
My initial reaction was late 1930's. I have seen and handled dresses from that period with center back zippers - and bustles but this zipper looks a little bit later so the dress may be from the '40's. All of Barbara's suggestions would help in dating as would a another close-up or the zipper pull and the label on it. Thanks for sharing this find with us! Linn
Hi Barbara! I ironed out the dress but unfortunately I don't have a mannequin to put it on so I just put it back on the hanger to show the waist seam. I can't find a measuring tape but I will take some measurements when I get one. It is a row of ruffles. It's pretty high up.
Hi Linn! I took some more pictures of the zipper. It's a Lightning zipper and appears to be brass. There is quite a bit of tarnish on it.
I'm pretty sure it has not been altered as the same gold thread that attaches the zipper to the dress appears everywhere else.
Interesting dress. It has elements of late '30s design but you can see that it's been tweaked a little: the neckline has been stitched down to emphasise the sweetheart, and the safety pin on the reverse of the ruching is either to pull it in more, or to support the stitching that may be coming away. The three darts at the side of the bust look '30s but the wide straps look more '40s. It could be (as Barbara suggests) a late '40s dress inspired by '30s styles, but I think it's probably a late '30s dress that was updated in the late '40s. The main reasoning for this is that zipper that is giving Linn pause for thought - you can see that it's not original as the stitching should go all the way up to the top and be secured under the facing, instead of being sewn on top of it. They've done a good job on matching thread colour, but a good seamstress will do that. I also think the skirt has less fullness than it should, if it was late '30s and maybe some of the fabric has been taken out to create wide straps - you can see that on the back, they're on top of, rather than underneath the facing too. It may have had thin straps originally, that wore out (they also went out of fashion and fail to cover your bra straps so all good reasons to replace). I agree with Marian, in that it's rayon satin. Here's a '30s dress and jacket set that has some similarities to how I think your dress would have been. It has press studs up the centre back. I think your dress was likely larger originally, which is why you can't see signs of the original opening. The zipper looks late '40s too. Here's the back opening
Hi Nicole! What you said makes a lot of sense. Thank you for the help with dating it! I wish I had the bolero that went with it but sadly no such luck. I found something else on the skirt and I am not sure what it is. There are two triangles that are different on either sides. They look completely random.
Joji, back in the '30s and '40s, fabric widths weren't as wide as they are now (they didn't have the technology) so long flared skirts necessitated triangular inserts like these. It's further proof that you have an older dress, but the lack of fullness now is also suggestive that fabric has been removed from it to make it less full.
Good news, my sister has agreed to try it on so we can see the silhouette. I forgot to mention that the front of the dress is very sleek but at the back there are pleats. It looks as if the skirt was pulled tight in the front and the the extra fabric was gathered under the ruffle in the back. Was this done at a later date? The ruffle doesn't exactly fit in with the sleek bias cut silhouette.
