Hoping for help with date and fabric!

R

RowanVintage

Registered Guest
I recently thrifted this dress, but I can't identify the fabric and I'm having a hard time dating it.

It is an unlined halter dress made of a silky, fairly heavyweight fabric with no stretch that almost has a ribbed look. There are no labels whatsoever. I'm including a close-up of the fabric. Any thoughts on age and/or the fabric would be so appreciated. Thank you!

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The dress looks early 1970's - about 1972 or 1973 to me, and the fabric looks like a faille or an ottoman. It could be cotton, silk, rayon or a blend. Any place you can snip it to do a burn test?

Linn
 
Thanks so much!

I was leaning toward 70s, so it's good to know I probably wasn't completely in left field. The dress has the tiniest seam allowances ever, but I think you're right--it's probably worth finding a bit to snip so I can test it.

Thank you again for your help :)
 
My dating is close to Linn's: mid '70s, about '74-75. Of course, the US was probably ahead with this trend so it could have appeared earlier there.

The fabric looks like polyester double knit but I doubt that very much: I agree that a burn test would help a lot, because my other guess would be cotton. It looks a bit lightweight to be a faille or an ottoman, and these fabrics were rarely used for styles like this but a home dressmaker might use the fabric if she was fond of it - they're usually used for dressier styles or evening wear.
 
Rowan (sorry - I don't know your name if it's not Rowan) described the fabric as "silky, fairly heavyweight fabric with no stretch that almost has a ribbed look." I think it is a horizontal rib weave, and most likely cotton. A burn test will be conclusive. I've seen this type of fabric used as uphlostery on dining and occassional chairs and as drapery. I agree with Nicole that most dresses in this style were made in a more "casual" fabric. I had one in blue and white seersucker!
 
I'm also going to say early 70s. I went to a wedding in 73 and had almost the identical dress in navy with white dots.
 
The dress looks 70s to me. It seems like when I look at a 70s label about 75% of the time it is a synthetic fiber.
 
I found an example of the type of fabric that I had been referring to from one of our fellow members here.

Ang of Dorothea's Closet and who is ScarletBirdVintage on Etsy - she has this dress with the original hang tag.

The example I had and sold - had more defined ribbing...I can't say for sure with yours as I am not handling it. But you can take a look at this photo and you can see the slight ribbed effect on her dress.

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You're all fantastic!

Thank you so much for helping with this mystery.

Mary Jane, I think you're onto something with the acetate. That fabric has a similar sheen that is hard to capture in pictures but is just like my dress. I should have been better with my description--I know it's not cotton and am about 95% sure it's a synthetic of some kind. I think the acetate is the winner :)

Thank you all again!!

Finn
 
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