Assistance Dating a Dress

jauntyrooster

jauntyrooster

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Have been trying to date this one on my own but am getting conflicting signals from the style - how early did woman wear sleeveless dresses like this? Dress has metal zipper with "Lucky" on it, double layer of ruffles at bottom, single ruffle along skirt wrao, and criss-cross material at bust. There are remants of two labels - one is completely unreadable but is made of material and was is very small. The other is made out of heavy paper(?) and at one time had some handwritten information that is now too washed to read (color, style, size). Let me know if you want some other pics of anything in particular.

As always, thank you so much for your help.

Maureen

Full Front View
frontview.jpg


Bust
chestview.jpg


Close up of waist with ruffle
waistview.jpg
 
What fabric is it, do you think? That would be helpful as to dating it. Is it a rayon, polyester, cotton??? And is it a knit or a woven fabric? It is hard to tell from the photos, although the straps look velvet. And is the ruffle trim original to the dress?

It has the look of a couple different eras to me, and knowing the fabric, or your best guess at that, could help a great deal.
 
Where is the zipper located, side or back?

Seems like I have a little summer floral house dress, with a lucky zipper up the center front. I always thought of it as 40s.
 
Those are great questions. I am dunce about material so please bear with me. Will try to describe.

The material appears to be woven to me. There is no velvet on the dress - although I wish there was since I would actually know what it was! It isn't a fancy material for sure - and it almost has "rough look" to it but upon touch, it is much smoother than it appears but not smooth like satin, etc. The dress is lined in a satin like material but it is def not satin. If you look at the picture of the bust and you see that little bit of shine - that is actually there. It reminds me of a busness suit I had that started to get that shine after being dry-cleaned a few times.

Ruffle is def original to dress. The wrap on the front is faux and the ruffle is sewn into it very nicely. I would think if it wasn't original, the ruffle would have been sewn onto the hem of the wrap instead of so nicely incorporated into the dress. Could be wrong but it really looks like part of the original dress.

Soooo, this was probably not even remotely helpful. I need to get better with identifying materials. I wish my mom lived closer, she could look from a distance and tell me!

EDIT: Sorry, zipper is on back.

I am just struggling as this appears to have a couple different cues that lead me to different eras.
 
To me, it sounds like you are describing a woven gabardine fabric which could be wool or rayon. I suspect rayon. Iron shine would be a sign of that too.

The lining is probably acetate. Satin is a weave, not a fabric. You can have silk satin, poly satin...etc.

The ruffle looks like organza or organdy. I always mix those up. :BAGUSE:

I am guessing 40s, probably post war.
But do wait for others to weigh in.
 
I think it's '50's with the sort of "shelf bust" effect in the front and the back zipper. The fabric could be a heavy cotton and the ruffle pleated organdy. The lining sounds like it's acetate.

Linn
 
Just checked back in, and I agree with Linn on its being 50s and that it's probably rayon. The ruffle is organdy, yes.

The only thing I have ever found to "fix" iron shine is washing, but most rayon does not hold up well when washed. I had a tie that I ironed till it shone--by mistake.... Washed it in woolite, white vinegar, and cool water, and came out almost like new. I'm not sure what you could do with your dress.... Maybe steam it and while you're steaming it (lightly), take a very, very soft brush, like a baby toothbrush or some such soft thing, or even a soft washcloth, and "brush up" the nap a bit?
 
Agree with 1950s and rayon. Depending on what sort of rayon, it could probably be washed - if you're careful, all rayons can be gently hand-washed apart from crepes, velvets, satins and taffetas* and it doesn't sound like either of those. I agree that the lining sounds like acetate.

Perhaps if you took it to someone who could help you identify the fabric? You could try a dry cleaner, seamstress, fabric shop...then you could safely hand wash and try to remove the iron shine.

Nicole

* some rayon velvets are fine, and you can wash satins and taffetas but they're very hard to press properly afterwards so for that reason I generally dry clean unless they're badly stained.
 
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