Older black velvet dress with fringe and tassels

Trish

Trish

Registered Guest
Hello friends,
I need help dating and understanding this black velvet dress. The dress closes with snaps starting at the left shoulder. The left shoulder has a segment of long fringe sewn on. At the waist there is another segment of fringe on the left side. There are sheer black ties finished with fringe attached at the waist. The wide sleeves taper and end with a tassel. The waist ties are not symmetrical, so I wasn't sure how to display it--ended up tying it in a bow in the back.

This dress has no labels or other identifying marks. It looks fairly old, and is in good condition. Some parts of the sheer ties have areas of fraying/loose threads.

Any idea of the date?
Any idea of the style?

Thanks in advance for your expertise!
Trish
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I just start off by saying it looks it might have come from a theatre, I was told once that they used a lot of poppers for quick change between acts.
That comes from my personal file called " Folk law" so it could be wrong.
Great photo BTW Black is very hard to do.
 
It's c. 1922 - the poppers story is half true - theatrical outfits did use them (in the days before velcro), but fashionable dresses used them as well.
 
Lovely dress. I was thinking 20s too but it's not my area.

I did want to say I find that asymetrical ties usually work tied at whatever position means that the ends then fall to the same level, e.g. they may be meant to be tied to one side. I hope that makes sense!
 
God morning,

Thanks for your quick responses! I'm not familiar with the term popper. Is it a robe used in between costume changes or is it so named because you could pull open the the snaps quickly and "pop" out of it? Can you direct me to a site that I could learn more about these?

And Ruth, thanks for the asymmetrical tying tip--makes total sense!
 
Press studs / snap fasteners and poppers are all names for the same circular metal fastener you see sewn on above.
 
What Jonathan said. Snaps and hooks and eyes were commonly used on dresses before zippers beame common. They were not used just on robes or theater costumes. Your dress looks like a dress up but not evening dress. It may originally have had a lace collar and cuffs.
Marian
 
OK, I got it--I was thinking that poppers was a garment--never heard of snaps being called that.
Marian, you said the dress looks like "a dress up"--to me that means a costume for kids--is that what you meant?
Thanks!
 
Poppers is very English - I grew up calling them dome fasteners, which maybe is Canadian - don't know. I think most Americans call them snaps or snap fasteners. I think Marian meant dressy - as in formal daywear. I tmight have had a collar, but I like it better without - it would look stunning with a feature necklace of amber or cinnabar, or something chunky and exotic.
 
The most common or old name used in the UK is "Press Studs" this could be a trade name associated with a company , certainly if you wanted a good quality one you would ask for Press Studs.
Poppers may be a generic name or one that's that come into used in more recent times cheeper brands
 
I meant grown up dress up like going to a late afternoon tea at the vicars. As Jonathan said: "Dressy day wear." Dress up as opposed to a house dress.
Marian
 
Jonathan said:
Poppers is very English - I grew up calling them dome fasteners, which maybe is Canadian - don't know. I think most Americans call them snaps or snap fasteners.
Click to expand...

Dome fasteners is a new name to me. I wonder if poppers has anything to do with the fact we use duvet covers that typically have them along the bottom (nowadays plastic moulded ones set into the fabric) when you rip these open, they definetly 'pop'. Even though other european countries use duvets, I think fastening with poppers is a british trait (I know the norwegians have a slit in the top corners of a duvet and an open bottom with no fastening at all).
I tend to associate snaps or snap fastners with the more heavy duty metal versions fixed by tool on coats/bags etc.

pauline said:
The most common or old name used in the UK is "Press Studs" this could be a trade name associated with a company , certainly if you wanted a good quality one you would ask for Press Studs.
Poppers may be a generic name or one that's that come into used in more recent times cheeper brands
Click to expand...

In a way I think poppers may be a slang term we came up with and is now used as a proper name.
 
It's really a lovely 20s dress, thank you for sharing it with us here!
I did want to say I find that asymetrical ties usually work tied at whatever position means that the ends then fall to the same level, e.g. they may be meant to be tied to one side. I hope that makes sense!
Click to expand...
I agree with Ruth and I think the ties were probably meant to be tied at the front on the side and hang below the tassled fringe that is on the front.
 
Lovely dress - we call them "press studs" in Australia too, I had the idea that "poppers" was an American term, certainly it was US ebay that introduced it to me.

Pauline, press studs/poppers aren't ideal for theatrical costumes because they not the most secure option. When I studied costume design we were taught to use hooks and eyes - velcro was banned because it can be unreliable - as were zippers. We spent a lot of time hand sewing hooks and eyes on costumes, we weren't even allowed to use the hook and eye tape. Yes, we learnt very old fashioned methods but it's been useful to me in my restoration work.
 
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