H Bar C dress--is it really from the 40s?

[Trish]

Hi, friends,
I have a beautiful dress, whose label matches one in the resources, attributed to the 1940s. I was thinking the era was more 1970s, but I thought I'd double check with you.

The dress has a white coil zipper with a painted white metal slider by Talon. It also has a silver metal hook and eye closure above the zipper. The side seams of the dress are serged, but the ruffles have raw edges. The hem is hand sewn. The fabric has a tiny bit of a seersucker look and feel because the plaid fabric has rows of white top stitching that adds texture.

I appreciate your expertise!
Trish

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

I generally associate that sort of dress with square dancing, and find it a little hard to date as styles don't change much - is the zipper on the side or centre back? If centre back (as I suspect because you mentioned a hook) I think it might be '50s - you probably know that labels were often used for a period of time and just because one was found in a '40s dress, it doesn't automatically mean that all dresses with that label are '40s.

It looks like the sleeves have lost their elastic - also, I would call that a plaid check rather than a seersucker. Seersucker is a textured fabric with puckers. You can see the Fabric Resource entry here.

 

[Trish]

Thanks, Nicole. That makes sense!