Guard That Lingerie!

In the mid-teens when women started wearing dresses that required simple slips under them because they were transparent or semi-transparent, and with the advent of the brassiere, it became necessary to control all those sagging straps somehow.  Having worn some of these fashions with the correct underpinnings I know whereof I speak.  These handy little items corralled those wayward straps and prevented embarrassment.

This card from my collection is an example of a bad habit of estate sale people who feel the need to ruin all the nice paper items with their black markers.  I have pointed this out to I don't know how many of them and sometimes just get blank looks.  The serious collectors among them get it, but I still have many otherwise pristine items ruined this way.

This is a Stickup

From 1914-1916 it was fashionable to have collars that were high in the back which complemented upswept hair held up with combs.  This was made possible by little items like this which were sewn inconspicously into the collars to hold them up.  Collar supports were not new, having been used for years earlier to support Edwardian lace collars, but these were the longest they would get.  See some examples below from the American Woman magazine of June 1915.

Wash With Care for Longer Wear

A brochure from Sears that is still good advice today, although I have no idea what aralac is.

Jaunty Hats From 1935

Make a Nifty Blouse

Size 16 in 1935 was Bust 34, Hip 37.

Slide Fasteners

Here is a neat package I found at an estate sale.  It's pretty self-explanatory and I wish we had the range of zippers shown today.  From the early 1940's.  I believe you can click on the pictures to see them larger.

Here is a very interesting article explaining the early years of Talon, Inc and the development of the modern zipper.  Here is a link to a book celebrating Talon, Inc's first 50 years.  An interesting article chronicling the later years of Talon, Inc.  Talon, Inc may even play a part in discovering what happened to Amelia Earhart!  And, of course, the Wikipedia entry on zippers.

My Mother's Wedding Dress

The dress on the right is the one my mother chose in 1951 for her wedding in August of that year.  She made it herself and her two sisters had matching dresses in different colors.  She had wanted a white wedding gown but was coerced by her mother to make a more "practical" dress that could be worn again.

Here are my grandparents and parents outside the church after the wedding.

Her dress was of dusty rose nailhead taffeta with a nylon taffeta inset and pearl buttons according to this comprehensive newspaper account.  In the background you can see her older sister in her matching dress in light yellow.   Her younger sister wore orchid.

I remember this dress hanging in our downstairs hall closet during the 60's and I think it went to Goodwill when we moved in 1970.  I was in high school and not yet into vintage clothing or I would have saved it.