June inspiration and vintage ideas

In addition to our range of ladies & children’s nightwear and quilts, Damask have added a selection of vintage and designer clothes for sale on our website: www.damask.co.uk  Items feature  lace, embroidery, unusual prints and woven textiles.

We are pleased to offer a 20% discount on our vintage pieces for the month of June

‘Rowe of Kingston’ beautiful 1950’s black lace ball gown with fitted bodice and flared 3 layer skirt.

Detail of the dress with black taffeta shoulder straps and bows on the side fronts.

‘Blank of London’ reversible hand quilted cotton coat using Indian block prints, black ground with green flowers reversing to mustard yellow floral print.

For inspiration this month, I visited the Fashion Museum in Bath www.fashionmuseum.co.uk where they currently have an exhibition entitled:

A History of Fashion in 100 Objects and includes a selection from their ‘Dress of the Year’, where a fashion expert is invited to choose a piece that epitomises the year in fashion.  2011 featured a beautiful long white dress with exquisite embroidery, by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

Some of my favourite pieces in the Behind the Scenes: Historic Collection were the delicate white muslin Regency dresses from the Jane Austen period. Muslin is a cotton fabric that was first made in the city of Mosul in Iraq, from which it derived its name. Early Indian muslins were hand woven from fine hand spun yarns and were imported into Europe from India in the 17th century, where they were used in the manufacture of clothing

A selection of beautiful antique pieces are available from a website called: antiquedress.com

Embroidered Empire muslin gown 1805-1810

Regency girl’s muslin gown

White embroidered muslin dress circa 1820

I have often looked to vintage clothing for inspiration for the Damask range of ladies white cotton embroidered nightwear.

A page from a New York department store featuring nightwear & petticoat designs circa 1910

Barcelona above, is one of the nightwear styles Damask sells which is inspired by an antique nightdress, a feminine white cotton lawn nightdress with fine pin tuck detail, frilled neck and cuff edge and delicate Mother of Pearl buttons. The front button opening makes it suitable for maternity and nursing mothers.

Another exhibition well worth a visit is  Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear  at the Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington, London SW7 until 12th March 2017 www.vam.ac.uk

It examines the history of intimate garments throughout history and the inventions and fashions that have shaped them. Some of the most interesting exhibits are the boned and laced corsets women had to wear to create the narrow waisted silhouette for period gowns.

Corset, cotton with whalebones circa 1890. V & A Museum

Corset, black woven silk boned corset with tiny blue & pink flowers with tiny blue & pink flowers made for Madame Worth circa 1890. Fashion Museum, Bath.