March 1, 2010
Video of black bodice with smocking
Posted by Arden Kirkland under labs, Videos | Tags: labs, video |[2] Comments
Students from the Historic Costume Preservation Workshop at Vassar College examine a bodice, #2001.077, and discuss how it may not be as old as we originally thought.
Scroll down for part 2.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:25 pm
I’m not sure that a lack of boning on the interior of this bodice would necessarily lead me to think that it’s a later reproduction or costume. Liberty was known for its production of “artistic” garments, which rarely (if ever) had interior boning. The zipper is a giveaway that it has at least been altered, but that could have been added later to replace troublesome hook and eye or button closures. Though the dark color makes it difficult to see, it reminds me of this dress in the FIDM Museum collection: http://blog.fidmmuseum.org/museum/2009/12/smocked-frock.html
I wonder if this is a period garment that was altered for later use as a costume?
March 4th, 2010 at 1:48 am
I had the chance to do some research on Liberty & Co. today and came up with some interesting things that may help date the bodice. Based on what I learned about Liberty, they were pretty firmly set in their ways in terms of manufacturing aesthetic dress long after that look had fallen out of fashion, and they continued to refer to themselves as a “costume department” up through the 1920s even though the term had become obsolete. Liberty did start to incorporate the Belle Epoque (1890-1914) style, though they tended to adhere to aesthetic principles, including more free-flowing, less constrictive garments (which may account for why there is no structure within the bodice)
The smocking in particular on this Belle Epoque image seemed suspiciously familiar…
http://www.fashion-era.com/images/Edwds1890-1915/gathblou342x25.jpg
Some images of a pink frock with smocking also by Liberty from the 1890s. The shot of the back of the bodice is almost exactly like our bodice (with the cosmetic button detailing on either side of the center back) except without a zipper.
http://blog.fidmmuseum.org/museum/2009/12/smocked-frock.html
More on Liberty:
http://www.vintagefashionguild.org/component/option,com_alphacontent/section,6/cat,59/task,view/id,419/Itemid,100/
Based on the above information, that leaves a span of a good thirty years during which this bodice could have been created, since Liberty did not keep up with the times. However, there is another factor to consider: the zipper. The “hookless fastener” was patented in 1913, so that knocks out anything before that. The zipper on the bodice has a brand name on it (Talon), so I researched Talon as a zipper company. In 1917, Talon zippers patented a version of the “hookless fastener” and in the 1920s they began to mass produce zippers out of Meadeville, PA. In 1928 the Hookless Fastener Company was officially re-named “Talon,” so based on the zipper the bodice is probably post 1928, which makes sense since apparently the zipper did not become popular in clothing until the 1930s after an ad campaign for children’s clothes which featured the zipper as an easier way for kids to dress themselves ran.
Also, based on that Vintage Fashion Guild website’s list of Liberty labels, I’m going to say that the dress has to be pre-1940, because by the early 1940s they had adopted a large extraneous “L” as part of their logo that lasted up through the 1980s (after Talon went bankrupt in the 1970s and YKK became much more of the norm). And I’m going to assume late 1930s, since in 1937 zippers defeated buttons in the “Battle of the Fly” and started being used in trousers…and apparently after that they came up with the open ended zipper, which is the type in the bodice. (I’m having no luck finding when the open ended zipper was invented.)
Also, I don’t think that the zipper was added later since there seems to be no evidence of alteration (no sewn over button holes, etc.). The other pieces in the collection that have been altered for use as a costume do have traces of removed closures that have been replaced by hooks and eyes for quick-change. The only apparent alteration of the bodice is an addition to the bottom, which seems to have been done hastily since the material doesn’t match the rest of the bodice. Plus, if it were a more recent alteration, the zipper would probably be a YKK, not a Talon.