Mother and Daughter with Television, 1950s

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

What a happy pair! Have they just been dancing? The record player drawer is open on the television/record player console. I wasn’t able to find exactly the same machine on line, but the American company Admiral made many such combinations in the 1950s.

I am hoping that all you seamstresses, sewers, sewists, and costume designers out there will be able to help me with the details of the mother’s dress. (And Witness2fashion, let me call you out by name.) At first glance, I though it was a flowered dress with a dark bodice and godets on the bottom. However, looking at the hem more closely, I wonder if there aren’t two layers here. Hasn’t the flowered dress been topped by an overdress made up of a dark bustier attached to a skirt of transparent black fabric? If so, it’s a clever design. She could take off the overdress and head out to a garden party, put it on and be ready for dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Whatever the case, this is a stylish duo. I think there must be a modern sewing set up somewhere else in the house.

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3 Responses to Mother and Daughter with Television, 1950s

  1. eimear says:

    its a lovely dress, the stripe detail at the seams in the skirt really add to the overall effect and balance it beautifully – what a happy pair

  2. JenO says:

    The mother’s dress looks like a black lace overlay, with a buff or beige taffeta under layer or slip lining. The black bodice and hip detail looks like a crepe. This is very much in the style of Peggy Hunt, a California designer, especially with the complex gored skirt and ‘corset’ bodice. I tried to find similar online right now, but nothing this elaborate out there right now with the Peggy Hunt label.

  3. Lizzie says:

    It’s a great dress! I can just barely tell that the cap sleeves are not lined, being made only of the lace.

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