Early to mid 30s yellow silk gown?

[EndlessAlley]

Looking in my reference books the sleeves on this gown remind me of styles from the early to mid '30s'. However, my gown, other than the sleeves, is more simple in design than what I've looked at. Hems, including neckline and hems on sleeve ruffles are all hand sewn. There is simple pleating at neckline, and the horizontal seams added just above the waist.
The back is a simple deeper "v" cut. Gown is a slip on with no buttons, nor zippers, It appears to be daffodil yellow silk.

What date do you think this gown is from? Was it made for evening wear? It's too small for my dress form and will have to display on a hanger. If it is silk is there a safe way to press out the folds without leaving watermarks. I was thinking of using a press cloth with no steam.

Thank you for your help. Alice

 

[MagsRags]

It looks to me like it was inspired by Adrian's Letty Lynton dress, worn by Joan Crawford in the 1932 movie. Macy's sold half a million replicas of that dress and lots of other designers were influenced by it to varying degrees.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

I agree! Maggie that is a wonderful spot on assessment. Also the color and length lead me to think it was worn for afternoon events, such as a garden party, wedding, tea reception, etc.

B

 

[cactusandcattails]

Here is a photo of the Letty Lynton dress courtesy of VFG member Some like it Vintage

http://somelikeitvintage.blogspot.com/2009/02/adrian-letty-lynton-joan-crawford.html

Yummy!

 

[Linn]

I have always wanted to see the movie but knew that there were no copies available and just reading SLV's blog - now I know why! The yellow dress is lovely, Alice.

 

[EndlessAlley]

Thank you for all the interesting and valuable information. How wonderful to know that this gown was more for afternoon events and to connect it with fashion history!!!

One last question, please....
I don't want to mess this up, so is using an iron on dry, light heat with a press cloth the safest way to remove the fold marks from the silk? Or should I just leave it as is?

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Very interesting - I have a '30s white voile gown that I now suspect was inspired by the Letty Lynton dress too - you can see it here.

 

[laughingmagpie]

I have a gown like this one too - the colour is really similar as well. I love it!

So far as ironing it goes - I am by no means an expert in this. But I would be reluctant to either iron or steam the dress unless I had cleaned it first, since sometimes ironing & heat can set things like dirt, stains and dye runs. Once it's clean, I haven't had any trouble pressing silk carefully.

ETA: I just remembered - perhaps if you're not planning to have it cleaned first - a gentle way to remove some of the wrinkles would be too hang the dress in the bathroom while someone has a shower - silk relaxes pretty well in humidity (though maybe not as much as wool) so it might help a bit.

Jen

 

[Linn]

Love your dress, too, Jen - and your fantastic radio or record player cabinet!!!

 

[EndlessAlley]

Beautiful dress Jen and amazing the color is so close to mine. Thank you for the info on ironing (that's what I was afraid of). I'll try steam from the shower.

 

[onceoza]

Here's a pic of an 80's Oscar De la Renta wedding dress with similar sleeves