wedding dress

[maltby]

Hi everyone! I fell in love with this dress. It seems unworn and the pictured tag was still attached about halfway down the inside back seam. The hem and cuffs are fur- does anyone have any ideas what type? the fiber tag is the same in each armpit. I love it no matter its age but curious if anyone has ideas! It was half off at a thrift store today and normally I don't allow myself to buy wedding dresses bc they take up so much room but I couldn't resist. Thanks for any ideas!

A

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Lovely winter wedding gown - the "fibre tags" in the underarms are probably sweat protectors and independent of the dress. Ladies wore them to protect the dress, as they could be easily removed for washing. If they have been used, I always throw them away, as they're not very nice.

Are the zippers nylon or metal? I suspect your gown is from the '60s and the fur could be rabbit. If you can show a close up of it, it will help.

 

[maltby]

The zipper is metal on the back but seeems to be nylon on the cuffs. here are some fur close ups, thanks as always for your input!!

nylon on the cuffs. Here's a close up of the fur! Thanks so much as always for your input!!

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

That is a lovely dress. It is difficult to determine the fur without handling it to feel the texture. It looks like ermine fur to me. If it is very very soft, it is more likely to be rabbit. Ermine has a more firm feel to "hairs".

 

[Midge]

What a lovely guess! My initial thought was 60s too.

 

[maltby]

thanks everyone! the fur is not very soft. it is more bristly than silky so maybe ermine! luckily it's super super tiny so I wont be tempted to keep it and hopefully can find it a happy new home but for now I just love looking at it!

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

In the close ups I now notice that the pelts are quite narrow, so I am going with ermine. A luxury fur!

 

[Jonathan]

It looks like rabbit pretending to be ermine to me as the hairs are so long and irregular (I think of ermine as shorter and more uniform). I bet its late 60s - influenced by Dr. Zhivago (the fur trim is so Russian in inspiration, and the high neck has that turn-of-the-century look that was popular in the late 60s)

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

Maltby, you can look up ermine and rabbit in the VFG Fur Resource, which might help you decide which one it is - but as mentioned above, I vote rabbit.