Womens sleeveless dress

Womens sleeveless dress, printed flower like pattern in blue, purple green and white. Has low back with zipper and another open piece of fabric on top. Bodice has white satin lining and built in corset stays. Matching belt and cloth covered buckle. Several ripped seams noted on skirt part of the dress. There are 3 labels inside the dress, the top onl states Ceil Chapman, the second label states Triompe de Boussac, Paris. A smaller label at the waist states – Canada, Etiquette Syndicale, Int. L. Ladies Garments Workers Union. Union Label. This label helps to date the dress to circa 1950. Dress was deaccessioned in April 2010, but was donated back in 2022 by Lori Thomas, and reaccessioned under the original number.
Ceil Chapman (1912 � July 13, 1979) was an American fashion designer who worked in New York City from the 1940s to the 1960s. She created glamorous cocktail and party dresses, and worked with celebrity clients including television and movie actresses. Triomphe de Boussac was marketed by Marcel Boussac, a wealthy textile industrialist who financed Christian Dior and supplied many of the French haute couture houses with fabric.

In 1900 11 local unions joined to form the International Ladies� Garment Workers� Union (ILGWU). With the inclusion of the word “international” in its name, the ILGWU envisioned that Canada would become part of the union since its inception in 1900. While the official founding of a Toronto Union was in 1909, it was not until 1910 and 1911 when locals became formally established, Cloak Local 14 and Pressers Local 92 in Toronto, and Cloak Cutters Local 19 and Coat Pressers Local 61 in Montreal. The Toronto Cloakmakers’ Union was instituted in 1910 and the Toronto Joint Board and Montreal Joint Council were founded in 1911. But, it took until the 1930s for the irregular and infrequent organizing attempts to increase, and for real permanence for the ILGWU in Canada.