Mystery ‘oriental’ style dress - please help!

[Impey]

Hi all,

I really hope you can help. I recently got carried away at an auction and bought this beautiful dress. It was described as a Chinese costume dress - 1950's style design in embroidered silk, with full length kimono style sleeves, but that seems like something of a mish mash!

There are no labels at all, so I suspect it was custom made. It has blue inner sleeves with silk knot ties, has a long split in the skirt at the front and is lined in lime green silk (?) Dropped cowl back, the bodice is lined in red silk (?).

I’m guessing it’s a western interpretation of various oriental styles as I can’t find anything that looks quite like it. I have no idea where to start in terms of dating it or even describing it!

The photos don’t do it justice at all - it really is a very lovely dress and seems very well made

Please help!!!

 

[Jonathan]

It's definitely a Chinese brocade. It reads as silk in the pics, but may be rayon. It looks home made to me - well done, but not professional - perhaps a dressmaker (the sewing of the trim in the lining , and the points of the blue under sleeves are a bit awkward for proper couture work). It's not representing an actual Asian style, but the long sleeves are obviously inspired by Japanese kimono. It looks to me like either a costume for an event, or perhaps an Asian-inspired evening dress. It looks 90s to me - Galliano did various Asian inspired collections for Dior in 97/98 and again in 2003. So it could have been inspired by his inspirations.

 

[Vintorious]

That dress is absolutely gorgeous. It may have been made off of a retro style /reissued pattern for a special occasion. It has a 1930s vibe to me. FYI: the sleeves are a Japanese kimono style called "furisode" if you are looking for ways to describe them. I love the lining color against the black, and would wear that in a heartbeat! ETA: it may very well be 1950s, given the mishmash of styles and materials to give the generic "Asian" impression.

 

[Impey]

It's definitely a Chinese brocade. It reads as silk in the pics, but may be rayon. It looks home made to me - well done, but not professional - perhaps a dressmaker (the sewing of the trim in the lining , and the points of the blue under sleeves are a bit awkward for proper couture work). It's not representing an actual Asian style, but the long sleeves are obviously inspired by Japanese kimono. It looks to me like either a costume for an event, or perhaps an Asian-inspired evening dress. It looks 90s to me - Galliano did various Asian inspired collections for Dior in 97/98 and again in 2003. So it could have been inspired by his inspirations.

Thanks Jonathan that’s really helpful - I’d been trying to find an Asian style - without any success - rather than looking at other designers that might have inspired it!

 

[Impey]

That dress is absolutely gorgeous. It may have been made off of a retro style /reissued pattern for a special occasion. It has a 1930s vibe to me. FYI: the sleeves are a Japanese kimono style called "furisode" if you are looking for ways to describe them. I love the lining color against the black, and would wear that in a heartbeat! ETA: it may very well be 1950s, given the mishmash of styles and materials to give the generic "Asian" impression.

Thanks so much - I totally fell in love with it when I saw it (I was meant to be bidding on something else!). I don’t think I’m ever going to know for sure how old it is but it’s definitely ‘Asian inspired’ and a very striking dress!