Vintage lingerie ? with some (ok - a lot) of questions ;-)

scillas

scillas

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Vintage lingerie – with some (ok - a lot) of questions ;-)

Hi there

I just bought 6 pieces of lingerie – and I have some questions about them.

I'll just put one pic here, and the you can see them all (– and the first one with some details of sewing etc) here:) More pics here

According to the woman, I bought them from, they belonged to her granmother who was married in '31. Her husband was sailor, sailing on the east/orient in the 30s and later also in the 50s, but not in the 40s – ww2 and all that.
Grandaughter thought that he brought these pieces home for his wife as presents, and she said – (and I think I agree with her) that most of it probably dates from the 30s
Except one slip, the only one, that is not silk, but rayon, and that I feel is later.

I'm still a beginner – and don't know much about lingerie, so I would love to hear your opinion on:
1) Date! Does this look like 30es to you? Or 50s? (or something completely else? ;-)
2) Origin: It does look like oriental (gift/souvenir/export-article) to me – do you agree? And does anyone have an idea of more excactly thiswould have been made? China?
3) How to call it??: I would call the 3 long ones nightgowns and the short ones slips, but one of the slips and one of the nightgowns have matching panties – but is it still a nightgown if it comes with a panty???
4) Quality: I know it's very difficult to give any idea of price, but to give me some idea of how to price this: in your opinion/experience , is this something that people look for/buy?
Every piece has minor flaws, but overall, they are in good, wearable condition, and also more important: They are all wearable sizes.

Will be very thankfull for any input!
Thanks so much!

Sille in Denmark
 
I think they are all '30's including the rayon one. I would call the short ones slips and the long ones night gowns - even with the matching panties. I think they are from China - absolutely lovely! I don't have any idea on pricing but maybe someone who sells vintage lingerie will help or you can look on some websites to get an idea of the range.

Linn
 
Thank you both. I feel convinced of 30s now, as your dating confirms the story.
And eastern, probably chinese.
Linn, I looked around a bit, like you suggested, and things like this does seem to sell at quite good prices.
Could not find that many webshops with vintage lingerie though, so if anyone knows good links/resources, I'd love to look at some more.

Thanks again, and have a nice weekend! :-)
 
Thank you so much, Melody – was just wondering about the embroidery myself when I looked at the pics again– if it indeed could be all/mostly hand done.
On closer examination it has these small imperfections that maybe points in that direction.
Or did they just have less good sewing machines back then ? ;-)
Again, as with other vintage stuff: If it's really done by hand, just can't imagine what kind of work that went into it.
For anyone interested, you can look at these details:
see details here
 
A very nice collection.

The Americans established many embroidery factories that produced lingerie for the Western market in the Philippines in the 1920's and it was a very large export industry in particularly during the following decades. Manila was the main centre I believe. Usually. women did the embroidery at home. This type of industry spread to China, India and Australia and these examples could be from these countries. However, machine embroidery was introduced in the 1930's.

In the Philippines in the 19th Century embroidery was part of the school curriculum. Roman Catholic orphanages were also producing exquisite lingerie in the Philippines and in other countries like Sri Lanka (Ceylon).
 
Thank you, Karin and vertugarde
very interesting read about Philipines silk industry. Though the thought of child labour is sad, and I hope they were made at home instead.
These ones, I figured, _must_ have been for export as they are very ccontemporary sized – must have been a very large size, back then – even for western women.
And thanks for the compliment, Karin. I made postcard with this motif that I send with every order in my shop – the text says:"Smart girls wear old clothes – vintage from(shopname)" ;-)
 
Hi Sille,
Gosh they are beautiful pieces, they really are.
Re your questions, I have answered my thoughts for you in blue italics.

I'm still a beginner – and don't know much about lingerie, so I would love to hear your opinion on:
1) Date! Does this look like 30es to you? Or 50s? (or something completely else? ;-)

I agree with the rest of the team- they look 30's to me, possibly late 30's for the rayon slip

2) Origin: It does look like oriental (gift/souvenir/export-article) to me – do you agree? And does anyone have an idea of more exactly this would have been made? China?
yes they would have most likely been made in China, and the workmanship (even if factory made) is beautiful on these pieces

3) How to call it??: I would call the 3 long ones nightgowns and the short ones slips, but one of the slips and one of the nightgowns have matching panties – but is it still a nightgown if it comes with a panty???

I would go with negligee set, slip set etc , and remember that slips were also worn as negligees. I would counsel to be careful with the panties if you are thinking of selling on eBay- as it is prohibited to sell used panties/knickers of any kind there.

4) Quality: I know it's very difficult to give any idea of price, but to give me some idea of how to price this: in your opinion/experience , is this something that people look for/buy?

We cannot price or authenticate items, but I would search ebay and esty for similar items sold or currently for sale to get an idea of how much you are looking at.
 
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