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Help dating a handmade floral skirt with unusually old and heavy elastic waistband?

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Vintage Fashion - Ask Questions Get Answers' started by topazera, Nov 29, 2019.

  1. topazera

    topazera Registered Guest

    I’m SO thrilled to have found this forum! I’ve been getting into vintage clothing more in the past year but my knowledge base still isn’t the best and a lot of time I’m picking up new pieces via thrifting so, while I usually have a rough idea, they can remain something of a mystery! I have so many questions.

    Okay, I’ll start with my latest pick up: this floral skirt has an elastic waistband but nothing about it reads as a modern elasticized skirt! The woven elastic waistband is 1 1/2 inches wide, really thick and heavy, it’s ribbed vertically and the ribs are quite stiff. The skirt has pockets with pinked edges. The sewing is also very neatly done, the hem has a line of stitching only on the inside 1/2 from the edge and then the hem is blind on both sides? I don’t even know how you do that, ha! The seam allowance is turned under and straight stitched, it doesn’t seem to have frayed much when you flip it over. The fabric has a sheen to it but isn't shiny, it’s flowy, it doesn’t feel like silk… some sort of synthetic is the best I've got? I’ve never done a burn test, so I don’t know how good I’d be at reading them (though “does this melt” is easy enough) or where I’d grab fabric from since the edges are finished so neatly!

    Any help would be appreciated! Is this 1950s due to the pinking? Would that make sense with the not-quite-typical elastic waist? I really don't have confidence with handmade stuff, I always wonder if maybe someone was just using older materials and/or techniques at a later date and I have it totally wrong...

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    Last edited: Nov 30, 2019
    topazera, Nov 29, 2019
    #1
    Retro Ruth likes this.
  2. Retro Ruth

    Retro Ruth VFG Member Staff Member

    That's always possible - some home sewers still use pinking sheers today, and the ribbed waistband elastic you describe is also still used - it's designed to prevent the elastic from rolling up inside the fabric. Home made pieces can be challenging to date no matter how much experience you have, people use old fabric and old buttons and if they've been sewing for decades often use older techniques like pinking. If you see pinking in a commercially made piece, that's almost always a sign it's older, but in homemade piece there's nothing to say it wasn't done yesterday.

    The fabric sounds like some kind of viscose/rayon. Neither the style or the fabric looks 50s to me - it could be vintage, but not 50s. I don't think elastic waist skirts like this were particularly common before the 1970s, but someone may know differently. It would help to know how long it is - a maxi, or more just-below-knee length?

    I can't quite work out what I think about the dating of the fabric pattern, and I'd be interested to know what others think. Are the colours showing true in the photos? - it looks to me like your photos are slightly yellowed from indoor lighting, and that's throwing me off and making the dyes look like older colours. Of course fabric designs are sometimes reproduced later, which also makes dating difficult.

    It's very nice and as you say very well made. To me this could be 70s 80s 90s or even modern, so I'm not much help. Hope you get some other opinions.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2019
    Retro Ruth, Nov 30, 2019
    #2
  3. topazera

    topazera Registered Guest

    Thanks for the thoughts! I really go back and forth with handmade stuff, from thinking its truly vintage to thinking it was sewn last Tuesday! I know with handmade stuff, you should probably go by the most modern feature but I guess the elastic threw me since I'm not used to such a lightweight fabric having such a stiff elastic? But it is a common waistband choice to prevent rolling, right? Also, I just see careful sewing and assume it must be older, sorry modern seamtresses!! Don't worry, I'm not going to be disappointed if its a totally modern creation, just was curious because it wasn't all adding up to any particular period for me!

    I'll have to try to take a more color accurate picture of the print, you're right that the indoor light was too yellow. It's not a maxi skirt, it falls a couple inches below the knee.
     
    topazera, Nov 30, 2019
    #3
    Retro Ruth likes this.
  4. Retro Ruth

    Retro Ruth VFG Member Staff Member

    I know what you mean about assuming good sewing must be older! I think it's true that there was more of it about.

    This is the kind of elastic that sounds like your description, so yes it probably is a common choice. And home sewers often use was they have to hand even if it's a bit heavy for the fabric. I don't know how long it's been around.

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    Last edited: Nov 30, 2019
    Retro Ruth, Nov 30, 2019
    #4
  5. amandainvermont

    amandainvermont VFG Member

    I see rayon - 70s. I had a number of skirts like that.
     
    amandainvermont, Dec 1, 2019
    #5
  6. anothertimevintageapparel

    anothertimevintageapparel VFG Member

    I am going toward 1980 90s home sewn. I too cant quite determine the fabric. If it is light weight rayon, then I am still seeing 80s or 90 when long floral skirts were in trend
     
    anothertimevintageapparel, Dec 1, 2019
    #6

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