Mum & Daughter Dresses: Era, Info PLEASE.

rosaburke1

rosaburke1

Registered Guest
HELLO :hiya:

These 2 dresses were purchased from an elderly lady who said the beige ladies dress was her mothers and the pink dress was hers that she wore when she was a little girl.

She said that they were from the 1930's.

Although I am a complete novice, something tells me that they aren't from that era.

The waist has elastic threaded through, I'm not aware that elastic was used in the waistline in the 30's?. Also, the sewing in the seams don't look from that era either.

Each dress has 3 parts: The overlay, slip and wide sash belt.

There is so much going on with regards to the detailing etc, that rather than try to explain, I have posted a few pics which I hope will do the talking!

There are no makers tags or labels of any sort. Hard to tell if they are home-made. Maker was a fabulous sewer!

Opinions on the era would be appreciated as well as any other thoughts on the style, fabric etc.

Looking forward to reading your replies. :eureka:


ebayphotos1751.jpg

ebayphotos1759.jpg


ebayphotos1753.jpg


ebayphotos1762.jpg


ebayphotos1771.jpg



ebayphotos1903.jpg




ebayphotos1901.jpg



ebayphotos1902.jpg
 
Wow. Usually people say something is older than it really is. That first piece looks amazing. And then there's the pink ... which, from a distance, looks newer. Need a close-up of that one too. Did the sash come with it or is that something added? I look forward to seeing what the smarter folks have to say about these. Thanks for sharing.
 
Hi Amanda :hiya:

Thankyou for your reply. Yes, the sashes came with the dresses.

I have added 3 more photos.

I would love to know more about these dresses. I have visited the 'Tricks Dating Vintage' section but am still stumped!

I am a collector, not seller, so info is for my own knowledge only. :help:
 
I am a novice entirely and collect mostly 40's-70s stuff.. novice as in 1 month in the biz.... but the style looks the age... maybe a little earlier... but I am looking up info on the elastic.. perhaps it was added latter? or just made later and influenced by the area... I am sure the experts will chime in... but I am looking up what I can in the mean time! Good luck and they are beautiful either way!
 
hmm from what I am finding elastice was used in theis era but not commonly on the waist.. there are "patterns" for sale from that era that coll for elastic and elastice was common in the sleeves to keep them tight to the skin...... I also noticed dresses had elastic "pannels" I am assuming these are short strips of elastic in just certain areas! so elastci may not rule out the age.. I just theink they are so unique and gorgeous!
 
I am sorry to disappoint you but there is no way these dresses could be 1930s. THere is nothing right about them for that era. They look to me like they are c. 1981ish neo-romantic style bridal dress and maid of honour dress. The combination of laces, pearlized buttons, dolman sleeves, ruffled yokes etc. all add up to that Princess Di type of neo-romantic fashion.
 
The first one does appear that it could have been made up from some old filet lace but the styling does indicate more of the early 80s. The lace in the 1st one is quite similar to that of early lace curtain material. The pink one is definitely not old lace and would most likely have been from the same 80s time period.
 
I'm with Mary Jane here... When saw the photos when you first posted them, my immediate thought was that the mauve-ish one was early 80s, due to both the styling and the color--that color was huge in the first part of the 80s.

However, I was stumped on the first one, because even though the styling is reminiscent of the Gunne Sax/Jessica McClintock romanticism of the late 70s & early 80s, there are things about it that look older, and also aren't typical of that style of dress. My guess is that these dresses were a bride's and bridesmaid's set--with the bride's dress possibly being partly made out of old lace (taken from an old wedding gown perhaps?), and the maid's dress ordered commercially in a closely matching style.
 
OK - The first photos did make the top dress look as if it had potential - and the second larger shots with the pearlized buttons were a sure indication of 80's or newer.... and that pink! I'm wondering as well if perhaps there's something in at least the first dress that came from an older dress.
 
Well this is a good set to learn on. The first dress because of the good quality of the fabric would fool me a bit. But the cut is newer.

It is really not until you start to handle older dresses you can tell for sure and I never go by what people tell me. So I say too bad they are not older but good that you are able to learn from it. And good that they are more wearable then an older garment.

-Chris
 
And very good that you didn't just accept the erroneous information you were given and as a result mislead your potential customer!
 
Hi Everyone! :clapping:

Thanks for all the information - I'm learning so much!

It's a shame that some people will invent a TOTAL LIE just to get a sale!!! :scratchchin:

I didn't think they were from the 30's either mainly due to the look of the elastic/seams/stitiching (and the fact that it's impossible to find items from that era were I live/search/buy), BUT thought they might be older than the 80's.

But as they say...You learn from your mistakes. :sunshine:
 
When it comes to vintage clothing you really have to get to know your stuff and that comes from experience in handling it and reading about it, watching old movies, etc. You can't always trust the little old lady (or the younger one) who is selling it, believe me we have all had someone try to pull the wool over our eyes about the age of an item. The best are the 70s polyester dresses they say are from the 30s or 40s. That has happened to me personally a number of times, not that I fell for it, but they won't give in to the fact that it cannot possibly be from then.
 
Thanks Poppy

Lucky I'm not a seller! These could of got me into trouble :fainting:

I will show this forum to my Mum, who discovered these. She often buys things for me and I want her to learn too.

And...Well, the slip dress is wearable, isn't it?! :excited:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top