Dress by Claire Tiffany - 40s? *UPDATE*

Midge

Midge

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Staff member
So, here's my other find from Denver, apart from the dress and the slip I posted here.

Yet another brilliantly green dress :D. I'm just not 100% sure about dating, there are a few details on this dress that I find a bit confusing, like the sleeve shape, the way the skirt is gathered at the front, no shoulder pads or otherwise emphasis on the shoulders.
My first thought was late 40s. I would love to hear your opinions!

And would you call these sleeves dolman sleeves? The sleeves and bodice are cut in one piece.

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It has front buttons and a side metal zip (marked "Conmar"). The crepe fabric is shiny and rather heavy. Interestingly, the skirt of the dress is only gathered at the waist in the front. At the back, there's no gathering at the waist. No shoulder pads (can't see any trace that there were ever any). Diamond-shaped underarm gussets. The bottom seam is hand-sewn and I'd say that's not original, but I can't tell if someone lengthened or shortened the dress.
There's a bit of discoloration, probably from sunlight. It looks worse in the pictures take with flash, than in reality. Maybe there's also a little bit dirt involved. It's going to the dry-cleaners tomorrow anyway.

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Sleeve detail.

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Collar detail.

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Label. Haven't found a union label in it.

Thanks a lot!

Karin
 
I had an adorable Claire Tiffany suit, and I'm sad to say that this is all that's left!

At the time, I thought it was a heavy weight rayon, unlined. The texture looked like your dress. It was black, with 3/4 sleeves, a Peter Pan collar, and these pretty faceted buttons up the front. It seemed to be in very good condition.

I took it to my local dry cleaners, and when it came back it was in terrible shape. The slightest tug would tear the fabric. There was no way to salvage it. I kept the label and buttons in case I ran across another one.

I sure hope you have better luck!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/21644831@N04/5559527165/
 
Ouch Ookoo - and Karin - lovely dress. Interesting that there's all kinds of Claire Tiffany dresses listed as new for sale in the late 60's - maybe the label was picked up again? No time to research, but here's an obit from a 1936 Wisconsin newspaper that makes you wonder ... and a 1948 advertisement.

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Thanks so much for all your comments! The dry cleaners are closed today *grrr*. So I had a little photo session with myself, since the light today was good enough to allow for pics without flash. It doesn't do the color quite justice though, it's a brighter green - a real kelly green where there's no fading/discoloration.

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It has belt loops, but came without a belt, so I added this golden one which I think is perfect.

@Nicole - interesting - I've never seen a skirt shaped like this, but I must say it's quite flattering - the line at the backside from the waist down is very sleek, and at the front, there's a bit more of a "swingy" feeling thanks to the gathering. I was looking for bright colors, as I love them, so this is one lucky find.

@Poppy - no shoulder pads at all.

@Ookoo - that is too bad! The dry cleaner I was going to be taking it to is a special one - they do all the sequinned things too, and they did a perfect job on two 40s dresses of mine - one a light crepe dress with sequins and glass beads on it, and the other one a cotton velvet.

@Amanda - thanks for the ad and the obit. Very interesting. I wonder if the "reflection crepe" in the ad is what my dress is made of. The one in the ad looks and sounds very yummy too - and with rhinestone buttons no less!

Karin
 
It's in that 1952-53 era. I swear Lucy Ricardo wore something similar.
 
I just had an interesting experience with this dress and can see why cleaning this material could be difficult. I accidentally got a spritz of perfume on it. That left a small mark, like a ring. I tried to dab that out with a damp soft cloth - very, very carefully as I didn't want to ruin the fabric's sheen. To put it simply, it doesn't react well to water! The fabric started shrink and get hard... :o! Well, I guess I saved it... kept dabbling it dry with a soft dry towel and tugging it gently. The perfume mark is still there though, but no other damage done. I've never seen a fabric react like this to water, but maybe this is no news for you guys?

Karin
 
Interesting you should say that Midge! I had the same thing happen when i was 11 or 12 with a dancing costume! We were all dressed up in these weird kingfisher blue skirts and just before we went on stage i dropped squash all down it, we then tried desperately to get off the stain with water only for it to crinkle up and go hard (almost crispy) it looked like it had been attacked by an over hot iron.

This was over ten years ago (hence not being able to remember exactly what the fabric was) but i still clearly remember my dance teacher going mad at me and making me pay for a new skirt!
 
Just a small update on this one - I picked the dress up from the dry cleaner's yesterday - and it came out as good as new! No harm done to the fabric. And even though there is some color fading from light , as I had suspected, there has also been quite a bit of soiling involved, like inside the collar. It came out as good as new, the inside of the collar looks much nicer now than on my pics. And the color, where it hasn't faded, is the most brilliant, bright green I've ever seen in any garment! It certainly puts my other green dresses to shame :hysterical: .

That dry cleaner might be on the other end of the city, but this has definitely shown me that it's worth carrying my vintage treasures over there. It's a small family-run business, and they do absolutely excellent work. I admit I was a little apprehensive about having this dress cleaned, but they were very confident when I brought it in and explained how the fabric reacted to water, and told me that cleaning this dress shouldn't pose a problem.

Karin
 
that is lovely, Karin, and that color is SO fabulous on you!

a really good cleaner is worth their weight in gold. congrats on having found a "keeper" (both the cleaner AND the dress!)
 
Wow, a good dry cleaner, how rare is that? It's almost worth flying to Zurich with a case full of dresses... take good care of them Karin! Take them gifts!

That sounds like scary fabric. No eating, drinking or going out in the rain in this dress...

Sarah
 
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