Vintage FRENCH Childs Dress ++Beautiful Inset Lace++ Start Price USD 225.00 Current Price USD 225.00 Time Left 25 days 7 hours 22 minutes Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, October 01, 2008 End Time Tuesday, December 30, 2008 Location Poitou-Charentes See more about 'Vintage FRENCH Childs Dress ++Beautiful Inset Lace++' Description    Welcome to ~FRENCH VINTAGE LINENS AND ANTIQUES~  Where You Will Find Beautiful and Unusual Vintage Linens and Apparel from France ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wishing you and yours a Happy and Peaceful Holiday Season!Our gift to you, our customers, is Free Shipping on all purchases until January 1st 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Handmade French Vintage Child's Dress with Irish-type Crocheted Lace~ This little  French dress is exquisite. A  talented seamstress from long ago was evidently devoted to making something exceptional for a very special little girl. The entire dress is embellished with an extraordinary amount of hand crocheted lace of the type called 'Irish Crochet'  inset between rows of  tiny pin tucks. This dress is made of the finest sheer white gossamer-weight 'handkerchief ' linen which is still crisp and without stains or signs of wear.  This little dress is truly an exceptional and  very fine example of  the exquisite French handwork from a bygone era. The handmade lace  is not what can now be bought 'the yard'  or made by machine but has been  Hand-crocheted reflecting untold hours of patience. The lace as well is in superb condition with only a few tiny breaks that are virtually unnoticeable. There is a row of eyelet at the chest for inserting a ribbon--I choose a pale yellow which, I think, matches the delicacy of this little dress. The back closes with 4 tiny mother-of-pearl buttons. The measurements are 9 inches from shoulder seam to shoulder seam,  18 inches from shoulder to hem and 10 & 1/2 inches across the chest. I estimate that it would be suitable for a child of from approximately 10 months to about 15 months or so. This lovely little dress is in  virtually pristine vintage condition without stain or signs of wear. It is the perfect dress for a 1st Birthday or 1st formal portrait and would make a magnificent gift for the mother of a new baby girl. This is an exceptional little vintage French dress to handed down for generations as a treasured family heirloom. FVL#0302 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Please have a look at Our Comments on Pricing and the Condition of Items we sell) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  SHIPPING: I ship internationally by French Priority Airmail .  Shipping for this item will be $17.50 I am happy to do combined item shipping to save you extra costs on multiple item orders. INSURANCE:  Although we have had great success shipping via French Priority Airmail-Colissimo, naturally and understandably, we cannot be responsible for damage to, or loss of, items in transit.  If you wish to insure your purchase for shipping let us know before payment so we can add the amount to your invoice. RETURN POLICY:  Full refund of purchase price, (shipping costs remain the responsibility of the purchaser), on return receipt of the item in described condition. However we hope--and expect--that you will be pleased with your purchase. We make every effort to describe our items fully and accurately. As well we welcome and encourage questions before purchase. Do let us know if you have questions about any of our items PAYMENT METHOD: We accept Paypal only.  The only exception is for items shipped inside France, where we will accept personal cheques. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Comments on the Condition of the items I sell: Virtually all the items I sell are "vintage" which means they have, in the majority of cases, been used, and are at least 50  to 75,  and even more than 100 years old. Having said that, I do not sell items that are so used that they are obviously  heavily worn, faded or too fragile to use.  Almost all my items were made by hand in France during the first half of the last century--most would date from between 1890 and 1950, although it is quite difficult to be certain of an exact date in most cases. It would be quite unusual to find this kind of fine hand work in France after about 1960. Again because these items are Vintage they have, in the vast majority of cases, been used.  However all the items I sell have been carefully selected and inspected when I purchase them for their Very Good to Superb vintage condition. Still it is inevitable that occasionally there may be a  hardly noticable tiny pin dot stain or a tiny rend on any given item. I always carefully launder and iron my items and in doing so inspect them carefully for a second time. If I notice a small flaw on an item I put that in my description.  It is my hope that my customers understand that I would not and do not sell items which are not clean or have evident large stains or tears. But please do understand that because the items I sell are Vintage, and usually are at least 50 to 75 years old,  they are rarely absolutely "pristine and perfect" as if  they were new. If one expects that, then it is probably best not to purchase vintage items.  Like all fine antiques, they will have their own sort of "patina." Some sellers do sell these vintage items in the state in which they find them and of course they inform their customers of that fact. I prefer to do laundering and ironing for my customers before shipping an item. In that way you can use and enjoy your purchase immediately. Comments on Pricing: Because the items I sell are generally much sought after here in France and abroad, they are becoming more rare, and certainly more difficult to find.  I travel far and wide in my region of France to visit flea markets, brocantes, antique shops and private sellers. I visit Paris from time to time, and I search  for these rare items in other areas of France when possible. Generally my buying costs are rising all the time as these Beautiful Handmade Vintage items become more scarce. My travel costs to seek out new items are significant. As well my husband and I spend many hours at the computer in-putting our stock for sale on eBay,  managing our shop and keeping our business records up-to-date. We spend time packaging, (we use only quality packaging materials), and we drive to the post office some many miles away from our home several times a week to ship items to our customers. Finally and very importantly  for my customers, I spend a great deal of time laundering and ironing the items we sell.  This always involves lots of  energy and time and often requires specialized laundry products which can be costly. For all these reasons, the prices of these vintage items may seem a bit high--but the fact is that almost all these items are rare and special. Many are virtual works of art, (some are actually of museum quality), having been made entirely by hand by highly skilled, but sadly now unknown, seamstresses and embroiderers. These skilled craftswomen have all but entirely disappeared.  This kind of French hand work is virtually a Lost Art.  Still I do my best to keep my prices as reasonable as possible because it really is a great pleasure to package something very beautiful and very special and send it off to someone who will appreciate a lovely European Treasure From the Past. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you for visiting   ~VINTAGE FRENCH LINENS AND ANTIQUES~ Come back soon and do Sign up for my email newsletters and be sure to add me to your favorites list! Click here to see our  other items! Merci et a bientot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are pleased to announce the opening of our Second eBay Store Broctique Vintage French AntiquesOur French ‘Brocante’ where you will find Curiosities, Accessories & Linens from France To visit us click on ‘Search by Store Name’ on your eBay welcome page and type in  Broctique Vintage French Antiques We hope you will visit us often to see all the wonderful and unusual French vintage and antique items that we are adding regularly. Place a Bid!