Need Help dating 1950's dresses please

Emma Boo

Emma Boo

Registered Guest
Hi
I have 6 dresses that I think are 1950's but im sort of unsure as some of them have back zips not side zips and few other things that makes me wonder, like a few of them have modern waist sizes. I was under the impression that most 1950s dresses are quite tiny.

Also how does everyone feel about pining items that are too big for the model when taking photos for listings, its it frowned upon when trying to sell them?

Ive made a few temporary photos of the items but I haven’t got a decent petticoat nor have they been cleaned yet, any help would be great :-)

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Green dress has a shoulder pad missing, would it be ok to replace it with a modern one ?
It is 29inch at the narrowest part of the waist with a metal side zip, label says Julian Rose

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Blue dress has a metal zip at the back, it has no tags other than a small one saying 42 on the bolero jacket, this one measures 32 inches at the narrowest part of the waist, not sure if this one is home made?

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Blue and White dress has a side metal zip with the label of Fredrica Starke of London, measures 30 inch at the narrowest part of the waist

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Pink dress has no tag other than 40 and has a metal side zip and measures 26inch

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Beige / Brown dress has a back zip with the label Heiress and measures 30 inch at the narrowest part of the waist.

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Cream lace dress has a metal side zip with no tags and measure 30 inch at the narrowest part of the waist.

Ive also taken photos of the dresses inside out in case that helps with dating, some of them have no lining or petty coats, is that quite normal ?

Sorry for the million questions :-)
 
Hi, I think the blue dress/bolero is 80's/90's possibly made to a 50's style pattern (because of the box pleats) with an old zip, as you do. The length is bit short to be original 50's. It probably doesn't have a lining because it is a *lot* of work to make a nice full lining in a dress like that. I can say it never had one because they've used the same outer fabric to turn the edges with and line the neckline. If you were going to add a lining this wouldn't be there.
I will attach a picture of a very similar dress my sister found under Monsoon's 'Twilight' label which sold evening wear for the younger lady.

Could you upload a picture of the shoulder pad in the green dress?
And if you were going to replace the missing one, I would say get a new foam pair that aren't covered and you can cut to the shape of the original. You could halve the single shoulder pad's cover to make half each of the new covers if you wanted it still to match and look nice.

Whether or not they have a lining mostly depends on when they were going to be worn, the blue and white example is a day dress for warm weather and as such wouldn't have needed one, especially if it was going to be worn with a net skirt or petticoat anyway. The evening examples however might have been worn in colder temperatures or sometimes it's because of the material if it gets static to stop the skirt sticking to the wearer.
 
They're all very lovely dresses! I think you're right that they're 50s, except that the first one could be late 40s. The small shoulder pads, the print of the fabric, and what look to me to be flapped hip pockets (can't quite tell from the photo) indicate that to me. I don't think this dress wants a petticoat, and if you could shoot it without one, it would help to see the dress's natural lines and how it's supposed to fall. I agree that I would replace both shoulder pads, using the one you have as a pattern, and being sure to match the thickness of the pad so as not to distort the intended shoulder shape.

You'll find both side and back zippers in 50s' dresses.... Dresses with matching boleros, like your blue one, were very popular in the 50s, and the box pleats aren't out of character. I've had many 50s' dresses with them. Lots of 60s' ones, too, but your dress looks much more 50s, and was probably shortened. Of course, "petite" length dresses were made in the 50s, too, but if you look at the hem, I'm guessing you'll find signs of it being altered.

Re: sizing.... While it's true that vintage sizing is much smaller than modern, e.g., what was a size 10 in 1957 is more like a size 2 or 4 today, women still came in all sizes then, so finding a dress with a 30-inch waist isn't an indication of its age. Shape is, though, to a certain extent, as I've found that dresses from the 50s very much tend to follow the rule of "10," that is, the bust is 10" more than the waist, as is the hip. This would be for a fitted sheath dress, of course, not a full-skirted number. Today's sizing generally gives more dimension proportionally to the waist and hips than to the bust.

And, last, I think it's 100% fine to pin or clip a dress to fit a dress form, as long as you do not change the intended shape of the garment! It's misleading to artificially change the lines of a dress to make it look curvier or tighter, or whatever. So, take in each area in proportion to the others. Again, with a full-skirted dress, it's not as critical, but they often look better if you pin them in as well, especially if the dress is far too large for the form. Leaving a size 16 dress unpinned on a size 8 dress form is certainly not going to give a buyer an idea of how the dress will look on a body that fits it! I think it's wise of you to be concerned enough to ask! (Just be sure to use small silk pins or rubber-tipped clips so you don't damage the fabric!) I bought an adjustable size large/XL form to show my larger sizes on so I wouldn't have to fight with as much excess fabric--it can be very frustrating to get the fit right with a really large difference in size!

Hope this all helps!
 
I agree with Anne. I think the first black and white one is late 40s.The pink one may be very early 50s or a cusper of 40s 50s in my opinion. They are all very lovely and you chould do well on these! The blue one is most likely late 50s possibly even early 60s? But I think more 50s.

Good luck on them.

Pinning is fine IMHO unless you are making a dress have a more defined shape/waist where is would not naturally.
 
Hey Boo,

A book you might be interested in checking out is 'Vintage Fashion - Collecting and Wearing Designer Classics', it works from antique to more modern-vintage fashion, noting the era-defining characteristics through the ages, and commenting on things like why they were popular at the time, and the kind of fabrics/fastenings/decorative elements used.
It would be nice if it also had a rough guide to pricing such items in there, but it's a really interesting read with lots of gorgeous examples :)

Lovely dresses!
 
Vmode said:
Hey Boo,

A book you might be interested in checking out is 'Vintage Fashion - Collecting and Wearing Designer Classics', it works from antique to more modern-vintage fashion, noting the era-defining characteristics through the ages, and commenting on things like why they were popular at the time, and the kind of fabrics/fastenings/decorative elements used.
It would be nice if it also had a rough guide to pricing such items in there, but it's a really interesting read with lots of gorgeous examples :)

Lovely dresses!
Click to expand...

We also have a list of reference books here: http://forums.vintagefashionguild.org/threads/the-antique-vintage-clothing-book-list.29440/

Some books have pricing guides, but personally, I find those are generally very unreliable--better to "comp" a piece on the site you intend to sell on, or check current web-wide pricing. And this site has many, many tips on dating items. If you go to our home page, there's a tab marked "Fashion History" with a pull-down menu. Check that out as well. You'll find that between some good books and the resources on the VFG site, you'll get so you can fairly readily identify and date many, many items. Of, course, all the folks who gather here are happy to help when you are stuck, and we all love seeing pretties!
 
And, last, I think it's 100% fine to pin or clip a dress to fit a dress form, as long as you do not change the intended shape of the garment! It's misleading to artificially change the lines of a dress to make it look curvier or tighter, or whatever.
Click to expand...

Just wanted to second that. I once bought a dress that had been pinned. It showed a straight pencil skirt and was listed as a 'Wiggle' dress. When it arrived it was clearly a-line - the hem measurement much much larger than the hip, which is a totally different look. It was completely misleading. Pinning to show the dress as it should look, if you are using a smaller model than the size of the dress, is perfectly okay and a good idea. You can say if it's been pinned in the listing, especially if it's significantly larger. Some people also include one shot unpinned, which can good - I've done it when I wanted to reassure larger buyers that the dress really was as big as I said!

I wish I had a bigger dress form too. I currently have an XXL slip I'm struggling to get good shots of.
 
Such pretty dresses! Love each and everyone of them. Box-pleats are definitely not out of place, a have two late 50s dresses featuring that. None of my dresses from that era is lined either. In summer you wouldn't need it with a nice cotton dress, and otherwise women would have worn slips, petticoats etc. underneath. I do just that with my 30s to 50s dresses that I wear to work - I have amassed quite a collection of slips, one because they're so pretty, but also because I need them in different shapes, lenghts and colors to go with all dresses :).

Karin
 
Before I had a larger dress form I dressed my small dress for in a bodysuit that I padded out to make the fit better. It was a pain to the the proportions right. I agree all 50's except 40's on the black and white and late 50's to early 60's on the blue dress.
 
Oh thank you so much for all your replies, sorry i havent replied eariler. its been a hectic week :-)
i love this community, i learn so much here and all your advice is amazing, thank you
 
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