Not on display

Dress Fabric

1935 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This crepe dress fabric is printed with a repeat of tulips and stems, in red, green, yellow and flesh-colour, on a brown background. Floral printed fabrics held a prominent place in every smart woman's wardrobe in the 1930s. Motifs floating on a plain ground worked admirably; navy, black and brown background colours were perennially in vogue. The use of floral decoration on cloth was hardly new but the flowers of the 1930s blossomed with fresh life and vigour. Detailed, naturalistic representations in the traditional manner were replaced with a freedom of line and form closely allied to contemporary movements in the fine and graphic arts.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Screen-printed crêpe
Brief description
Dress fabric of screen-printed crêpe, made by Calico Printers' Association, England, 1935
Physical description
Dress fabric of screen-printed crêpe printed with a repeat of tulips and stems in red, green, yellow and flesh-colour on a brown background.
Production typeMass produced
Credit line
Given by Manchester Design Registry
Object history
Registered File number 1974/3231.
Registration number 356910.
Summary
This crepe dress fabric is printed with a repeat of tulips and stems, in red, green, yellow and flesh-colour, on a brown background. Floral printed fabrics held a prominent place in every smart woman's wardrobe in the 1930s. Motifs floating on a plain ground worked admirably; navy, black and brown background colours were perennially in vogue. The use of floral decoration on cloth was hardly new but the flowers of the 1930s blossomed with fresh life and vigour. Detailed, naturalistic representations in the traditional manner were replaced with a freedom of line and form closely allied to contemporary movements in the fine and graphic arts.
Bibliographic reference
Thirties Floral Fabrics. Series 3 (The Victoria & Albert colour books). London : Michael Joseph, published in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1988
Collection
Accession number
T.256-1987

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Record createdJanuary 14, 2004
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