LIL' ALICE // VINTAGE CLOTHING ANALYST VOL6

Today's vintage clothing analyst post digs deep to show you what era this dress is from and HOW WE KNOW.  Cheaters click here for the easy answer.

Let's start with the things we know about it and can readily observe: 
1. milk chocolate brown fabric
2. 3/4 length sleeves
3. fitted silhouette
4. button up bodice
5. bust darts
6. peter pan collar
7. natural waistline

8. hip pockets

9. kick slit
10. self-covered buttons
11. dolman sleeves
12. cuffed sleeves

Now, let's look deeper for some hidden information (shown in the photos below):

1. elbow darts

2. metal snaps at the collar

3. pinked seams

4. tag : Lil' Alice

5. side metal zipper

LABEL, STRUCTURE AND SEAMS :
When trying to figure out what era a dress is from, if I can't tell from the first glance, I take into consideration the style of the silhouette.  This dress is fitted, not slouchy anywhere, and obviously made to hug the body at the bust, waist, and hips - which is a generic popular style from the 30s-early 60s.   Now I'll check the tag. A basic google search leads us to a notable reference, the Vintage Fashion Guild, where we can read that the label existed between 1925 and the early 1960s.  Also in the label is the trademark registration.  However, in a basic search in the trademark database, no information was available.  The pinked seams in this photo also show that the garment is vintage...but we can't narrow it down much, since pinked seams were used in many vintage eras.

OPENINGS AND FASTENERS:
Next, we take into consideration any openings or fasteners.  There is a side metal zipper and self-covered buttons up the front of the bodice.  Side zippers were popular in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and some 60s and 70s styles.  Metal zippers were used primarily from the 30s - 60s.  So we still haven't narrowed it down much...we're looking at 30s - 60s.  Self-covered buttons were used in several vintage eras as well, BUT I've seen this specific style (round, flat, with recessed inner circle) a lot in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s.

SLEEVES AND TOP :
Next, lets look at the sleeves.  They wing out at the underarms a bit, (dolman sleeves), which is popular in day dresses in the 40s and 50s.  Three-quarter-length sleeves were common in the 40s, late 50s, and early 60s.  If you look closely, you can see darts at the elbow.  This quality is most common in 40s dresses and often the style of the rest of the dress is similar to the one we're analyzing.

LAST DETAILS :

The last thing we'll take a look at are the hip pockets.  This style of open, angled pockets are common in the 40s and 50s.  They usually have some sort of foldover, diagonal flap, or will be oversized and stick out slightly.  The shoulder pads in the dress sit at the top of the shoulder, popular in the 40s and 50s as well.  They are very slightly stuffed (a 40s characteristic), but are nearly flat (a 50s characteristic). Taking all of these points into consideration I think it's safe to say this dress was probably made in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

There you have it!  It wasn't so tough, huh?  

Leave me a note in the comments telling me what you think.  Did you guess it right away?  Or did it take you a few clues into the post to figure it out?

See this dress in our shop here!