chemise from Paris

Better Dresses Vintage

Better Dresses Vintage

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Hi everyone -- Here's the chemise w/ care symbols I mentioned (haven't had a chance to call number Ginetex sent me to learn orig. date of "P" in dry-clean circle).

The woman I bought this from (along with many other items, all of which have checked out as era-correct, so no dishonesty here) said she bought it herself as a teen on her only trip to Paris, in 1965. Of course, memories can be unreliable. But she didn't make any other mistakes. So what do you think? I like the darts and seaming.

Thanks!

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It could be '60s, yes although personally I haven't seen "polyamide" on a label earlier than the '80s. I wouldn't be surprised if it was used in France earlier but the English words on the label suggest this was made for export (unless polyamide and nylon are the same in French of course).
 
Hi Nicole,

The words are identical in French and English, yes.

I had no reason to doubt the woman's testimony. Everything else she told me about the other items has proved true, and considering what I paid for it (very little, indeed), there was no incentive for her to create an elaborate story. I'd only thought that perhaps her memory had possibly failed. So if you say it could be mid-60s, then I will list it confidently, according to her story.

It's really quite a sexy and sweet little number. I'm sure no one around here would have complained were I to just keep it ; ).

Thanks,

Liza
 
Liza, I'm sure she has no reason to mislead but I find that you can't necessarily depend on the original owner's assessment of how old something is - you're right to make up your own mind.

Just the other day a lady emailed me asking if I'd like to buy some things her mother bought in the UK in the '70s - I wasn't familiar with the designers so I googled and discovered that one does not make clothes, only shoes (!) and only been in business since the '80s and the second only started in the '90s. I'm not sure when they were bought, but it can't have been the '70s. I've also met lots of old ladies who tell me their clothes are from the '20s when they're clearly '70s or '80s.

You may still get some queries on the age of your chemise: when I say it "could" be '60s, I mean that it's more likely to be '70s or even '90s but on the style, fabric and labelling it may well be '60s and as you have no reason to doubt the owner, it's fair enough to go with that assessment. I remember seeing fabric like that in the early '70s, I had a doll with a dress made of the same print.
 
Hi Nicole,

I know exactly what you mean about some of the very old ladies getting their items mixed up. My own mom got very angry with me (not all that unusual) because I informed her that no, mom, you couldn't have worn these shorts on your trip to Mexico in 1957, because they are from the 70s. Pointing out the '74-'95 ILGWU tag did nothing but piss her off further. I said, "I don't doubt you wore similar shorts, but these are not they. Unless you traveled to Mexico in a way-back time machine." Of course I dropped it, as there is no winning an "argument" like that, is there?

But the chemise lady was barely 10 years older than I and not remotely "out of touch." She gave me stories about every item I bought, and they all made sense. Nothing seemed fishy and she seemed quite "with it." There were just a lot of factors that added up to my believing her, but remaining skeptical until you guys chimed in with an "it's possible" response. For one thing, I don't think (and she let it be known), that she couldn't fit more than a leg into this thing in over 20 years.
 
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