One of the most sought after kind of dresses in the vintage world are beaded 1920s dresses. Fragile by nature, few have survived to the modern day, and those that have often require lots of restoration, as the weight of the beads damages the delicate silk chiffons and georgettes.
Last year I restored a ’20s evening gown for a customer who was wearing it for a special birthday. The bodice featured a beaded panel, much damaged over the years – the dress was unwearable as is, especially as she wished to dance in it, so I removed the bodice panels (front and back), matched the silk chiffon and silk charmeuse to new fabrics and (with the help of a friend) sewed them all together using silk thread.
Then I spent a week restitching the entire beaded panel. Originally sewn with cotton thread, it had deteriorated over the years and as I touched each bead, it came adrift – so there was nothing else for it, but to redo it all. It took me over fifty hours but I was happy with the result. I don’t think that I’ve ever spent so long restoring a dress for sale, and the resulting price did not reflect all the work and material costs that had gone into it. But it was beautiful and my customer was happy.
Please excuse the dreadful photos: as well as being out of focus, they don’t represent the true colour which is a delicate shade of pale green referred to during the Art Deco era as “eau de nil” (the first image, sans flash, is the closest). The original 1920s beads are a shimmering silver-white. I’m glad that there were enough intact to complete the task, as it would be hard to find more of the same.
The front is high and the back low, ornamented with a beaded rosette. The back detailing along with the silk charmeuse and bias cut skirt (below the drop waist) suggest that this gown is from the late 1920s, perhaps not long before the waistline returned to it’s natural place in 1929. Whilst featuring elements of 1930s style, it’s still very much a flapper dress, ready to kick up her heels at one more fabulous party.
Share this:
Discover more from Circa Vintage Clothing
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I was wondering when you were going to show pictures of her, she is gorgeous!
That dress is stunning! Your work on it is mind-blowing to me. What an amazing job!
Wow, Nicole! Job well done!!
I was wondering as I was reading if you were compensated for all of your time and labor; at least you ended up with a happy customer and a stunning result.
What an amazing creation you’ve brought back to life!
What a labour of love – but look at the result – beautiful. I had to re-sew a few stray beads on to my beaded cardigan and that stretched my patience enough!
Well done Nicole – a fantastic restoration.
Wow what an amazing restoration and a gorgeous dress! It’s great that you can give such a beautiful garment a new lease on life.
did you use nylon thread this time?
so sad we dont have the the time and skills for more handstitching now.i so miss seeing it in clothing.
ps.i have been meaning to ask you if there are any good in print books on fabric types.
thanks.
rachael.: )
Great work Nicole. What a stunning dress. You’re a marvel. 🙂
Rachel, I used pure silk thread for this one: not as strong as nylon, but more suited to the materials and it was a joy to work with.
I do a lot of hand-sewing, in fact I’ll often hand sew even when it would be better to machine sew as it’s easier to control each stitch.
Re: good fabric books, I saw one recently at the NGV but I can’t remember it’s name, sorry. It might have just been “Fabric”.
thanks nicole.i just prefer how things feel when they are hand stitched.even doing the hems on my trousers that way makes me feel better.
i will keep my eyes posted next time i go to the gallery!!
What a beautiful dress. All that work (phew) looks amazing, it must have been such a joy to wear.
The things we do to save a lovely dress! Beautiful!
That is a beautiful piece! I am also looking at a similar project, I have a light pink beaded dress from the 1920s and would love to chat with you about the process, if you have time of course 🙂
Of course! Are you able to bring it into the shop? Let me know what day/time and I will do my best to be there.
I’m astonished at your skill in bringing this dress back to wearable (danceable, even!) condition. What a fabulous job you’ve done!
And I hope your customer is aware how lucky she is. Professional conservators charge at least £20+ per hour – that’s about AUS$33 by my widget calculator!
What a wonderful job you did on this dress. Have you any tips for restoring beads that have gone black (on the inside). These are on a peu de soire wedding dress.
Thanks Pamela – I guess it depends on what the beads are made of, and what has caused the black. It sounds like it could be patina, perhaps oxidisation of metallic beads? Hard to know without more information. Would you like to send me photos? You can email me at nicole at circavintage dot com dot au. Thank you for your comment.
You did an amazing job restoring this dress. It’s absolutely beautiful. I wish there was a picture of the dress & it’s condition before the restoration. How can you tell what type of thread was used originally? I’m looking to restore or fix a few 1920s silk dresses but I don’t know what thread was used to sew/make them. One dress is chiffon. The other two are satin. I can definitely tell they are silk because of the delicate material & how easily the fabric tears from being 90-100 years old. I need to order some antique cotton or silk thread but I don’t want to buy the wrong type or kind. I figured it would be better to ask an expert. Some of the damage is beyond my sewing skills. Is it better to bring the dresses to a tailor or dress maker for major repairs? Thank you!
Hi Melissa, apologies for the late response. You’re right to consider thread as it’s an important aspect of restoration. I like to use the original materials wherever possible but old cotton thread rots: I’ve had to resew many old dresses as a result. Every seam. Most 1920s dresses are sewn with cotton thread but if you wish to do similar, you’re better off using a modern cotton thread as heritage materials aren’t as strong. Most modern threads are pure polyester and as much as I dislike incorporating synthetic aspects, it is a strong material and won’t rot.
For this dress in the post I used silk thread, even though it was cotton originally (if I recall correctly) and I was fortunate to be able to source a suitable colour, as it only comes in a limited range. You could of course, if you’re very keen, dye a thread to match. But for your job I would also source a silk thread: it’s a beautiful notion to work with. I do all my own restorations but if you feel it’s beyond your skillset, you might be better off finding a seamstress. Good luck!