I made a small purchase of vintage clothing at a local barn sale this weekend, and this was one of the items that I bought. It's a pretty, light blue knit sweater and skirt set from 'Lofties by Lawrence' - I love these sweater sets and I've had a few made by Lofties. This one was a cool find because it was still in the original Lofties box, along with the paper hang tag and an envelope with 3 extra buttons still inside of the box too.
But wait, it gets cooler - also in the box, which I found very interesting, was an envelope, a postcard and invoice from the Joseph Berg Co. - The Berg Co, located in Cleveland OH, specialized in shortening knitwear.
From the postcard - 'Attention Knitted Sportswear Buyer, We specialize in shortening one and two piece Knit Dresses to the exact length required by our customer. Our method of shortening is to take the excess off from the bottom of the skirt and finish it by hand. The charge is $3.50 per skirt. We also specialize in shortening blouses and sleeves, mending, repairs etc. Prices will be furnished upon request. 2-3 days service is guaranteed after receipt of garment . . . '
So Mrs. K from Millville NJ sent her skirt to Ohio to be shortened by the Berg Co., and the fee on the invoice was $3.50 and it is dated 4/5/55. I thought it was very interesting to have the paperwork with the set still. The piece that they cut from the bottom of the skirt is still in the box too. The bottom of the skirt is very neatly finished. I can only guess that she never wore it.
I'm going to keep the set for a while, think about how cool it is, and then maybe sell it later on. But once I saw how cute it was on my mannequin, I'm tempted to keep it for myself (it will depend on how the knit skirt stretches across my behind!)
