I have 3 dresses that were all dated to early 1960s by members of this site, and all 3 dresses have the same hems. Each one has some sort of ribbon over the hem stitching, and two of these dresses have that same ribbon attached at the shoulders for hanging. I've attached a picture of all 3 dress hems. My question is, is this typical of dresses from the early 60s? Could I use this as a means of dating other dresses with a similar hem style? Thank you!
You can call it a ribbon hem. I would be more inclined to use the material of the ribbon instead of the hem itself.
Although the dress hems on the red and orange dresses are very neat and do look original, it is possible that the dresses have been shortened since hem lengths went up in the early '60's. I would not use ribbon hems to date early '60's dresses. I think that it's very likely that the Jonathan Logan pink polka-dot dress was longer originally. https://forums.vintagefashionguild.org/threads/dating-johnathan-logan-dress.63166/ You mentioned that you found two of the pieces at the same place - did you find all of them there? If so maybe they belonged to the same person originally. All great finds and very wearable today!
Ribbon tape hems were a popular technique in the US for commercially made garments in the early '60s, but were not necessarily used by home sewers or in other countries. We didn't use it in Australia for example. Your pink polka dot hem has been taken up - you can see the line where it was originally.
Yes, I did find all 3 of these dresses in the same location, in a Goodwill store. I thought definitely the solid colored dresses belonged to the same person. The pink polka dot is a few sizes smaller, but I imagine it could still have belonged to the same person as well. I think I am incorrect and that the solid colored dresses are wool crepe. I agree in that the solid colored dresses seem more for a college student than a teenager. I fit into both and they really are such classy ladylike dresses that could still be worn today. The dress form doesn't do them justice.
