The dress is floor-length with hanging panels over the shoulders on the front and back. The panels reach to the floor and tie in the front. The ties are made from the same fabric as the dress. The panels are lined with a light-green fabric, they are the only part that is lined. The dress is unusual because of the holes under the arms for ventilation. All of this can be seen in the pictures below. The sleeves attach to the dress proper at the top, but to the panels at the bottom, this may be harder to tell from the pictures, however. The dress zippers up the center back and has a vent at the bottom. There are two little bows on each panel where it joins the dress proper. The front has a shallow scoop neckline. The body is cut in six pieces--all have darts. Each panel is one piece and the fronts and underarms are shaped with darts on them, too. The dress's seam allowances are 1/2 inch and are finished with pinking. There is some binding reinforcing the seams where the facings surrounding the armpit vents are. These are not visible in the photographs, unfortunately. There is a label sewn to the back facing upon which is written, "Jaholi of Hawaii." I think it is cotton or a cotton blend.
My dating of the dress is circa 1969-1970. As I have never seen another one like it, this is mostly instinctual, based upon the general lines of the dress, the pattern (which not only looks Hawaiian but 1960's, too) and the feel of it. It may be an early 1970's transitional garment because of its length. I do not think it is older than the mid-1970's. As can be seen from the pictures, it hangs rather straight, but it has a lot of subtling shaping darts. It is in excellent condition; only a tie was pulled out when I bought it. This was quickly and easily repaired. It fits a little looser on me than it should, but it is not cut to fit really tightly. It is very comfortable; however, because of the panels which tie together it restricts movement slightly because the sleeves attach to the panels (although I could lift up and down, and move boxes in it, once I'd untied the panels and re-tied them in the back out of my way). Because of its length and the panels I'd say it was a hostess's teatime-type thing for tropical weather (the underarm vents really do work!).
Click on the thumbnails to see larger pictures.
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