Antique Lawn Dress

I have been hoping to stumble on something like this for a while now.  Usually I only see these very early twentieth century dresses hanging on the walls of antique stores with out-of-control price tags on them, so I was thrilled to find this one on a rack shoved in among a ton of ugly sixties and seventies dresses at an antique store in Benton, PA.  No attempt was made to set this one apart from the rest, even though it must be from the 1920s or thereabouts.  It was also not set apart price-wise.  Imagine my amazement!  For its age, this dress is in amazing condition.  It is made of a transparent, very fine material (made especially fine by the near century that has elapsed since its construction) that is called "lawn."  I thought it was called lawn because these were worn at garden parties, on lawns, etc., but I looked it up and it's named after a town in France known for manufacturing the material.  Unfortunately these pictures don't do the dress justice, and I definitely don't have the appropriate shoes or accoutrements (or an underdress, for that matter.  I'm still not too clear on what they would have worn under this sheer material.  I am wearing a cotton slip.) for this kind of thing, but I really wanted to get the dress on and documented without losing any time, such was my excitement.  I was sort of surprised that it fit considering that these old dresses tend to have tiny waists and proportions due to the petiteness of humankind before our own age of good health and material abundance.  Overall, a very lucky dress-encounter all around. 

The detail pictures below are of the beautiful and intricate work on the back and front of the collar.  These are the only embellishments on the dress.  The cuffs, skirt, waist, and bodice are just simple white lawn.  The dress closes with small snaps up part of the left side, across the waist, and then up the middle to the throat--no zippers, buttons, or other fastenings (only snaps on the cuffs as well).  The material is slightly gathered at the waist on the front and back to great effect.  Amazing!  If anyone knows anymore about dating dresses like this just by looking at them, let me know when you think this dress hails from.  By the style, material, and condition I was guessing it was 1920s or so, but I am no expert on these things.

The collar is definitely my favorite part.  Here is a glimpse of my little room in my parents' house, which has remained eerily unchanged since my childhood.  It is the perfect home for an antique lawn dress, if I do say so myself, though it may finally be time to paper the walls.