Tuesday 29 April 2014

Made in Dublin in the 20's

Now here is a treat! We generally only stock American vintage, this is for a number of reasons. Primarily it is because we prefer the style but also in part because it is a much bigger scene there. This means there are more serious collectors so a better quality of high end vintage gowns are available for Dirty Fabulous to buy and bring home to you lovely ladies!
We rarely if ever come across Irish vintage in really beautiful condition. We have had a stunning Sybil Connolly full length crochet gown but we bought this in New York and not in Ireland.
Sybil Connolly is so collectible and coveted we didn't have it in the store long enough to get a photo of it for our own archives!

So we are thrilled to present this 1920's blush satin and intricate gold lame lace gown in stunning condition.








This wedding gown was sold by Slyne and Co, 71 Grafton St, sometime between 1917 and 1922.
Slyne and Co. were a ladies dressmaker of very expensive gowns.
The shop was owned by a widower called Kathleen Clare Hyland nee Slyne. She re-married in 1917 and definitely already had the shop prior to being married. 
We were also told that while dresses were made to order in Dublin for sale in Slynes, they also stocked high end luxury gowns from Paris. There is no way to be 100% sure which is the case with this particular dress. It has the original Slynes label but nothing else to guide us in our research.
We have the original box with the order details and this was a very very expensive gown in its day. At the time this gown cost £95 which in today's money would be €3,500!
It also came with an original pearl 1920's headpiece, (in many parts!) and we are currently restoring it to it's former glory.

A view down Grafton Street showing Slyne & Co. two thirds the way down on the left.
This is were Boodles is now situated.
image via dublinforum.

During my research on the company I came across the following auction lot description of a catalogue from Slynes- unfortunately it sold at auction about 8 years ago and  there are no photos now available of the catalogue.

Irish Slyne Catalogue Dublin Fashions 1920s 
Album
8 page catalogue on strong paper with 14 illustrations - see enlarged image. Elegant ladies with great 1920s styles.
Expensive costumes! - the average wages in the Dublin of the 1920s was approximately £3.00 a week!!
Slyne & Co. Ltd., Ladies Tailors, 71 Grafton Street, Dublin.


The following link is to a brochure/programme for the Rathmines and Rathgar musical Society in 1914 which has a Slynes advertisement for a fabulous sounding black evening gown!

No comments: