Mystery Dress!

So, for my birthday, my marvelous sister Kate sent me this:



Isn't it awesome? Just the thing to hang in my sewing room.

Of course, I am now consumed by curiosity: who drew this? Why? How did it end up in a junk shop in Park Slope, for Kate to find?

It's marked "DeZine Studio, 105 W 40 ST. NYC", and the style number is D-1725. The illustration is marked "Peau de Soie" (and it's spelled correctly!).

Here's a slightly closer view of the actual dress (sorry about the flash glare):



Anyone have a clue for me? I could just *invent* the story, a la "Secret Lives," but I'd like to take a stab at finding out actual facts, first.

Comments

[Anonymous]

I don't have any answers for you, but what a find! This would look great in my studio as well. I would like to do a knock-off of this one - it's beautiful!BTW - I've been looking at your blog for a couple of months now and I love, love, love it. I check it often to make sure I haven't missed anything. And the comments are so clever, informative and fun to read. Keep up the fun work!Alabama Seamstress

[Kate]

Does it say WHO St.? I thought it was a number with a "th" after it, maybe West (W) 40th St. I remember googling some street address after I got it...

[melissa joy]

my boss has a sketch of a different dress, same style of sketch in her office. it was a gift as well, so she doesn't have any info on it.when exactly is your birthday?

[melissa]

never mind, i went back an entry.HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

[Erin]

Kate -- you're right, it does look more like 40th St. I changed it in the post. I wondered where "WHO" street was. And if Dr. Seuss knew about it ...

[Archiknist]

Old NYC directories might help you figure out when the studio existed, while city records (held by the municipal archives: http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/about/archives.shtml) might also have some record of the business. They'd might also know who could help you if they can't.Rebecca

[julia]

Erin - Happy Birthday! Mine was yesterday and I would consider another chapter of Secret Lives a most wonderful birthday gift!

[Summerset]

Oh Wow! I want your sister as a sister!

[Anonymous]

I love the sketch! I don't know any info on it, but I wish you luck with your search.

[barbie2be]

i love that dress! it's fabulous!

[Anonymous]

Can we please have another "Secret Lives" anyway? Please?

[Anonymous]

I'm more curious if it ever actually got made up than who drew it. That dress is gorgeous!

[Jen ~ MOMSPatterns]

YOWSERS that is amazing! I tried to do a bit of sleuthing and did NOT find anything exactly like this, but DID find a gorgeous 50's Vogue Special Design pattern (that looks like it sold for $50 last year) with a SIMILAR ruched bodice. At least it has a pattern number attached so maybe no day in your journeys, it will surface!http://www.lulusvintage.com/ephemera/index.html and it's the 4th or 5th entry down. Good luck with more googling, guys & gals! I'm off for a nap. This heat's unbearable..

[zimmersarmy]

Jan 1958, in Oxnard California...A dress shop called DeZine Dress was robbed of $708.90 in merchandise. The shop was on 2207 Ventura Blvd (which now has me humming that song.)Perhaps your sister has traveled back in time to swipe you a present. But is it shoplifting if it is done through time travel?

[renee]

What a wonderful present! The dress is soooo divine. I would make mine in a gunmetal taffeta, and go for a night out at the steak house, with a Manhattan to drink. Happy belated birthday! Oh, and thanks for the tape measure that arrived the other day, which now lives in my purse.

[mickey]

The sketch is just screaming "Make me a "secret lives" story! Happy birthday and many more-

[susan]

Would you wear a necklace with that neckline? I don't think I would. I think I'd do earrings and bracelets.

[Els]

Happy birthday.A beautiful present. Peau de Soie is French and means skin of silk and is referring to a medium weight smooth with a semi dull finish. Originally made in Padua Italy.

[Carol]

Ooh, renee, I received the best compliment of my life in a gunmetal taffeta dress. A man I had worked with for months (though I must admit, he had usually only seen me in scrubs, an OR cap and a mask) saw me at a formal occasion wearing a gunmetal taffeta dress and asked a mutual acquaintance, "Who is that incredibly attractive woman?"Being a shy person of dubious self-esteem, it warms my heart that at least once in my life I was thought to be "incredibly attractive".

[Welmoed]

What a beautiful gift! Happy Birthday!

[Jen ~ MOMSPatterns]

'Maybe ONE day'. Not maybe no day. Geesh, that was a sly negative statement, wasn't it?!

[Joni]

One of the gowns in the Christian Dior exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art has that same drapey gathering at the top of the skirt panels. My mother and I scrutinized that dress for a good ten minutes and we couldn't figure out how they do it beyond, "First, you take a LOT of fabric..."

[Jo]

...yes a LOT of fabric, how wonderful to feel all that floating around you? :-) If I made it, I'd think of a rich maroon, or maybe forest green?

[Kathy F.]

I have an enormous portfolio of my Mom's watercolors that look like this. She was 15 when she began doing them - amazingly talented! She entered contests for local department stores, too, and I have those "entries" also. One day I want to have some of them framed and hanging in my sewing room - this is just the inspiration! Thanks for sharing!

[Theresa]

Geesh - I checked out your sister Kate's site -- is the ENTIRE McKean Clan amazingly talented and brilliant?