Sugared Almond · Hand-Smocked Pink Baby Dress, 1970s
Pin-dot cotton · hand-smocked bodice in honeycomb and lattice · picot collar and cuffs · back sash tie · 1960s to 1980s · AU size 2-3, approx 2-3 years
The pink of sugared almonds, and a bodice hand-smocked in deeper rose, gathering the pin-dot cotton into honeycomb and lattice: each pleat held in place by a row of embroidery thread, done by hand, one stitch at a time.
Smocking began as a practical way to gather cloth so it could breathe and stretch with the body, and in the hands of a skilled needleworker it became something else entirely. The technique was revived with great enthusiasm through the 1960s and 1970s, and the women who produced pieces like this were working in a tradition that was already centuries old. The collar and cuffs are finished with a fine picot edge; the back closes with a sash that ties into a bow. Every detail is accounted for.
It is the kind of dress that was made to be photographed, and it still is. The pin-dot print moves beautifully in the skirt, and the smocking gives and returns to shape the way only hand-work does.
Material
Cotton
Care
Cool hand wash only. Never press the smocked panel flat: it will crush the spring from the gathers, and that spring is the whole point. Reshape damp, dry flat, press only the skirt and collar if needed.
More on looking after vintage pieces in our care guide.
Size
Measured flat: length 57cm, chest 28cm, waist 26cm (both with some stretch), sleeve length 10cm, skirt width at hem 100cm. Fits approximately AU size 2-3, around 2 to 3 years.
Our size guide explains how vintage sizing is read here.
Condition
Exhibition condition. The smocking is crisp and complete, the picot collar bright. No staining or damage.
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.
Sugared almonds are handed out five to a twist of net, one each for health, wealth, happiness, children and long life, and this dress was plainly cut from the first almond in the packet. The honeycomb smocking is really a tiny larder: on the nights before a celebration you may catch it working, storing spring in the gathers so it has enough to give back in the morning. Press it flat and you let the sweetness out, which is the true reason no one should. A child who wears it will be wished all five things at once, whether the room means to or not.