Vintage 1970s figure hugging long sleeve red boucle wiggle dress David Gibson of Regent Street below knee
Ah hang on Sloopy...your dress may be as old as the hills but boy does it cut a silhouette! Not wonder it gave him the chills! So went the line in The McCoys and Yardbirds song of 1965, earlier by The Vibrations in 1964, and re -released by Rick Derringer of the McCoys in 1975, and a year later by The Sandpipers 1976. Be sure to listen to the longer version for the line with the red dress !
The dress is synthetic -acrylic nylon & polyester- and I normally avoid synthetic cresses but this one is sublime! It's a boucle, and thus a little more breathable as it were, plus the armholes aren't tight. So you won't sweat in it like some synthetic ones of the 70s. It is suitable for a UK 8-10, though may be ok for a curvy size UK 6. The dress is unlined. The silver metal belt front piece is lovely and looks more of a 60s than 70s vibe which has confused us about the date (more on that later) but the actual belt does up with a fabric colour button at the back which is also very nice.
The dress is by David Gibson of Regent Street, and all I have seen by them is 1960s and 70s, of a high quality nature some fab dresses. Regent Street well that's the right side of town though unlike Sloopy. Regent street was in fact designed by John Nash to separate the Mayfair upper classes from the hoi poloi of Soho ! Most of it was rebuilt in the 1920s but still in that Regency style, and remained populated by small stores as well as large ones of distinction (it had a Gallerie Lafayette the French Harrods back in the 70s) such as Liberty and Hamleys toy shop, and exclusive stores such as high end jewellers.
So for David Gibson in that environment not to have much info available, is perplexing. I have however found a David Gibson , also making quality ladies wear, in Nottingham, who had a showroom in London. Is this the same company? If so it is interesting because they did all the dresses for 'Summer Holiday', the 1963 movie with Cliff Richard. especially interesting to me as that movie was filmed in my native Yugoslavia! So if anyone has information if these two companies were the same, or indeed, not, please let me know!
The inspiration for Sloopy by contrast was Dorothy Sloop a jazz pianist born in Ohio poor background, and went to St Louis and New York with her jazz band, though returned to Ohio to obtain a Masters degree and becoming a special needs teacher, while continuing to play. So she did well for herself for a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, and the song has become the official song of the State, and its American Football. Baseball and Basketball teams. A rousing song of not giving up!
And it sums up this dress for me, because omg when you put it on....sure gonna give guys the chills it is such a fab wiggle dress like the ones in Mad Men. Except while it has a 60s vibe, we don't think it is. Ok so we shall take you through our reasoning but its all supposition I am afraid. The metal belt decor on the front of the dress is gorgeous and reminiscent of later 1960s Pierre Cardin space age style motifs. So it isn't earlier 60s. But there were few dresses in the later 60s this long...unless they were maxi. We had to wait until 1971 for a return to below knee dresses, and then was only partially successful in catching on, and usually for coats (note the blue Borgazia faux fur I teamed it with in the video). Though dresses of that length then (71) were belted, and Pierre Cardin still a big influence on other fashions. So first thoughts was it dates from then, BUT, that is not what the care label suggests. Though this isn't cast iron as I have come across exceptions. The care label has temperature as well as number and is in black on white. Prior to 1976 they were usually black on white (but not always it wasn't standard so often white on colour and I've even come across black print). In addition, n 1976 the standard became also symbols for washing machines and dryers and these are absent, though there is some tiny written instruction.
So I suspect it is bang there in the transition period, and thus we think the dress is 1976. Could be a little later even, but if so they didn't adhere to the new standard. It's no later than 1978 or it'd have shoulder pads , though when you look at it is does also have a 'New Wave' feel though as I say absent of shoulder pads.
So another factor that makes us thing 1976 ish is the colour. Joanna Lumley sported a longer dress (albeit with split from kick flare) in this colour in 'The New Avengers' that year and the year before had sported 'smokey red' dress by Jean Muir (for whom Joanna had long been a model since the 60s) in a promotion with Helena Rubebstein. So these reds that were other shades of red to pillar box or crimson came in big mid 1970s. Largely because of subdued red make ups.
The colour is a vibrant red but NOT as vibrant as pillar box (see the comparison with the pillar box in pic) nor is it as pinky as it looks in some of the photos. I have to reduce the saturation so you can see the boucle texture. It is quite deep not washed out at all, but not as I say pillar box red. But fear not it is not those awful modern washed out reds one sees in the high st. But it IS a day dress not an evening dress, so it's a subdued red ideal for daywear
The monorail pic btw is how they imagined in the 1960s Regent street was going to look in the 1970s as this was a real plan, though it didn't happen!
So sorry we can't be more specific about the date of the dress. even the zipper isn't much help usually metal or plastic date a dress, but this one's back zip has a plastic zipper and a metal pull so even that is intermediate! So, it's not as old as the hills but it is of an age! And so the boucle has the odd pull, but not really noticeable due to the texture anyway.
What we can be sure about is this is a dress is that it will turn heads despite its subtle modesty. I have worn it a few times, including to work, and got lots of compliments. If you were to wear this for a presentation like a slide show well hell your audience are going to be transfixed and yet what? It isn't revealing! And it is soooo comfortable to wear. Def one of those dresses that looks nothing much until you put it on! It's got no structure to it as such so simple yet so striking a silhouette. So dare you???? Hurry up before I change my mind because now I've seen the pics I am asking myself what I am doing selling it!