need help dating this 3 piece, fabric is terlenka

Ineke Veenstra

Ineke Veenstra

Registered Guest
Hi,

I bought this very cute 3 piece a while ago, and now I would like to now more about it.
The pieces are: a bra, bottoms and a top.
beautiful pink colour

The bra closes with a white metal hook
The top closes with a button and 3 poppers
The bottom has elastic

The fabric is terlenka and 30% fibrenka (see label)
The top has a washing label, so it must be 70's?

IMG_20150204_154452.jpg IMG_20150204_154458.jpg IMG_20150204_154508.jpg IMG_20150204_154521.jpg IMG_20150204_154532.jpg IMG_20150204_154549.jpg IMG_20150204_154601.jpg IMG_20150204_154619.jpg IMG_20150204_154640.jpg IMG_20150204_154649.jpg IMG_20150204_154700.jpg IMG_20150204_154715.jpg IMG_20150204_154716.jpg IMG_20150204_154723.jpg IMG_20150204_154741.jpg IMG_20150204_154752.jpg IMG_20150204_154819.jpg IMG_20150204_154829.jpg IMG_20150204_154838.jpg IMG_20150204_154912.jpg IMG_20150204_154923.jpg IMG_20150204_154945.jpg IMG_20150204_154955.jpg IMG_20150204_155019.jpg IMG_20150204_155029.jpg
 
I was curious about the fabric names...Fibrenka was trademarked in 1949/1950 in Holland for - KNITTED, NETTED, AND TEXTILE FABRICS IN THE PIECE, MADE OF RAYON, NYLON, AND PROTEIN FIBERS AND YARNS. (Sorry about the caps - not shouting - that's how the copy and paste came out!) The company was called ALGEMEENE KUNSTZIJDE UNIE N.V who appear to have been swallowed up by Akzo Nobel. Terlenka appears to be polyester.

Shame the maker/retailer label has been cut out of the top. The styling is rather 60s, the trim rather 70s. So I'm no help on that front.
 
Inkeke mentioned the care symbol (above.) I started researching "when" and I remembered that Liza (Better Dresses Vintage) did some research about Ginetex and care symbols and found that the symbols might appear any time after 1958. I think this outfit probably does date to the 1960s - or possible late 1950s.

Here's Liza's post on the subject:

http://forums.vintagefashionguild.o...-symbols-and-when-they-were-introduced.41144/
Here's a photo from the summer of 1958.

th
 
Thank you all so much for the info!

@Sarah Jane: That makes sense, I'm from The Netherlands, and this set belonged to a lady from The Netherlands ;)
maybe I can do sone more research on the fabric. :)

@Linn: I wasn't sure that if it was a swimsuit set, why it has a matching shirt. But you are right, maybe it was to cover up. But did it have something to cover up the bottom as well? Like a skirt or something?
Thank you for the link to the post of Liza. If care labels existed in Europe in the sixties, then I could have misdated some items 70's instead of sixties. Really interesting, I wonder if this is what the care label looked like in the sixties! The colours of the symbols caught my attention. Is that common? I only saw care labels with black symbols...
 
Those are early care symbols, note the shape of the iron symbol. Also those multi-coloured symbols 'traffic light' symbols were quite short-lived I think, but I couldn't say when they began and ended. Not as early as the late 50s though, I think?

Also, from Liza's research, Holland was ahead of the game with care symbols, so if your set is Dutch (as I think that's where you are Ineke?), it is quite possible it could have care symbols before the 1970s. Here's an update on the thread that Lynn posted:

http://forums.vintagefashionguild.org/threads/ginetex-garment-care-symbol-chronology.46149/

Putting all things together, the style, the trim, the care symbols, I would guess late 60s.
 
I have seen those coloured symbols on a few items. It was a system commonly used in Canada, but I've definitely seem it on garments made here in the UK too. The idea was the traffic light system, green means go ahead, yellow/amber/orange means proceed with caution, red means don't do this.
 
Liza here. The Europeans were definitely ahead of us Americans in offering on-garment care and fiber content.

Yesterday I bought a 60s winter coat with mink collar. In the pocket was the original hang tag with fiber content, plus a handkerchief (man's, so likely her husband's -- can't you just imagine him handing it to her and saying, "Here, hon?"), a ticket stub, and other treasures. I love pocket stuff.

p.s. as for color, I think it had more to do with the manufacturer's preferences than any rules or code. similar to ILGWU labels -- the ones in lingerie and swimwear often matched the company logo or the item itself.
 
There is info on line about the Canadian traffic light system for washing symbols, where it definitely was a code, not just colours for the sake of it, or because of manufacturer preference.

eg: The Canadian Care Labelling Program uses five basic symbols in three different colours. The colours of a traffic light (red, yellow and green) are used to signify the same ideas: red for "stop", yellow for "use caution", and green for "go".

I just think it wasn't only in Canada, because I've seem the same coloured symbols here in the UK too, in red green and amber, though the only references I can find to this system are from Canada
 
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That's great to see a label with the earliest care symbols used in Europe in the 60s, and thats interesting about the use of coloured care symbols. I know the coloured care symbols were standard in Canada. I have an undated booklet from about 1971 that explains the system - it doesn't say Canada invented the use of colour coding, but it was certainly in use until 1993 when it was dropped - as a concession to the North American Free Trade Agreement. I have seen a St. Michael brand for Marks and Spencer with the coloured symbols, but that brand was also available in Canada through Marks and Spencer stores, which were also here between 1973 and 1999, so it might have been a label that appeared in the UK because it was the same stock as was made for the Canadian market.
 
Jonathan said:
That's great to see a label with the earliest care symbols used in Europe in the 60s, and thats interesting about the use of coloured care symbols. I know the coloured care symbols were standard in Canada. I have an undated booklet from about 1971 that explains the system - it doesn't say Canada invented the use of colour coding, but it was certainly in use until 1993 when it was dropped - as a concession to the North American Free Trade Agreement. I have seen a St. Michael brand for Marks and Spencer with the coloured symbols, but that brand was also available in Canada through Marks and Spencer stores, which were also here between 1973 and 1999, so it might have been a label that appeared in the UK because it was the same stock as was made for the Canadian market.
Click to expand...

In the UK it certainly wasn't around until 1999! I see them occasionally, usually on 70s stuff. I'm pretty sure I've seen it on several brands in the UK, not just St Michael, but next time I spot any, I'll post them for information.
 
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