Please help date this Carlye top

[Vintagiality]

Hi all,

Hoping to get an opinion on when this top is from. The woman said it's from the 40s but I think it is later, maybe 50s or 60s. It zips in the back with a metal zipper.

Also, is there a name for this style of embroidery/ pleating/ lace combo? How would you describe it?

Lastly, the zipper works perfect once you are able to get the pin into the box but that seems to be quite difficult even though I inspected it closely and couldn't see anything wrong with it. Is there some trick you can recommend for this?

Thank you
Victoria

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Interesting piece Victoria - can you show us the inside please? I suspect the vertical darts were added, as they don't look original - they are sewn too high up at the front, over the bust and don't sit very flat. If you look at the stitching you should be able to see if they are original.

Also, I'm curious about the hem because this looks like it might have started out as a dress, not a top. Also, the sleeves and armholes look surprisingly small.

It's a pretty piece and the fabric treatment is lovely.

 

[Vintagiality]

Hi Nicole,

I actually thought the same about it once being a dress but the woman said that she has always remembered it being just a top. I only have one picture of the inside now but I will take more. It has some sort of gauze looking lining and all the seams and finishes inside look very elaborate. As you see in the picture, the inside seam has some of the outside material and is super clean with not a single hanging thread. I am not sure about the darts but they looked original to me. I will post pics. It is quite small (Bust:15", Waist: 13" taken lying flat) so yes the sleeves are quite tiny as well. I love it and would have kept it if it fit.


Thank you so much
Victoria

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

I wondered if it was very small - the proportions all look too small for a woman, even a small one so I wonder if it is for a child? If you got it from the original wearer though, she would know

The bust darts do not look original either: you can see from the inside that they look like they've been added. Certainly elaborately textured fabric like this is usually used for fairly unstructured garments.

 

[Vintagiality]

I got it from the daughter. She claimed that her mother wore it when she was younger and that she remembers it from her childhood. Maybe women were just that tiny.
It seems too preserved to be from the 40s but it's possible.

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

I think it could be '40s but I'd need to see what shape it was originally - I still think that it's likely for a child. The armholes and sleeves and proportions are very small for a woman, even a very small woman.

 

[retro ruth]

Can't help with dating but wanted to add, I think tiny pleats fabric treatment is either smocking or shirring - there's appears to be some cross over and confusion between those two terms.

Re the zip, is it just stiffness, that is making it difficult to get the pin in? there are various things you can use to lubricate a zipper, but my favourite is to rub it with a soft pencil - graphite is a metal lubricant. If you try this on the pin and around the box it may help. other people recommend candle wax or sewing machine oil, but be careful not to get it on the fabric.

 

[anothertimevintageapparel]

Our label resource has this label from the 70s.
I agree 60s to 70s and altered.
Beautiful lace treatment.

 

[Sky Ranch Vintage]

I've had several dresses with the exact same label. They have all been from the mid 60's to 70's.

Here is a dress in my shop with the same label: https://www.etsy.com/listing/125550587/vintage-early-1970s-dress-in-navy-and?ref=shop_home_active

 

[Sky Ranch Vintage]

Also, I want to add that the dresses I had with this label have all be ladies dresses and not children's. I don't know that this label make kids clothing, so I'm going to guess that this was made for a small woman. Not to mention that women had good relationships with their tailors, so maybe it was tailored to fit a very tiny woman.

My great grandmother was shorter than 5 feet, super tiny and wore a size 4.5 shoe. So those tiny ladies were certainly out there.

 

[Vintagiality]

Here are some photos of the inside.


By the way, the lady whose mother it belonged to would have been in her 50s in the 70s and she said her mother wore it when she was very young when this woman was a child. I don't think it is newer than the 50s or 60s at the latest. I think they used this same label for many decades so not sure that it helps much.

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Thank you - I can see the added darts clearly now, and also that the lining is pilling. It looks like a poly cotton. I think it was a boxy cut late '50s to mid '60s top originally, and as fashions changed it was altered to be more fitted.

 

[Vintagiality]

Thank you, Nicole. Would you try to remove the darts or let it be?

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

It's in good condition - I would leave it be. If you undo the darts, you might find a little surprise, or the stitches might show.

 

[Adoredvintage]

Kind of unrelated, but how do you pronounce this label?