Long Shadow · Conchon-Quinette Antique French Dress Shirt
Self-stripe cotton bib, collar and cuffs, basketweave natté body · bib front · mother-of-pearl button cuffs · Conchon-Quinette, France · 1900s-1910s · 84cm front length, 101cm back · sturdy, unisex cut
Each cuff now closes with a mother-of-pearl button rather than a cufflink, the old cufflink holes stitched fully shut, Edwardian buttons pulled from my own collection rather than bought to match, so the repair reads as considered rather than convenient.
The cloth is actually two: a fine self-striped cotton on the bib, collar and cuffs, the parts meant to be seen, set against a plainer basketweave natté cotton across the body and sleeves, sturdy enough to survive a century of wear without thinning. The label reads Vetements Natte, Conchon Quinette, the name of a real French ready-to-wear house headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, with factories through Auvergne towns like Sainte-Florine and Brassac turning out clothing for men, women and children from catalogue order rather than bespoke fitting. This one is cut generously through the body in the era's typical unisex shirt shape, made sometime in the 1900s or 1910s. She belongs to a lot gathered in France in the 1980s, and restoring pieces from it by hand, one at a time, is a project of my own that I am still slowly working through. She arrived needing exactly that: a proper soak and whitening, both done by me.
The back drops dramatically longer than the front, 101cm against 84, a shirt-tail cut built for tucking rather than standing loose. A deep pleat runs down centre front, which is where the 66cm hem measurement gets its ease from rather than true width. Both side seams carry a visible repair where they meet the hem, small honest mends rather than hidden ones. The armholes are cut close at 21cm despite the generous body, which is why she wears best on a smaller modern frame even though the cut reads oversized: a good sleep shirt, or worn open over jeans.
Material
Self-stripe cotton (bib, collar, cuffs), basketweave natté cotton (body, sleeves), mother-of-pearl buttons
Care
Hand wash in cool water. Dry flat out of direct sun, and iron warm while still slightly damp to smooth the natté weave.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: Measured flat, she runs 84cm long at centre front and 101cm at centre back. The bust measures 58cm, the waist 61cm, and the hem 66cm, with extra ease there coming from a deep pleat at centre front rather than true width. Sleeves run 54cm with a 12cm cuff, buttoning to 11cm flat, and the bicep measures 18cm. The armhole runs 21cm and the neckline drops 5cm from the collar band. Tagged a vintage 39, cut oversized through the body but with close-set armholes, so she suits a smaller modern woman best despite the roomy silhouette. Given the close armhole, that translates to roughly a modern AU 10 to 12, international size S to M.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Very good. Sturdy cloth throughout with no thinning or holes. Visible repairs sit at the base of both side seams where they meet the hem, stitched cleanly and holding well. The cufflink holes at each cuff have been closed and fitted with mother-of-pearl buttons in their place. The top button at the throat is currently missing, so she sits open there; message us on purchase if you would like another Edwardian mother-of-pearl button added to match. Freshly soaked and whitened.
Our condition lexicon explains the grades we use.
Before it reaches you
Someone loved this before you did, and I try to honour that properly. Each piece is hand washed, or cleaned in the way that the fabric permits, then steamed until it softens and straightens and feels newly attended to. Wherever a button was missing, it has been replaced with a vintage one from my long-kept collection. Wherever a hem had given way, I fix it by hand. By the time it leaves this room it is genuinely clean, pressed, whole, and looked over one final time before I let myself believe it is ready. Not restored. Not made new. Just returned to a state where it can be loved again, by someone who was not there the first time.
She has already changed jobs once, from cufflinks to buttons, and has never once complained about the demotion. The back trails so far past the front that she seems to be leaving a room before the rest of her has agreed to follow. Catalogue-made in a French factory town, worn by whoever ordered a size 39 and never asked whether the cut was for a man or a woman, because it was never really the point. She will be just as happy read as a nightshirt as she ever was buttoned up under a collar.