Dating a vintage nurses dress/uniform

DeLaBelle

DeLaBelle

Registered Guest
Hi everyone,

I was wondering if I could get some help with dating this nurses uniform
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.420845847935348.100750.107431829276753&type=1

I bought it from an old costume shop and it has written inside "30s-50s" - it seems earlier than the 1950s to me though.
Also there are 2 tags, one with someones (most likely the original wearers) name and the other says "70 Warton St. E. Lewis Fashion Service"

Its extremely well made and has shell buttons.

I've tried to do research but have come up empty.
Any guesses?

thanks,
Delana
 
Are you in the UK? Nursing outfits look significantly different in the UK from North America. The striped blue nursing uniforms pretty well died with the first world war over here, although you could probably find them into the 1920s. This looks English, and I would have said pre war because of the striping, and the shell buttons, but it has been dramatically shortened if that is the case -- it looks more like a nurse outfit from a Carry-On movie! lol
 
I live in Canada and we do have a lot of English people where I live so I find a lot of vintage from England.
 
Also, I just looked at the hem and the stitching matches the rest of the dress - unless it was professionally done really well I guess. Could it maybe have been for a very petite woman? I'm the gal wearing it in the photo and I'm 5'10 - the waist was more on my ribs (boy I had to really suck it in haha)
 
did you see the label though? It was originally made as a nurses uniform. Or do you mean it was later adapted?
 
This is very interesting for me as I also have a vintage English nurses uniform I need to date, though I believe mine is later as it is woollen and has more body to the skirt.

Hmm you've got me started now... You should e-mail the Royal College of Nursing with some pictures of your dress, they have a huge archive here full of pictures of nursing between 1800-1980 and there are plenty showing dresses like yours around the 1920's period (earlier they have quite full balloon sleeves, later they get stiff white cuffs which may be attached or detachable) however the main problem is most of it gets covered up with a collar and long apron so it's very difficult to tell if it is the same dress. The college is more likely to have or have seen period garments on their own and so may be able to tell you when yours would have been in use originally.
 
I could see that it might be wartime and came with a war bride to Canada after the war - a lot of CC41 (English wartime issue) clothes got here that way. I have read and heard first hand stories from women who went into nursing because of the war. However, usually the new nurses ended up in maternity and palliative care to relieve experienced nurses to do the perceived 'more patriotic' jobs of patching up soldiers. That could explain the size, if it was a very young and petite girl of 19 or so, who had entered a nursing course...
 
so interesting.

Thanks for the link Pinkcoke, I'll check it out!

I can't believe how knowledgeable you are Jonathan, amazing!
 
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