Need help on dating this dress??

T

trellandjesus

Registered Guest
Hi, this dress appears to be homemade, I have no idea what to think of this dress, maybe 50s, earlier, later? (I don't know)? All opinions will be appreciated. Would you call this a novelty print, atomic? The dress is different. Wanna know what you think? The pictures of the under structure is the best I could do, if you need more pictures I will try. It is light colored. It has a Robin nylon zipper in the back. Thanks so much in advance.
45" in length.
 
Pictures are clearer I had a smudge on my lens, no wonder.

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I agree that home made can be tricky - judging by the shape and construction, I'm going to go with '80s for this one. It looks like it might have had shoulder pads - are there any sign of them left?

This is a really big dress, I'm wondering if someone added the elastic to make it smaller? It looks like it was added after it was made, so that the wearer would slip it over the head. You would have trouble unzipping it with the way it is now, as the elastic is in the way.

Nicole
 
Think I agree with Nicole. It looks like a take on a much older style. I thought 50's at first glance but the nylon zip - unless it's been replaced. Difficult one to judge. Definitely novelty print fabric - really cool. I love the print.
 
The construction does not seems 80s, but my thought was tossed between 50s or 80s. The print and the fabric does not ssem 80s, no saying it isn't. It was made for a larger woman, and it could not fit the dress form well. It is a tough one, that's why I needed help. I know its not 60s or 70s. It is rayon.

Thanks so much, you are helping me narrow it down.
 
The print does look older, but the nylon zipper and elasticized waist point to newer. Also, I'm not seeing any distinctive design details that you might expect to see in a 50s dress - most home sewers then had mad skills. The shape/silhouette looks simple/generic.

So my vote would be for vintage fabric, newer construction.
 
I agree Maggie - it's quite common for dresses to be made of older fabric and they made a lot of vintage style repro fabric in the 70s and 80s too. I have a great width of rayon floral bought new in the mid 80s which looks so much like a late 30s that if you didn't know, you wouldn't know. One day I'll get around to making something with it.

Agree that '50s dressmakers had good sewing skills: who ever made the dress above hasn't cut it very well or finished off the seams. The neck facing is smaller than it would be if it were older. I'm going to take back what I said about shoulder pads - that really wide shoulder line was common in the '80s but judging by the sleeve width, this is just a very big dress.

Nicole
 
I used to be a printed textile designer for fashion. This print is very typical of the late 1970's. Could be later into the 80's but certainly not earlier.
 
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