Unusual construction on this Hattie Carnegie dress

This dress is my sister's. She had it in her closet for years and thought it was handmade. As I was studying the inside of the dress and its unusual construction, I saw the HC label in the skirt. She wants me to sell it for her.

I've never seen a Hattie before, but this thing has amazing construction! It has weights in the back and rolled padding on the front of the skirt. The zipper is in the center of the back and is metal. The bodice is stiffly boned. I think the shoulders are supposed to be offset as I have them now. The fabric is a polished cotton and the print and color are actually blurry in real life.

There is some machine stitching and a lot of handstitching too.

I hope you can see the detail in the pictures. I would appreciate any information anyone has on the date of this dress and anything else you have to offer. Thanks as usual for your expert help.

 

What the heck? WOW that IS unusual! THat is just yummy and would look spectacular spilling out of the top of that! What is going on with that skirt?
Has someone tried it on to see how it moves? I am thinking that "stuffing" and cut of the skirt will do some amazing things when worn.
I would go with early 1950's on this but it is just a feeling with me. No concrete reason except perhaps the neckline....
Wow, could you let me/us know when you list this?

Michelle

 

I have never seen that treatment to the a skirt! Like Michelle, I am wondering if the skirt is meant to be
'poufed' out and then come in. Ellen, what does a crinoline do to this? Would it give a balloon effect, I wonder?

Very unique! and, to think this has been hanging in your
sis's closet!

 

Yes, I think it is supposed to puff out and then come in again in a balloon effect. I don't have a crinoline so I can't show that effect. I have to do something to show it off though, it just hangs there now. It has a musty smell and I am thinking of rinsing it in vinegar and water. Good idea? Bad idea?

 

Wow, nice piece! I'd think it would look like an elegant flower of a skirt with the proper crinoline. The curved weights are intriqueing. I'd love to take a close look at that construction!

I didn't know about vinegar. Maybe someone else can help you with that.

 

I'd be more inclined to just air it to get rid of the smell, unless you are prepared to be in a high state of panic using vinegar! ;-)

If you haven't access to a crinoline, you could try using bin liners (filled with air) and tie them around the waist of your manni - anything just to pad out that skirt.

Looks like a fantastic dress, ellen!

 

pssssst!! - hope you checked out the rest of her closet!!! ;)

 

Thanks folks. I will try that "bin liner" trick. (Whenever I read that expression, I am reminded of Ruth Rendell novels, my favorite.) Here we say trash bag. It certainly does need something under that skirt. And I need to do a better job of pinning the top so it fits the manni better.

I posted the dress on the VCA board and Daniel told me that the skirt "stuffing" is called trapunto. That's a form of quilting. I think he is right. He also called the print "chine." These are both new terms to me. Thanks again.

 

Its late 1950s and is a member of the balloon skirt family. There was a special type of crinoline that was used to support the skirts of dresses like this, constructed in a balloon shape themselves. I have one, they are not easy to find. You may find a full crinoline doesn't create the gentle bulge of the skirt that you want, which then gracefully curves back in at the hemline. THe fabric is chine (accent grave over the e) aka warp printed silk. The threads are dyed before weaving to give a slightly offset pattern. Trapunto is a form of quilting but its worked with cotton wool and stitched, usually in a design, so that the area between the stitches are puffed, this isn't quite what is happening with the two rolls in the skirt as far as I can tell. I suspect the rolls are there to give weight to the skirt so that is hangs properly when on, so its constructive rather than decorative.

 

Everything Jonathan said Ellen, and I would not use
trapunto for the padding on the underside of the
hemline, this is close, but no cigar!

Sue

 

Jonathan, you are a wonder. How did you know it was silk and I'm right here with it and I didn't? Upon closer examination, I see that it is indeed silk. And I guess the stuffed rolls are there to help shape the skirt, not as a design in themselves. I think if I use Artizania's suggestion of small air-filled "bin-liners" and tie them to the manni's waist, I can approximate the effect of the balloon crinoline.

 

Chine is usually worked in silk, if it's cotton it's printed not woven, also I have never seen a balloon skirted cotton dress. That style is dressier and made up for cocktail wear, so it could have been rayon, nylon or silk, but the sheen made it look like silk in the pics.

 

Actualy, looking at it again it reminds me of a Ceil Chapman I sold Anne -- the skirt construction was very similar, although it didn't have pads sewn inside.

 

Thanks again. Michelle, I will let you know when I list it.

 

And don't get that dress wet with water and vinegar - you will have a disaster on your hands. Air it out, outside if you can.

A pretty good rule of thumb on 50s dresses is not to wash them unless they were made to be washed to begin with, such as cotton or linen dresess with very little understructure.

Also warp print silk was always a pricey fabric, so that was an expensive dress in its day.

Hollis

 

Okay, I won't wet it. It's airing out now. Thanks for your advice, everybody.