It's not silk but . . . . .

catwalkcreative

catwalkcreative

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It\'s not silk but . . . . .

Ok, so it's not silk or wool but in the 1950's the manmade fibre, Crimplene gave freedom to thousands. Crimplene (polyester) is a thick yarn used to make a fabric of the same name. The resulting cloth is heavy, wrinkle-resistant and retains its shape well. Britain's ICI Laboratory developed the fibre in the early 1950's and named it after the Crimple Valley in which the company was situated.

I know some would shudder at the mere thought of wearing manmade fibres but I thought it would be fun to provide a few examples of how elegant it can look. I found some wonderful advertisements from the late 1960's which demonstrate this perfectly.

Paris inspired wrap-over dress by Frank Usher in Crimplene. Cost £14
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Black coat with white edging and matching dress by Alison Jane in quilted look Crimplene jersey. Cost: 14 gns (guineas)
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Leisure trouser suit by Jersey Match in Crimplene. Cost: £14
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Paris inspired sleeveless dress and jacket by Cojana in Crimplene. Cost: £39. 10s (shillings)
crimp1.jpg


The suit is my favourite. Looks cute with that red bag too.
 
Interesting info Louise: I hadn't realised that it was invented so early. I've seen some really cute '60s dresses made of Crimplene, although I'm another one who doesn't like to wear the fabric, some of the styles are really young and fun.

Nicole
 
that Cojana suit is SO cute!! and thank you for the wonderful information; honestly, i've never heard the term Crimplene before. actually, never heard of Cojana before, either.

good to know.
 
Crimplene may be a UK thing: actually, silly me - Louise has told us it is! We get a lot of it here in Aus, perhaps because we got so many UK immigrants in the '50s and '60s (heck, that's when my grandparents came out to Sydney).

Nicole
 
Thanks for your replies on this. Just to add that I've got a long evening skirt which happens to be an 'Alison Jane' label (same as the black and white dress above). My skirt is made from Terylene (another ICI company). Here's the info I found:

Terylene was the first wholly synthetic fibre invented in Britain. It was created by the chemist J R Whinfield of Accrington (Lancashire) in 1941. In 1942 the rights were sold to ICI (DuPont in the USA, where it is called Dacron) and bulk production began in 1955. Since 1970 it has been the most widely produced synthetic fibre, often under the generic name polyester.

It is made by polymerizing ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid (YUK)!!! Cloth made from Terylene keeps its shape after washing and is hard-wearing.

Here's my long evening skirt by Alison Jane. It's quite elegant too don't you think?

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teri4.jpg
 
Interesting! Love that Cojana suit too!

I have a few vintage pieces from this fabric in my wardrobe - I don't mind wearing it :saint:. And it's so easy to care for :duh: - literally wash & wear.

Though my mum, who was young at the time, shudders at the mere thought of wearing this too.

Karin
 
Crimplene came to the U.S. too. I have an Edith Flagg dress, made in California from imported fabric:

flagglate60sdressookoo.jpg


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Originally posted by CircaVintageClothing
Interesting skirt Louise - the print looks very much like black assuit, don't you think? I wonder if that's the look they were going for.

Nicole
Click to expand...

I hadn't thought of assuit fabric but now you come to mention it, I think it does have that 'look'. :scratchchin:
 
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