Fun Find of the Week -- Vested Gentress dress
This charming dress is from collectible maker Vested Gentress of Valley Forge, Pa., which according to the Vintage Fashion Guild's Label Resource was in business from 1961 to the late 1980s. The company specialized in brightly colored novelty prints made in to simple, very well-made clothing for Ladies Who Lunch and other country-club types.
I have come across a number of VG pieces over the past few years and they never fail to be decent sellers, though don't quite bring as much as I think they should. I wish I had saved photos of the first couple of pieces I found -- a skirt suit with a print of tiny tigers and a terrific white dress -- styled just like the one shown here - with a print of large bright yellow running horses around the full skirt. I'm sure it was worn to the Kentucky Derby.
I did turn up a pic of the last piece I found, a shift dress with the same cute cartoonish dog. This one was sold to a buyer in France, I think for about $36. At one point I had found a site of a VG collector with a ton of items shown, but can't find it anymore (note to self - when in doubt, bookmark). If you want to check out more VG designs, take a look at this recent post to the Palm Peach Blog.
Right now there are about 5 auction listings for VG dresses ranging from $10-$24 and 15 store listings from $16 to $125. There are 14 closed listings with sold prices from $10 to $177. I'm planning to list my current dress - a very wearable size 10 -- on Sunday for a starting bid of $32 in the vintage category. Check back here to see how it does.
