IDENTIFICATION

WHAT IS IT? 

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON:  FUNCTION, dress

 ON MATERIAL, night/formal dress

ON CONSTRUCTION,  low quality coat dress

AUTHENTICATION: The dress was sold as being from the fifties.

The style of the label's design is not contemporary .  I could not find the store in the yellow pages,  so, probably, the store does not exit anymore. The label was made in Switzerland.

   

Dresses from 1954's Sears Catalogue (Canada)

A dress from the 50s with similar shape

FUNCTION

 The main function of the dress, as part of the clothing system, is utilitarian, both at the physical and social level.   Physically it protects us from weather and environmental conditions.  Because  it covers the body, the dress allows us to  interact socially, according to western values of prudery.

Even though, the most basic function of clothing is utilitarian, it is not the most significant and the most invested with meanings.  Through the making of this dress someone has expressed her or his creative and aesthetics talents and knowledge.  The consumer would also have the chance to express her personality through the choice and wear of the dress.  (I use "her" because the original consumer was intended to be female.)

The dress can also serve emotional and psychological functions; though these are harder to trace since they are most likely to be individual.  The dress can help its users to cope with situations, to express their state of mind ,to conform with  the masses' styles ,or to make a statement.

The dress's design is thus, related to all this functions.  The designer might have had one, or all of these functions in mind when designing the dress. 

EVALUATION

Although the design of the dress is complex, e.g. the raglan sleeves, the back neckline, the neck/shoulder darts and the biased buttonholes denote some refinement, the construction is poor. For instance the bust darts are not properly finished, and the threads were left  loose.  This is mostly a feature of a home made dress. The material was appropriately chosen because it has a feminine and delicate quality, and this kind of taffeta drapes well. The colours and subtle combination with the white decoration also denotes feminity and sophistication.

The overall shape of the dress conforms with the common fashion styles of the period and it a mass produced  simplified version of the haut couture styles.

CULTURAL ANALYSIS

 "The pre-war silhouette of squared, padded shoulders and slim skirts was emphasized during the Second World War by textile shortages and rationing resulting in short skirts above the knee. All that changed in 1947 with the introduction of a new style that required much more cloth and time for fabrication. Launched by the new haute couture house of Christian Dior, the post-war fashion was dubbed “The New Look” by the fashion editor for Harper’s Bazaar, Carmel Snow. It was a romantic style evoking 19th century femininity: cinched-in waists, rounded shoulders, and long full skirts. “The New Look” heralded a clear end to war-time hardship, and a dramatic change from the functional fashions that prevailed during the War. Immediately taken up throughout Europe and North America, “The New Look” ushered in the feminine fifties. The new look remained fashionable for about ten years, well into the late 1950's.

It was a time when women, here and abroad, looked to European couture design for fashion leadership and wore, copied, and emulated its elegance and glamour.

These same years saw rapid cultural, social, and economic expansion in post-war Canada. Couture clothes, from day suits to formal evening gowns, were considered essential dress, requisite for participation within the social season. Attendance at the numerous public, private, social, and fund-raising events in Toronto required the style and quality inherent in couture, which served as a badge of membership and operated as a professional uniform. Wearing European couture clearly marked a woman’s sophistication, and underscored the significance of cultural and social events in the feminine fifties." (http://www.rom.on.ca/ee/1950_newlook.html).

“In Canadian society of 1958...a young woman who wants her husband to be successful and, on the way, to achieve her own social ambitions, is well advised to work her way up through a few high-prestige organizations.... It may be more sensible for a young matron to join one of the women’s committees of an art gallery, symphony orchestra or museum”.
“Canadian Society,” Jeanine Locke, Chatelaine, April 1958

Cocktail Party: As this never takes place before five o’clock, a fussier type of dress can be worn, short or ballet length. A very small, dressy hat is attractive and gloves are worn but removed before a cocktail is partaken. Small, simple handbags should be carried.”
Claire Wallace, Completely New Canadian Etiquette Dictionary, 1960