565 Green Gillian Dress of the Day, a vintage outfit with unusual cut insets

 

Angela Lansbury wearing a green Gillian outfit. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

This outfit consists of a long green skirt and matching top. The label is Gillian CLASSIC FEMME. Made in Korea.  Size 14.  

Dry clean. I won't dry clean. Instead, I shall wear it with a black long sleeve vest underneath which I can wash daily. 

The fabric is unusual. 70% polyester. So it does not crease. 

20% Triasteit. I have never heard of that.

The last 10 per cent is viscos (sic). Not viscose with an e at the end, v i s c o s. Hm?

The Top

The top has a lovely cut and an agreeable fabric. It has lightly padded shoulders. The sleeves are net. Stretchy net.  It feels comfortable.

The Cut Of The Top

The cut is most unusual. The back of the top is in three sections. Two curved lines down  from the shoulders. 

It feels as if it fits well. It feels better than it looks. Size 14 is a little loose on me, since the post Covid-19, diet for a healthier weight.

But the charm of the outfit is in the cut. 

The Front of the neck is a curved V shape. However, the central section  comes right down to the waist where it has narrowed to ribbon width.

The Skirt Cut

 The skirt is carefully cut so that it swings. It has two godets at the front, and two at the back. Godets are triangular insets, usually in a contrasting colour or lighter fabric.

Colour

 The skirt has a waistband and a side zip. Take it off and inspect the lining and what do you find?

The skirt is lined in a plain green which matches.

I was bored by day two, but the outfit was handy so I wore it with the skirt reversed. Frankly, it looks much better as a matching set. 

Also the underskirt is cut plain up and down.

The Colour

Mostly outfits with a skirt in a different colour go well in the dark but look odd in the light. this outfit has the reverse effect. When I tried it on in the daytime, the slightly different underskirt in another fabric and colour went well enough. But in artificial light it looks quite wrong. 

 A long cream skirt might have matched. Black would have gone with the black of the vest.

 Never mind. I had two days of wear, two different looks.

Lessons Learned

It must be vintage. I found only one Gillian outfit on Etsy and Pinterest and it said 80, I presume 1980s. So nothing to b gained by searching for the maker for more from them. But lots learned from looking at the cut and colour and selecting or making outfits in this style. Meanwhile, pleasure can be had from admiring the details of a well-made vintage outfit.