Antique-Gown

Day dress, ca. 1912. The antique dress bears the label: Grant Bros * Croydon. Croydon is a large town in south London, England. The dress is lilac in colour. Trimmings, small decorative mother-of-pearl buttons, lace breast section, elaborate walking slit, long sleeves, high stand-up collar. The dress is very elaborate to close: a lot of hooks, eyelets and press studs have to be fastened. The dress is very beautiful, but not in very good condition. It has many stains and some small holes. Suitable for draping and studying. The decoration is not included.

Grants department store was founded by Mr Richard Grant and his brother Mr William Grant in 1877, as a modest drapery business at no. 17 Croydon High Street (then No. 8). The family lived above the shop, but within a few years they needed to expand the shop. In a few years the department store had over 60 departments, including Hairdressing Salons, China, Glass, Hardware, Restaurants, and outside catering. Richard Grant died aged 75 in January 1924. William Grant died on the 3rd of March 1931 aged 79. The Grant family sold the store in 1983, and it finally closed in 1987. 

Bust: ~ 86 cm
Waist: ~ 70 cm
Length: ~ 140 cm