Help with dating dress please!

Dilly Day

Dilly Day

Registered Guest
Looking for some help with dating a dress that I recently bought on Ebay. It was listed as a 1980s dress but I thought it was possibly 1930s or 40s so took a chance.. It is a pull on style with no fastenings other than the side waist ties and was too small to put on my mannequin, so I'm afraid I had to take the photos of it on a hanger.
At some point it has been badly ironed on the right side so has some shiny marks - would anyone know if they can be removed?
The photos didn't come out terribly well - my camera doesn't seem to like dark fabrics. I don't know what the dress is made of but it is a very finely ribbed silky jersey type material with a sheen to it and it has a nice drape. The close up of the cuff shows the fabric best. The reverse side is slightly smoother and shinier. It is bias cut and has a little stretch to it. I have a pair of CC41 Celanese pyjamas and this fabric seems very similar but with a more defined rib to it. The long sleeves have shaped, turned back cuffs and have non- functioning decorative buttons - I can't squeeze my hand through as the opening is very narrow. The red trim around the neck is in a crepe fabric.
The dress is in good overall condition and looks worse in the photos than it actually is - probably my camera making it look shinier. Sorry if there are too many photos. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
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Thank you all for your input. I have been a-googling trying to find a remedy for "iron shine" & have come across recommendations for using hydrochloric acid (!) or just gently steaming the item. I was wondering if I could risk hand dying the dress black - I'd have to remove the buttons & red crepe trim around the neck but that would be easy as it's hand sewn in place. Just not sure if the fabric would stand up to it, or indeed if it would take up the dye. Any thoughts on this please?
 
I don't think it would react well to chemicals, and I fear that it is also that type of fabric that will not react well to getting wet, which it would if you tried to dye it. If it's rayon, those old rayons shrink up and get hard if they get wet - it pretty much ruins them. And I doubt that dye would cover up any of the iron shine.
It is still a fabulous dress and I would personally leave it as it is and enjoy it as it is.
 
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Sometimes steaming lightly from the inside helps to make iron-shine less noticeable, but I have never found a real cure.
Marian
 
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