I recently opened a bag of dresses and sweaters left to me from my grandmother, and found beaded and sequined sweaters, cardigans and a few absoltley wild dresses, cocktail and floor length. The lables say Cavanagh (without the "John") Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, a few say Hong Kong. Any ideas on what to do with these, what they are worth? condition is mostly good, a few have makeup on the interior. The beading seems mostly to be hand done, tho some of the sweaters might be more mass produced. I am trying to insert some pics here, and two of the labels. Grateful for any advice, as these are some lovely pieces.
sequined and beeded cavanagh dresses
- Thread starter etudes
- Start date
These are lovely, are you located in the US or Canada? I see a Montreal Jazz festival poster, so I am wondering if you are in the Montreal area. That's where I am.
Jonathan
VFG Member
Your grandmother was quite the gal! Cavanaugh's was the store - I have seen that label in other garments from that shop - it must have been THE party-dress shop on the island. Hong Kong would be where those beaded dresses were made. She must have travelled down there in the winter and bought her dresses while there? They all look to be early 60s - even late 50s on that white dress.
Upstate New York, we travel to the festival usually every year.
Yes, she traveled both to the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong, as well as London, and I gather wore all these pieces extensively. I have about 17 pieces, from beaded cardigans to a couple floor length and several cocktail dresses. No idea what they are worth, and trying to figure out what on earth to do with them. There are only a couple that I could wear, size and cirumstances providing. And I have event broached the other bags....
As far as pricing them goes, if you haven't already done so, you can try using eBay with a search to see or just go online and type
in 1960s beaded dress or sweater and see what they are fetching. That will give you a good ballpark figure.
in 1960s beaded dress or sweater and see what they are fetching. That will give you a good ballpark figure.
Sky Ranch Vintage
Alumni +
These are lovely. What a looker your grandma must have been in these fabulous clothes. Most of these beaded items were made in Hong-Kong and most were very nicely hand beaded. Most of your items look early 1960's.
I agree that the internet is a good place to start looking for prices. It's best, if you can, to find what items ultimately sold for as opposed to what someone is asking for them. That way you can see at what point they're moving. eBay has a refined search where you can see what items sold for in the past two weeks that is pretty helpful.
It's also useful to be aware that the higher end of these prices are achieved by good pictures of appropriately displayed items with a thorough description and more often than not, a selling reputation. If you're not interested in selling them yourself piece by piece, a vintage dealer or your local vintage clothing store will likely be interested in them. As they are retailers though, be prepared to sell at wholesale prices as they will need to be able to purchase the garment, then clean, steam, repair, store and possibly photograph, measure and list the item before marking it up to make a reasonable profit.
I agree that the internet is a good place to start looking for prices. It's best, if you can, to find what items ultimately sold for as opposed to what someone is asking for them. That way you can see at what point they're moving. eBay has a refined search where you can see what items sold for in the past two weeks that is pretty helpful.
It's also useful to be aware that the higher end of these prices are achieved by good pictures of appropriately displayed items with a thorough description and more often than not, a selling reputation. If you're not interested in selling them yourself piece by piece, a vintage dealer or your local vintage clothing store will likely be interested in them. As they are retailers though, be prepared to sell at wholesale prices as they will need to be able to purchase the garment, then clean, steam, repair, store and possibly photograph, measure and list the item before marking it up to make a reasonable profit.