Hi everyone, back with another query. I am now getting to my coats and jackets pile which I saved till last as we are heading towards winter. I have this rather interesting jacket. The only label is the main nape label 'Design Ten' who I have never heard of. As you can imagine a search of Design Ten bring up many things, all related to top ten's... which is amusing but frustrating. It has a great deal of panelling, it is a wool crepe fabric with silk lining, has pretty milky white glass flower buttons and padding to the shoulders with very heavy wadding type padding to the hips. It also seems to have extra fabric for a pointed style bust. I do recall I had an early 90's JPG jacket which had padded hips. This jacket has me slightly confused as there are parts I recognise as 80's in the styling and other parts which seems earlier/later. All help appreciated. Would really love to know if anyone recognises or can find any more info on the designer/design house, it is a very high quality construction I can't imagine they only made a few items. I have one item item by this designer, a gorgeous blue and white cape, which has a 60's/70's feel to it. Thanks again, Gem
Thank you for the reply. It is tricky showing it on the form as it is a large size (approx uk 18) and it has the pointed bust so if i pin it it really looses the overall shape. Hope the pic below helps, I tried a few different things and this seemed to be the best of the bunch.
I remember, in a tailoring class decades ago, that the instructor insisted, that a student needed padded hips on her suit jacket because she had a top-heavy-no hips figure. Maybe it was in the early 50's? I admit she looked great in it. Marian
Thanks Marian, I have found a lot of references to jackets with hip pads from the 50's, I bought several lots in an auction and most seemed to be early 80's with a few late 70's. The coats though, mostly look earlier periods so am trying to work our if they are later (as in the other items) with just earlier styling or if they are indeed earlier. It can be quite tricky at times, I was also wondering if anyone had heard of 'Design Ten' before as that could help with dating, Gem
When I first looked at this, I saw a jacket from the late 40s to very early 50s. I think of Dior, who is often credited with introducing hip pads in women's suit jackets in his early lines in the late 1940s. Recall those soft rounded shoulders, tiny wasp waists and padded full hip lines which all created that classic Dior " New Look" silhouette. All worn with a corset no less. Can you show us the shoulder pads? I myself do not recall hip pads in women's suits jackets in the 90s and I was quite the clothes horse at the time. Guess I missed that trend! Judging by the large bust, this was likely a custom made garment. Just a guess, but that pointy full chest does not seem to be a ready-to-wear feature.
Hi Barbara, thanks so much for taking the time to look into this, I think the 90's hip pads may have been pretty much exclusive to JPG with perhaps one or two others but I don't remember it being a big fad. I have a few pics but the padding is inside the lining, I'm hoping you will be able to decipher enough to be of use, I actually realised that the shoulder padding is in two parts coming further down the sleeve than I first though. There is one pad which seems closer to a modern shoulder pad and then another slighter further down even slimmer. I also looked again at the hip pads and found that there is a main hip pad which is very bulky and then a further pad around part of it and further to the side One last thing I noticed is that the buttons seem molded, they also have a gold tone metal shank
Thanks for replying, could you tell me what makes you think this? Is it just the styling? or any other tell tales signs? I usually pretty good on 80's-90's. The detail that I thought closely resembled 80's on this jacket were the pockets which remind me of some of the leather jackets in the early-mid 80's. I struggle more with very early 80's and before then. This one has me a bit stumped. I have one more item by Design Ten (A check cape) but it looks 70's possibly even 60's to me. I don't recall seeing the same shoulder pads in the 80's either, they usually seemed pretty square in the shoulder design whereas these ones graduate and slope down the shoulder. Are you familiar with this style of shoulder padding? Edit: On a quick search I realise that those pocket arrows have been around since at least the 40's. I do remember seeing them a fair amount in the 80's though in conjunction with the sloping shoulder style. Did you ever come across 'Design Ten'?
Another question. How long are the sleeves? Are they full length, or more 3/4? I was assuming the buttons were glass, is this the case? The sloping shoulder pads are a "New Look" Era feature, which is why I asked about seeing the pads. So would 3/4 length sleeves, if that is the case. And the padded hips. While I do see features of the 80s' 90s, the padding and sleeves just keep me coming back to the 40s 50s. I would love to hear more folks chime in.
Hi, thanks for coming back to this, The fabric is a crepe, i assume a wool crepe. Edit: The buttons are actually glass! My mistake, I just checked. I think because they are a milky colour it threw me. Also the sleeves are definitely 3/4 length.
Interesting jacket. I see elements both from the late '40s and also the early '80s. The second era was greatly influenced by the first so I find that you can rely on construction details and fabrics to help discern, when the style is confusing you. Firstly, that looks like a home made label to me, something you could embroider on your sewing machine. I'd be interested to see the other garment you have with the same label. Good luck googling that name though. If you search business name registrations in the location where you found it, or newspaper archives in that location you might get lucky. If it's an '80s professional garment there should be other labels, perhaps in a pocket or side seam: care, fabric, country of origin etc. The label does not look like a '40s label to me, and whilst there are '40s style elements the overall effect looks more '80s I think. Next is fabrics: can you determine what the lining is made of? Is it silk or acetate or polyester? That shininess is more in keeping with an '80s silk than a '40s as '40s jackets tend to be lined with rayons and acetates. It might even be worth unpicking a seam and snipping a small bit for a burn test. Lastly: construction. Here's where the shoulder pads will tell all because if you can sight them (unpick the hem, turn inside out) there's a big difference between '40s and '80s shoulder pads in shape, materials and construction. If you're not sure, post pics and we can help. In any case, I agree it was bespoke and is high quality, well made.
Thanks so much for your reply, There are definitely no other labels at all, I will have a check to see if there are any part to the seams which could be unpicked without causing any issues, this may be the best way to date it! I am pretty sure that the larger pads to the hips and shoulder are a foam type with the smaller pads being more of a wadding type. The other garment I have looks 60's-70's (in style) to me, I will post a couple of pics of this one too. I also thought the lining looked more modern, I am certain it is a silk satin. It was bought from an auctioneers in the uk, I will see if I can find a registry local to the auctioneers of business names, though it might be a big task if we have a 40-50 year window. Thanks again, I will surely be back very soon.
I signed up to British National News archives but unfortunately could find no references between 1940- present for the name 'Design Ten'. Taken a few more pics as i took the drastic step of unpicking the lining at the hem (hand sewn so can easily be sewn back) The wadding looks fairly recent to me. The pads are made up of three layers, there is a fine layer of what looks to be an early foam, sandwiched between two layers of wadding for the shoulder pad and hips pads. They are round in shape with a cut for flexibility. The white wadding definately looks later than 40's to me, i'm sure I have been using this since the 80's. I have been a keen (inconsistent) home sewer since the 80's and I do not remember seeing foam like this before when I have bought shoulder pads/foam for projects. The holes are much wider and it is more plastic and heavy than the foam I am used to using and seeing on articles of the 80's. But i'm also aware that padding in the 40's was made of very different stuff so i'm left stumped again. I have re checked the auction lots on the auction I won these items from and most of the lots of coats were cited as being 50's-70's (mostly 60's). Shoulder padding, two main sections Shoulder padding, close up on interfacing Close up of foam centre Hip padding/wadding
Hi Nicole, I have added the pictures of the padding in the post above now. I think it's safe to assume this is not 40's, however i'm very unsure of the date of this early type of foam in a thin layer between the wadding. Any idea when foam was first introduced? Maybe before it became widely commercial?
Thanks for the extra pics. I agree that they indicate a modern date, perhaps '80s or more recent. The layers suggest that the seamstress may have inserted and secured padding and then added more as per the customer's desire. It's easier than taking it all out and creating one pad the right size.
Thanks so much for your patience, you have all been so helpful! I will take the knowledge I have learnt about the padding and ensure I check first in future before posting. I have written an email to the auctioneers to see if I can find out any more about the provenance of the clothing lots I won at this particular auction. I have already been told it was all from one deceased estate. As many of the items had 'The White House' labels I am wondering if the estate owner had a strong connection to the store. I will update The White House thread I created if I hear some information. It would be nice to credit the person who potentially brought in so many wonderful items to the market.
Just to add I sold an 80s/90's jacket with strong hip pads like this, mine was commercially made however and the pads were sewn on top of the lining (covered though). Gem I have padded out my mannequin to larger sizes before by wrapping a medium towel around it and tying with string. You can fold as required to create different thicknesses.
Fantastic advice! thank you. And very interesting that you also had one which is a later period. May I ask who the designer was? P.s I do love stripes, especially blue and white! Really love that double layer detail on the jacket too.
