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Dating 1930s embroidered blouses vs later?

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Vintage Fashion - Ask Questions Get Answers' started by topazera, Aug 19, 2020.

  1. topazera

    topazera Registered Guest

    So, thanks to a lucky find in a thrift store last year, I happened to get into embroidered peasant blouses! I’ve been keeping my eye out and have picked up a couple new additions over the course of this summer and I’ve been wondering if anyone had any tips for distinguishing between the decades?

    I’ll start with the one I’m wondering the most about dating atm. It’s made of a fine, sheer cotton with hand embroidered flowers on the front and sleeves and smocking done at the neck, sleeve and bottom. It has French seams and small rolled hems. The smocking is evenly spaced but it does seems to begin and end at random places. The smocking is also looser at the sleeve and bottom than the other examples I have. It has small bound holes for a matching tie at the neck. There aren’t any press snaps on the side of the bottom band.
    IMG_3785.JPG IMG_3782.JPG IMG_3787.JPG IMG_3800.JPG IMG_3786.JPG IMG_3791.JPG IMG_3799.JPG

    The difference looking at an older blouse (like this one) vs one from the 60s/70s seems pretty clear but what about distinguishing between the 30s and 40s/50s? Do you mainly go by the type/quality of the fabric and the embroidery when trying to date? I’ve seen 1970s Hungarian blouses that look really close to a 1930s design but they’re on a much thicker cotton (or cotton/poly) and the embroidery has been simplified in comparison. Or are there silhouette changes between the different decades? For example, I’m not sure if there’s certain times they did a collar more than the embroidered band around the neck or had the press snaps at the side bottom vs not. Or are these difficult to specifically date as a handmade, folk item?

    So many of the examples I’m looking at online get labeled as 1930s but I’d love to know if anyone has hallmarks they look for that really say 30s vs 40s vs 50s vs later! Thanks so much for any help!
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2020
    Retro Ruth and denisebrain like this.
  2. Rue_de_la_Paix

    Rue_de_la_Paix VFG Member

    Its lovely. I get a 60s 70s vibe from this blouse. What differences are you referring to in your statement?

    "The difference looking at an older blouse (like this one) vs one from the 60s/70s seems pretty clear".
     
  3. topazera

    topazera Registered Guest

    Oh, hmm, maybe I've been generalizing too much! I was thinking that this kind of delicate, gauze-y cotton faded out of use before the 60s/70s? A lot of the peasant blouses listed as 60s/70s online are the sturdier and more opaque cottons but yeah, that could just be a sign that makes people say it's newer and not a sign that the more delicate ones are older.

    What in particular makes this look 60/70s? I'd like to learn how to look at these and have a better sense of when they're coming from!
     

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