I just got this great Paul Sachs dress with a marvelous skirt and pleating. He was such a great designer. The part that goes around the neck--or wherever--is kind of like a strap that widens with more material in the middle and it is too long to be a halter collar. Is it supposed to be doubled over at the neckline? Dropped down and worn around the shoulders? I know he must have had something in mind; he was just so good at his designs. I'm hoping someone else has seen something like this or knows what to do with it. It's hard to see in this picture but you can see that the extra material has been pinned. Any ideas would be appreciated.
With this sort of problem it definetly helps to get a real person to try it on. I would look at a halterneck with the strap crossed over the chest, so X front, and over the shoulders, which would place the wider section down the back no? It would help to show where the straps attach and which direction they start of in, and the shape of the strap laid flat and spread out.
Hi Melanie, Thanks for your thoughts. I had the same inclination to cross it across the front in an X and truthfully I can't see any other way to wear it. It just seems odd to me that the designer would design it that way but maybe so. The straps are sewn on the dress in the front and the back--I would have thought they would hook at one end or the other if they were meant to criss cross like that. But maybe someone has altered it over the years.
Is there one or two straps? I thought there was only one. If you can show photos of where it goes round the back that would be helpful.
I'm sorry, there's just one long strap and it only attaches in the front. Here are a couple of pictures.
It's hard to tell because of the pattern, but it looks as though the strap is made like a collar, with a flat piece forming the neck piece and the larger attached piece forming the 'collar' as it were. From that photo it doesn't look as though it should cross. It could have been made or altered for someone taller - this is where a lot of my extra 'length' is - at the upper chest - I always let straps out and avoid halternecks because they strangle me because they are too short. How long is it from the top edge of the dress?
Hi, So the measurement from the bodice of the dress (edge) to the top of the strap or whatever it is, is 12 inches. Someone would have to be very long necked to have that much distance from their upper chest to their neck, but it could happen I guess.
If the bodice is boned enough to stand up on it's own, it could be a shoulder drape. I have had several of those and they were confusing until I put them on a form with arms.
I agree with Hollis. This is meant to drop onto the top of the arms and sit like a small stole. Very pretty dress!
