funshinealy
Registered Guest
1974-1995 is a big range. Any ideas?
Need help dating a dress
- Thread starter funshinealy
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Looks 80s to me.
funshinealy
Registered Guest
Thanks, Jonathan. And, Brenda, too!
Thankfully the bow is removable.
If VFG ever decided to hold an online class for vintage dating, I would definitely sign up!
another avid vote for 80s.
Sky Ranch Vintage
Alumni +
Oh so 80's!!
MyVintageCocktail
VFG Member
Striking dress! And I'm going to agree 80s, but I think it is very late in the 80s. I was shopping for wedding gowns in 1990, and both the shape of your dress's skirt and its tulip hemline, along with those tulle "puffs" with wired edges were featured in several styles. The reason I remember so well is that it came down to 2 gowns, one a sleek, fitted one with that same skirt line, the other a more traditional gown with a similar neckline and the same shoulder treatment. The one with the shoulders was the past season's (only reason I could afford it--LOL!), so that would put it at summer/spring of 1989, but the other one was current. By the time I started working at a bridal shop in 1992, the puffed tulle shoulders had been tamed significantly, but you still saw some variations on that skirt design.
(I think I still have the photos of those 2 dresses; if I can find, I'll post.)
(I think I still have the photos of those 2 dresses; if I can find, I'll post.)
Jonathan
VFG Member
Anne - you are right, it is late 80s, and I bet it's a bridesmaid's dress from a bridal boutique too as bridal fashions tend to be on the sweet side - far away from avante garde. When we lived in our first apartment between 1985 and 1991, it was across the street from a church and I remember seeing black and white theme wedding parties all the time in the late 1980s. I remember commenting that bridesmaids finally had dresses they really could wear again.
MyVintageCocktail
VFG Member
It sure took long enough for designers to start creating bridesmaid dresses that really could be worn again--and that definitely was the trend then. I remember all the black & white weddings--and how older women were tsk-tsking over girls wearing black for a wedding!
Also, Jonathan, I seem to recall that the side-ruched surplice bodice was very popular from the late 80s into the 90s. I mean, it's pretty much always been popular, but very much so then. The bridesmaid dress I wore in my sister's wedding in '89 had it, and I still have a couple dress from the early 90s with it, too.
Also, Jonathan, I seem to recall that the side-ruched surplice bodice was very popular from the late 80s into the 90s. I mean, it's pretty much always been popular, but very much so then. The bridesmaid dress I wore in my sister's wedding in '89 had it, and I still have a couple dress from the early 90s with it, too.