Is this dress made in Barkcloth and if so...why...and how would you describe these sleeves?

[laurenm]

Hi all,
Another Bernard Cowan fabrication....I had a Kon Tiki pantsuit by him, but this label is different, and definitely from Toronto....was everyone using the Toronto city hall building on their labels??

Anyway, I'm assuming 1960s ( a shift dress???) and am wondering if this is barkcloth....it's sort of like a flour sack material....it seems a strange fabric choice??
Would you term these cap sleeves?
Thanks everyone,
Lauren

 

[laurenm]

Oh, and I found a reference to "House of Cowan" but can't find anything else about them.

 

[EndlessAlley]

Check the VFG Fabric Resource Guild. They have an excellent close-up image of woven barkcloth that might answer your questions.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

Hi,

Cute! It definitely isn't barkcloth. It looks like linen, and I know that weave but the name escapes me at the moment.

B

 

[themerchantsofvintage]

Try checking hopsack cloth in the resource, as well - or one of its variants. Cute dress!

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

I agree with linen for the fabric - and I'm not sure that I'd call those sleeves at all, it's more of an extended shoulder line.

 

[laurenm]

butchers linen?

 

[Pinkcoke]

faux-cap sleeves perhaps

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

Lauren, I may be way off base here, but I'm not convinced this dress is 60s.... What sort of zipper does it have, and how are the seams finished off? That shoulder line seems somewhat out of character for the 60s. Of course, I'm not at all familiar with the Bernard Cowan label, and this could well be a typical style for that company in the 60s. And, do you have it pinned at all, or is the shape as it naturally occurs?

I agree that this looks like linen and is not barkcloth.

(And, too, I'm one who thought a mid 60s dress was late 50s, though I do think the styling on that one was really outdated by the mid 60s!)

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

I agree with Anne, i don't see 60s here, i see a much more current dress made of a retro inspired print. and i also agree, definitely not barkcloth, it appears to be linen, to me, as well.

that shoulder treatment has been referred to as Nicole suggests, as an extended shoulder, and also as an extended sleeve cap.

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

i see a much more current dress made of a retro inspired print.

That's what I was thinking, too, Mary--glad I'm not crazy! (Well, I am, but not about this, I don't think!)

The print is really retro, but the colors also seem "off" to me for 60s. I actually, when I first saw this, thought 80s or early 90s, but the maker's label does look of an older style. Another conundrum, perhaps....

 

[sMarie]

It looks 60s to me.

 

[laurenm]

okay, so the Union Label (which I should have included prior) dates it 1968-1984 according to the ebay ILGWU guide.
Here are some pictures of the seams etc...sorry they are not the greatest....Lauren

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Thank you for the extra photos: I date this dress as very late '60s to very early '70s, about '68 to '72. Whilst these styles came back in the early to mid '90s, the construction of this one with the facing and line of stitching to hold it down, near the seam line, puts it at an earlier date. I wore little frocks like this as a child, but I agree that the extended shoulder line treatment is unusual for this time.

 

[MyVintageCocktail]

Thanks for the additional photos. I still don't think it's 60s, but I would say 70s is do-able!