dress

Summary

Short shift-dress in purple acrylic crochet. Sleeveless summer dress with shoulder straps. Horizontal front neckline and low back, to waist level, decorated with two silver metal crested buttons. Bands of ribbing around neckline, armholes and at waist.

Display Label

The late 1960s and the early 1970s witnessed a dramatic revival in the popularity of crochet as part of a long-established craft tradition. In spite of crochet's rather dowdy Victorian image, home knitters seized upon its potential as a speedy way of creating whole garments, so that patterns for mini dresses, shawls, tops and even full length evening dresses proliferated for amateur knitters. This shift dress has been made from purple acrylic yarn, crocheted in a bold stylised daisy-type pattern, reminiscent of Mary Quant and absolutely typical of the sixties. Patterns showing such clothing were produced in their thousands from the middle sixties by firms such as Pins and Needles, Patons, Penelope and Pineapple. Coats Viyella even sold a booklet in 1970 offering "Crochet for Brides" which comprised a "book full of Crochet and Tatting ideas for a bride's Trousseau and home" including peculiarities such as personalised kneelers for both bride and groom to use in the church, in "delicate filet crochet".