Saturday, October 31, 2015

Go as a Revolutionary this Halloween














From the seller:

Astounding antique Edwardian or 1920s three piece, colonial style outfit. Dating from the mid 1910s to the early 20s, this three piece outfit was most likely intended for a child, but is large enough to be comfortably worn by a petite woman. In a colonial style, not unlike the outfits worn by George Washington in popular depictions, this was probably made as a costume for theater or for wear on a patriotic holiday or celebration. The make and composition is so stunning it could easily work in a variety of contemporary settings.
All three pieces are composed of a soft cotton in a sky blue "real fast color" dye. The lapels, cuffs and collar of the jacket are finished in two lines of yellow silk, as are the borders on the three tails. The decorative, non-functional, pockets are bordered in the same yellow silk. Cuffs are finished in a delicate, ornate floral lace with scalloped border.
Accompanying waistcoat is of the same light blue cotton with white cotton linen lining and back. Ornamental pockets at front finished in yellow silk double border trim. Secures down front with series of metal hook and eye closures. Decorative opalescent white buttons down front.
Matching pants are again of same light blue cotton. Openings at either side of waist secure with metal hook and eye closures. White opalescent buttons inside waistband allow for attaching suspenders. Bottom of pant legs secure with metal push buttons, and adjustable buckle at bottom. Buckle is stamped "ADJUSTA" and "Pat. 1-27-14 Pat's Pend". Red stamp inside pant leg reads "Regal Fast Color".
All three pieces in great, wearable condition. Some wear and tear as expected-- some areas of slight discoloration. Please see photos for condition and details and message with any questions.
Approximate measurements:
Jacket
Shoulder to shoulder: 16"
Armpit to armpit: 17.5"
Sleeve length: 24"
Length: 34"

Waistcoat:
Bust: 31"
Waist: 36"
Length: 21"

Pants:
Waist: 30"
Length: 28.5"


From Me:

The buckles do appear to be from 1914. The big clue as to when this was made is actually the "Regal Fast Colors". I've found newspaper ads for regal going back to the 1930's but no earlier. That this is from the 1930's isn't too surprising.

Born on the Fourth Of July?









From the seller:

Antique 4th of July Patriotic Costume
Unusual 3 piece patriotic costume from early 1900's

Crown has light brown netting liner.Crown in fair shape, its the inner lining that has tears and there are a couple of holes.Silver discs are sewn on around full circle of fabric crown. Lovely trim. there is a hole at top of one of peaks.

Bell sleeve two tone blue stars top piece.Could have been a dress. Very Beautiful trim. Flecks of silver threading.This measures 29 long 16" pit to pit and 17" waist

Red and white striped tube piece with blue and white stars. No elastic so I cant figure it out how this was worn. Fabric is very old but not stiff.
There are some stains on all pieces. I tried to show major ones in pics.

Check out my other vintage costume I will be listing.
Q: what are the dimensions of the dress. thank you, virginia
A: Thank you for your interest 29" from shoulder to one of longer tips at hemline Pit to pit 16" 17" waist


From Me:

Thanks, Virginia! Now we have the measurements. So, this was a 32" bust and looks like it was means to be loose - I'm going with a young girl's costumer for that reason. Not that there aren't petite ladies out there, but my guess is this was also some sort of junior miss [insert name of favorite hometown] pageant winner costume. The cut and style work for late teen's era (possibly after WWI?), early 1920's.

Halloween Clown Costume Early 20th Century









From the seller:

DATING TO THE 1920’S

FASHIONED OF YELLOW AND NAVY BLUE COTTON

CLOSES IN ITS FRONT

RUFFLES ON THE BOTTOM OF THE CUFFS AND A FLAT RUFFLE AROUND THE NECKLINE

THERE IS SOME BLEEDING OF THE BLUE ON THE YELLOW, SLIGHTLY SOILED BUT OTHERWISE EXCELLENT





MEASUREMENTS IN INCHES:
CHEST: 56

LENGTH: 55





From Me:

I'm not sure this is 1920's specifically. It could be Edwardian. This style - with the huge collar- was pretty popular for a Halloween costume for a long while. Even today, this would be a perfectly normal clown costume for Halloween.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Late Edwardian Summer Dress with Fabulous Embroidered Trim












From the seller:

DELICATE AND BEAUTIFUL, THIS SEMI-SHEER TWO PIECE ENSEMBLE IS FROM THE EARLY 1900'S OR EARLIER. WITH PUFFED 3/4 SLEEVES AND BACK HOOK & EYE CLOSURE, THE BLOUSE IS FEMININE AND ETHEREAL SO IS THE BEAUTIFUL SKIRT, WHICH FLOWS GENTLY TO THE GROUND AND HAS HOOK & EYE CLOSURES. BOTH ARE TRIMMED WITH INTRICATE HAND SEWN CROCHETED TRIM DETAILS. PLEASE SEE PHOTOS. THE COLOR IS A SHADE OF LIGHT WHEAT. THE BLOUSE IS PRETTY MUCH FREE OF FLAWS, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL. UNFORTUNATELY THE SKIRT HAS ONE AREA OF STAINING AND THERE IS A TORN AREA IN THE CROCHET IN THE SAME PLACE AS THE STAIN. FORTUNATELY, HOWEVER, THESE TWO ISSUES ARE MOSTLY CAMOUFLAGED IN THE GENTLE SWIRLS OF THE FOLDS OF THE SKIRT. A CAREFUL CLEANING MIGHT TAKE CARE OF THE STAINED AREA, OR THE SKIRT COULD BE HEMMED ENOUGH TO REMOVE THAT PART IF ONE WANTED. EVEN SO, THE OVERALL EFFECT OF THE SKIRT IS STILL STUNNING, IN SPITE OF THE FLAWS.
IT IS A GORGEOUS PIECE OF 'AMERICANA'---BUST 32" WAIST 25" LENGTH 52" FROM SHOULDER.


From Me:

I am in love with this dress. Yes, the fabric is very simple but look at all that trim and embroidery! This would have been a show stopper with the proper slip beneath it.

May 1908 The Delineator


The fashion plate above is from 1909 and the yellow dress has similar lines to this extant one.

In the middle of a remake in the middle of the 19th century dress












From the seller:

Circa late 1840-1860’s..lovely colors on this silk taffeta ladies ballgown with lovely silk roses in the design.Bodice or sleeves might have been altered at some point,A nice gown for display… The gown is in fair mainly strong condition, but there is some damage on bodice and sleeves.The bottom of the gown has splitting and there is some scattered splitting overall. Top part of skirt is much stronger.. Will display nicely if desired or quite alot of fabric can be used if desired…Think most of the pretty rose silk could be used.. though I think it might be worth stabilizing the gown so it can be displayed.


From Me:
A lot is two words, not one.

There is a lot going on with this dress (see what I did there?). First, I's pretty sure this was originally a much bigger 1840's ballgown. I'd love to know the measurements of this one because it just doesn't look that dramatically tiny but you can see someone took it in by at least two inches on either side at the "stomacher" points on the front. For comparison in cuts, check out this extant 1840's ballgown.

One very dramatic detail that is different here is the button front and the lack of a point in the waist. These are details more commonly associated with the mid and late 1860's. However, a ballgown bodice with a real button front? Maybe this was to have sleeves added and the seamstress just got too frustrated with the piecing? After all, the back looks beautifully pieced together but the front is a hot mess.  We aren't even going to get into the details of that skirt.  That's beyond hope.  

The pattern of the fabric is interesting - many of the 19th c fabrics would look wild or downright modern to our eyes and this is no exception.  This looks more like someone's Laura Ashely drapery via the late 80's, early 90's than the mid 19th century to me.  However, it really is at least 1840's if not much older!