A 1940s deadstock dress ???

[Marc Chevalier]

Ladies, can you please help a hapless fella?


This dress was listed on Etsy as being from the 1970s, but I suspect it could well be from the 1940s. The fabric content is consistent with the fibers that were being used for clothing during World War II, I think. The center back zipper is unusual for the '40s, but not impossible. The paper tag looks old to me. What do you think? Is the skirt too long for the '40s?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/66769149/vintage-1970s-black-and-white-polka-dot?ref=sc_2

Thanks for any help!

 

[Lady Day]

The center zip up the back is kind of a giveaway. I don't think its 40s. Even it it were a transition style from war time to post war, that would not account for the length unless the hem is unfinished.

I WISH they had a photo of the tags. That would help monumentally.

LD

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thanks, Lady Day! All I know is that "Rogers Peet", the store that sold this dress, had been around since the 1870s and went out of business in the mid 1980s.

Someone just told me that the back waist ties don't seem '40s, either.

Would anybody else like to weigh in?

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

Generally the length of the 40's dresses were restricted to use less fabric therefore had a higher hemline I also have never seen a back zipper on a 40s dress. I think it is 70 does 40s style dress.

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

Oh and Lady Day nailed it if we could see the tags that would really help a lot.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thanks! This is really an education for me. I'd always thought that the '70s (early to mid?) revived early 1930s fashions, but not '40s. Weird!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have two authentic '40s dresses with back zips, both of them early-postwar, but the back ties are more of a 70s/80s thing. So yes, pending a look at the tags, I'd say it's a '40s homage. That polka-dot pattern, especially, was seen a lot in the 80s-does-40s trend.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thanks! I really appreciate everyone's thoughts.

My friend just purchased the dress, so I'll soon see and take a photo of its tags ... and post the picture here.

 

[Lily Powers]

A little late to the party here, but I can enlarge the photo of the back of the dress and see that the brownish hangtag is indeed marked "9." The Etsy listing mentions it being a size 9, and odd numbers are used to denote size in modern junior wear. My thought is that it is not 40's, but there's nothing wrong in that if the dress is pretty and makes your friend feel lovely.

 

[RodeoRose]

Just by looking at the dress, I concur with the others that this is most likely a '70s-does-'40s frock. Nothing wrong with those; I love them for days when you just don't feel like wasting a wear out of your good vintage.

However, re: length and zippers in '40s dresses, I have a late '30s or early '40s house dress or hostess gown that sports a metal zipper down most of the length of the front, back ties, and falls to about my ankle. It's very obviously an early piece judging by the fabric, construction, and style. Your friend's dress looks like it was heavily inspired by the hostess gowns of the '40s!

 

[C-dot]

Your friend's dress looks like it was heavily inspired by the hostess gowns of the '40s!

Looks like it to me too! I also have a hostess gown thats definitely from the early-mid 40's, no back zipper (buttons up the front) but it does have a small tie in the back. I suspect it might have been added because the fabric doesn't quite match.

Did back ties definitely not exist in the 40's?

(ETA: I just saw Olivia de Havilland wearing a dress with a back tie in The Male Animal.)

 

[Lady Day]

Full length center front metal zips for even 40s day dresses, not just house dresses, were not unusual. Its just rare, because of rationing of zippers during WWII, so in theory, most of those dresses are early 40s.

Like Lizzie said earlier, the new post war era moved zips to the center back (how impractical) and that became the standard of the very late 40s and common place in garments in the 50s.

I think the house dress look of this dress is more from its 70s side than its wannabe 40s side. It's got that maxi length thing going on.

LD