MOLLIE PARNIS 1940's black dress - help with material? rarity?

brooke nicosia

brooke nicosia

Registered Guest
I don't know how rare this is but I think it is pretty special. According to the LR it is 40's but looks 5o's. It has a "mesh" skirt thing underneath, but it is not mesh, so I was told. It is harder than mesh. How rare is this dress and what is the material? The underside of the fabric (on the skirt part at least) feels like felt. The last picture is bad - but it is a picture of the netting - it is very scratchy, tough netting.

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The underside of the fabric (looking like felt) is probably a non-woven interfacing giving body to the fabric. The attached stiff mesh is tulle from the look of it. I can't say what the outer fabric is, but it has a silk-blend look to it, very luminous.

It's a really beautiful dress!
 
Thank you. I just remember what I was told. The mesh is actually crinoline. It is very stiff - much stiffer than tulle. Thanks so much for your help!!!
 
Its not crinoline, it's tulle. It's just a coarse grade of nylon tulle which was used for crinolines. The pellon interlining gives the skirt body and the crinoline gives it fullness. American manufacturers started using pellon in 1951.
 
Jonathan's right - the papery lining is pellon and the underskirt is called a crinoline (style of petticoat) made of nylon tulle (fabric). Crinolines were originally made in the 1850s from steel hoops, and many layers of cotton and silk petticoats. In the 1950s the term is used to describe a very full and stiff petticoat used to puff out a full skirt, usually made of nylon tulle or netting.

The label resource may have your label appearing in a dress from the '40s but many companies used the same labels for a long time. Your dress is from the 1950s, as evidenced by the style and materials used.

I agree with Maggie that your dress looks like it's made of silk or a silk blend - a burn test on a small piece will confirm. It's a beautiful example of a '50s Little Black Dress - as to "rarity", it's an over used work on the internet, almost all vintage dresses pre '60s are "rare" because there is unlikely to be another the same. In all my years of collecting I've seen thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of dresses, and I can count on two hands the times I've seen more than one of the same style/fabric.
 
I didn't make sense in my previous post - it was late.... I meant to define that in this case 'crinoline' was a garment, not a material, thanks Nicole for filling in the gap.
 
Very pretty. I agree with what the others said on the silk fabric and the pellon lining and it's definitely 1950's. The style alone screams 50's and the materials only solidify that suspicion. Mollie Parnis is a great name too by the way. Great find!!
 
Hi,

What a beautiful dress. To mention 1 thing, crinolines were not originally made of steel hoops, they were originally made of horsehair (crin) woven with linen or cotton or wool fibers. They were stiff and heavy, and worn with petticoats too. Steel hoops were replacements for crinolines, and were lighter and less cumbersome.

B
 
So, just to clarify, The dress is made of silk/silk blend, the pellon is the felt like material underlining of the skirt (that gives it shape) and the underskirt is called a crinoline made with nylon tulle?
God I hope I am right! :)
 
Yes to pellon and crinoline but none of us here can feel the fabric, so you'll need to make up your own mind about the composition - which is why I recommended a burn test. It could also be rayon. I think silk or silk blend is likely though.
 
Stunning dress! I agree with all about the dating, terminology, and likely fabric--although it's looking like a satin weave to me in the photos, and could be rayon satin, rather than silk satin, or a rayon-silk blend. But as Nicole points out, a burn test is really the best way to tell.

As to rarity, while the Mollie Parnis label isn't "rare," an early 50s one in styling this striking is fairly hard to find--at least based on what I've seen. Again, as Nicole says, with vintage it would be uncommon, in any event, to find the same, or almost the same dress.
 
I just did my first burn test and it is definitely a silk blend! Thank to all of you- now I can write an accurate description and get this baby sold!
 
Just want to remind all of you that if you are interested in something that is for sale, from a Registered Guest, or Trade Member to please contact the seller through the PM system. Click on their Avatar and you will see "Start a Conversation."

It's a stunning dress - hope it fits!

Thank you.
 
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Thank you!!! Hope this helps :)

Brooke
 
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