oooohhh, is this a vintage Cheonsang? What Era?

GemGem

GemGem

Registered Guest
Hello wonderful people of the VFG, I had the absolute delight to find this beauty at a car boot sale a couple of weeks ago. The fabric is so pretty with the little baskets of flowers.
Can any of you help me identify if it is a vintage Cheonsang? and if so what era does it belong to? The flowers remind me of 40's-50's fabric patterns. The fabric itself though I'm not so sure, is it Rayon? It is shiny in the light and very light, like a faux silk.
It is teeny tiny too, my model is a uk size 6 and it was very tight on her, obviously should fit longer too on the right fit.
The whole garment looks to be hand sewn, even the seams! But by very delicate hands, you have to look closely to see the stitches are uneven.
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I found some information on the selvage of the fabric, Attaching photo's below. I have done a preliminary bit of research but can find nothing so far on the company or any kind of textile committee in Japan.

The gold print reads

1st line 'TUP Fashion C & L Classic Collection'
2nd line 'polyester doop? Chaon royal silky..."
3rd line '... (can't make out the 1st word) Pure? Print, Made In Ja...'


Any help gratefully received. I'm going with it not being earlier than 1951 due to being a polyester fabric, albeit a fancy one?


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I would bet it’s TOP Fashion and it has worn off. It struck me as a newer garment but I am definitely not an expert in cheongsams.
Don’t know the company but “dhoop chaon" ("sunshine shade") is typically associated with Indian saris from what I can tell. Doop is likely an alternative spelling. If you Google it with the h you will see quite a bit about it. Here is one reference https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_silk
 
Vintagiality said:
I would bet it’s TOP Fashion and it has worn off. It struck me as a newer garment but I am definitely not an expert in cheongsams.
Don’t know the company but “dhoop chaon" ("sunshine shade") is typically associated with Indian saris from what I can tell. Doop is likely an alternative spelling. If you Google it with the h you will see quite a bit about it. Here is one reference https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_silk
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Ah yes, that makes a lot of sense, thank you. I know Japan (in general) make some very high quality polyester fabrics and a lot of the high end design houses use their polys so it makes sense that it is a special type of weave! I winder if the industry has a standards or regulatory body in Japan?
 
I would not call the dress a Cheongsam - the construction is different, but it is certainly influenced by the classic cheongsam/qipao. There are a lot of interesting websites that discuss the cheongsam/qipao - here's Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsam

I have a wonderful book that really delves into the history of this dress, "Shanghai Girl Gets All Dress Up" - but it's no longer available in hardcover. (I'm not an expert in this area by any means - just interested.)
 
Linn said:
I would not call the dress a Cheongsam - the construction is different, but it is certainly influenced by the classic cheongsam/qipao. There are a lot of interesting websites that discuss the cheongsam/qipao - here's Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsam

I have a wonderful book that really delves into the history of this dress, "Shanghai Girl Gets All Dress Up" - but it's no longer available in hardcover. (I'm not an expert in this area by any means - just interested.)
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Oh that's interesting! Thank you Linn. I was curious about the construction because the side slits are so high (they start just below the waist), the construction across the top front seems the same although it does up with poppers (and not the external fastenings I have seen much of) it does have the same curved diagonal fastening to one side. I wondered about the length of the sleeves too but I think they varied with the fashion trends?
 
I do not see the traditional mandarin collar or the diagonal closure on the front in your photos.


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This image is from the book I mentioned "Shanghai Girl Gets All Dressed Up". There are definitely lots of "modern" versions of this traditional dress so I may be wrong in not calling it a Cheongsam but those are my reasons.
 
Linn said:
I do not see the traditional mandarin collar or the diagonal closure on the front in your photos.


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This image is from the book I mentioned "Shanghai Girl Gets All Dressed Up". There are definitely lots of "modern" versions of this traditional dress so I may be wrong in not calling it a Cheongsam but those are my reasons.
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Ah I understand, my apologies that the photos do not show the construction better. It does indeed have a mandarin collar and the diagonal closure at the front, though the closure is short, from the neckline diagonally across to the high waist point at the side. I shall add some better photo's of this.

Thank you for the beautiful picture!
 
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Metro Retro Vintage said:
I currently have a sleeveless version in my shop with the matching trousers. I've added a pic below for comparison. I love the embroidery (birds?) on your piece.

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Gosh that's pretty! Love the flower placement over the bust and I see why they would work so well with the trousers. I see that you have yours dated to the 90s. Does the internal construction seem similar to mine? I'm not sure how recently they were completely Hand made...
Oh, the pink fabric is printed (not embroidery) it is baskets with flowers.
 
Thank you for the close-up of the fabric Gem Gem. Mine has a label which helped with dating, something that's not always easy as we know, when it comes to traditional construction on traditional garments.

I'm thinking that your piece is older than mine, given the style and font of the script inside the selvage, as well as the hand stitching. However, that is a guess. It's a fun mystery to unravel though, and hope you uncover more soon.
 
anothertimevintageapparel said:
Have three similar dresses which are Ao Dai, and I bought them less than 10 years ago at a thrift shop.
Minus the pants.
Mine are beautifully made also, but they are modern, which I suspect yours is too
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I really don't think mine is very modern. I bought it from a seller who had quite a few items mostly dating 1960s to early 80s all in the same poly bags and hangers all looking like they had hung like that for many years, they were from a house clearance. It is possible but would seem odd that a new item would be selected to be put into an old poly bag and hung with vintage clothing. However I could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time :).

I don't suppose you have any pictures you could share to compare the styles/construction?
 
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