Merry Finn of FINLAND dress! Era? Enlightenment

K

Katie

Registered Guest
Ive only ever seen a couple of items by this designer Merry Finn, Finland and cant find any info on the web so I thought I would share this! Strong similarities of the fabric to Marimekko. Lurve the way the stripe is used as the pleats into the waist
Its a cotton fabric with nylon zip and am guessing early 70's but its a stab in the dark and do like to be sure.
Any thoughts much appreciated :)


4194168363
 
Another fantastic dress! Katie, you really do have an eye!

I would guess early 1970s too. It has an interesting folk or regional dress flavour to it - perhaps it quoted from Finnish traditional costume?

Yes, there's no information about Merry Finn online. I did a search not long ago because I had a cute sunhat of theirs, and had no luck at all.

Sarah
 
What a terrific dress!!!! No info here on the maker, either.... And I agree with everyone on 70s, too. Early, maybe around '72, give or take a year or so. I had some maxi dresses with that neckline and wide-banded waist--does it have ties at the back, or is just a band?
 
the rear view :)

No ties at the back just very similar to the front.
70's it is then. Thanks a bunch!
Happy Christmas to you all!
 
Ok, I looked through my two Finnish fashion books as well, but no mention of Merry Finn either. I've been to Helsinki a few times, and I've been to Vintage and thrift shops there too, but never came across this label.

However, my Google search did turn out a few hits, though nothing looking like your dress, but some other 60s and 70s beauties:

A blog - with more 60s Finnish fashion

Pic on Flickr

And there's cute sailor blouse by Merry Finn on ebay.ca (not sure if I may post the link here).

Karin
 
reply

Hi Karin,
Thanks for flicking through the books thats sweet! Yeh I did see that blouse, no real similarity in the style I didnt think. Funny that there is so little known about this designer as Ive seen probably 2-3 other pieces for sale over the past year. Perhaps I might ask the seller of the piece u mentioned, hmmm. It would be good to know if we are able to post those links?
Thanks heaps,
Katie
 
Its very frustrating that there's no references to look up Merry Finn. I've had a couple of garments from Fenno-Sport, which I think was another Finnish fashion company working in a similar vein, and couldn't find anything about them either! All I found online was a sports drink with the same name! :lol:

Perhaps Marrimekko has overshadowed all its Finnish competitors, which is a real shame because it looks like there was a lot of interesting work going on.

Sarah
 
Ok, I searched a bit further, and went on Google Finland (google.fi) - I admit, my curiosity has been piqued! Helsinki is one of my favourite cities, and Finnish design simply is some of the best. Anyway, I found a few more vintage fashion blogs in Finnish, that show Merry Finn dresses, all probably 60s.

http://pupulihavisto.blogspot.com/2008/07/maalaiselm-pilvimekko-ja-toinenkin.html
The red dress with black belt.

http://emmin.helmiblogit.mtv3.fi/2009/06/
First picture - short red dress.

http://annikainenpuikoissa.blogspot.com
The black and copper dress

And here's a vintage clothes online shop:
index.php

The green dress on the left on the second last row on the bottom.

And here's a book from 1980, by the Finnish Foreign Trade Association, that mentions Merry Finn too, alongside with icons like Arabia, Marimekko, Artek Fiskars, Aarikka etc., so the company must have still been operational then:
http://www.huuto.net/fi/showitem.php3?itemid=117590406
My knowledge of Finnish is very basic, so I can't say much more about what it says there. :spin:

So there's a lot of variety around, and I think we can say they were at least around from somewhere in the 60s to 1980.

And I must say, there are some really pretty dresses by them! I must look around for that label when I go to Helsinki again, and visit one or the other shop that has vintage fashion.

Karin
 
thanks

Hi Karin,
Thanks so much for all your very thorough and painstaking research! Im quite blown away! It does seem that Marimekko overshadowed every other designer that was doing equally as beautiful things. Anyway, this dress will never fit me so up it goes for sale with not much more info about the clever person that was responsible for it but a lot of effort from all you guys!
Thanks so much, always appreciate it :)
Vintage on your side of the world would be a lovely thing to see :)
Katie
 
Katie - no trouble at all, it was fun looking these things up :eureka: . And I would certainly love to go hunting for vintage on your side of the world too... Though I've been to Oz before, it was either before I got into vintage, or there was no time (I'm a travelagent, and fam trips like the one I was on last spring mean zero free time...). But I'm sure I'll make it some time!

Karin
 
I have just bought a Fenno Sport dress, size 40, in Athens, Greece, at a Christmas Market held at the German School there. I was fascinated by the print of this dress, the excellent sewing and alignment of the prints, and had to buy it, although it had minor flaws. I searched for Fenno Sport on the internet, since I was so fascinated by the style and the print, and happened on this site in my search. While my dress (black, white and red prints) is gorgeous, it is certainly not a match for the wavy print of your black and white dress. My initial feeling was that since I am far from a size 40, I could make great pillows of the material, but seeing your comments, I may hold off on that for a while. I, too, am a great fan of designs from Finland.
 
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