Fabric Identification - 60's cocktail dress

[Of Dust and Wonder]

Hey there! I've combed through the fabric resource here, and am still stumped in regards to the fabric of this 60's cocktail dress. It has no label (seems handmade to me), the fabric is iridescent gold/ochre, very lightweight, and wrinkles easily (this is as smooth as I could get it with extensive steaming). It feels like natural fiber content, perhaps silk? Any thoughts are more than welcome, thanks friends!

 

[bycinbyhand]

A close up picture of the fabric would really help.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Lovely dress, but I am not seeing 1960s in particular, nor does it really appear to be a cocktail dress. What I can see looks like a simple Indian or Pakistani garment, possibly meant for wearing with slender matching pants. Could be from almost any decade from the 1950s to 1990s. Could be a simple classic style dress made up from Asian fabric, made in almost any decade of the last 50 years. I am not saying you could not wear this to a cocktail party, but just that it does not have the right look for that category.

Yes, a close up of the fabric will help. It is probably silk but a burn test of a few threads will tell that for sure.

 

[Robin of Frocksley]

I am seeing the same style influences as Barbara. Good luck with the fabric!

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

I also agree with Barbara.

 

[retro ruth]

It reminds me very much of fabric I've seen from India in the form of scarfs and possibly saris. Could be silk but often they were convincing artificial silk, ie rayon. As Barbara suggests, a burn test would help you work out which it is.

The traditional garments with matching pants that Barbara describes, usually have slits either side of the skirt for ease of movement, though perhaps not always. But as this doesn't, it makes me think this could be a made in India dress, rather than a traditional Indian dress. It used to be quite the thing when visiting to get clothes made there, I expect it still is.

 

[Of Dust and Wonder]

Hey all, sorry for my delay! I appreciate your thoughts and totally understand them given the aesthetics of the dress. That said, I purchased it along with lots of other 50's and 60's garments directly from the owner herself at a private Estate Sale-- along with this dress were a couple other dresses of this same "shift" style (that brings Jackie O to mind for me, personally). Here are examples of the same 60's style, two of the three bearing similar eastern touches (which were definitely a trend of the time): admin deleted links
note that the more ethnic looking of these are made by American labels. I should have made a point to attach a picture of the back of this dress (which I can still do, if any of you are interested), because the dress has a kick pleat-- examples I have seen of the Indian garments you've mentioned, do not have such a detail as they were meant to be worn with pants (perhaps side slits, but not a kick pleat).

The owner of my dress commented that she had made several of the garments I purchased, but because this dress was at the bottom of the box it was never specifically discussed-- as aforementioned, I do believe it was made by hand from the lack of label and construction.

I want to be clear, I so appreciate the feedback all of you have given! Learning new things is one of the reasons I love this forum, so much wisdom and info to glean! I'll definitely consider the burn test to test for silk, thanks again, friends!

I have put in the photos of the items that you were referring to and deleted the actual links.

 

[Pinkcoke]

A possibility, is that she may have travelled to India, purchased the fabric there and then made the dress herself from it, using the styles she saw there as part of her inspiration.