Anyone know about 1970s fashion? This dress is odd...

[Riponite]

I just bought a great wrap dress from the late 70s from a vintage shop, which had been taken in in two darts at the back, I thought to make the bust smaller; and I figured, as a larger busted person, that I'd just take them out. So I just did and the back ( a lowish plain curve) sacks out by a long way, to about three inches down the back. The bust did increase slightly and now fits just right. Was this an actual style or have I just bought a duff dress and should put the darts back in?

Really so if people give me a funny look I can smile knowingly and say, oh this was a popular back style in '76!

Sounds duff to me. I'm old enough to have worn adult clothes in 1976 and to have made some of my clothes then as well. If the darts were in the middle of the back these would have shaped the dress at the waist.

Well, the dress was commercial (Monarch Designs) and the darts were added later by hand so I figured the dress must have been person-shaped once...

I will have a go at more sophisticated new darts to take the back back in. They were just at the top of the back.

Back darts don't usually relate to bust size!
If you take them out it may fit round the boobs, but you will get that bagging at the back you are talking about.

I was a pattern cutter in another life and this sounds like a badly made master pattern, if someone else had to take it in!

If you want to increase size around norks you would need to add more at side. Back suppression (posh technical word!) is to make it fit round the back, not to increase size around boobs.

Try it on inside out and get someone to pin where darts should be at the back HTH

I have my mother-in-law to stay (for six weeks!!!!!) soon so I'll give it to her as a project. I wonder if having your in-laws to stay for six weeks should have its own emoticon? I do tend to save up all my complicated sewing stuff for her visits though.

Ta for help.

I was an adult in 1976 and made more own clothes too.

as someone else has said, back darts are nothing to do with bust size/shape- they are usually there to give more fit around the waist and the back. Bust darts are at the front on either side of the bust, at 45 degrees.

As fizz said, you would need to let out side seams to make it bigger across the bust.

Darts at the TOP of the back? well they would be shoulder darts to help the shoulders lie flat across the back.

Back darts tend to be at waist level and then go upwards towards shoulder for anything up to 6-8 inches.

Inlae emoticon would have this face, but with wild hair. And possibly a bottle of gin pressed to its poor, frazzled lips.

Some interesting stuff about 1970s fashion here. There's a picture of what may be a wrap dress some way down. Back darts are definitely to shape back/waist not bust and any at the top coming away from the top/shoulder would be shoulder darts as Girlnextdoor points out.

And here are a load of dresses from 1977 from patterns - note that they were all fairly fitted at that period

OMG- I can't believe I am having a conversation with people who weren't born (?) adults when I was wearing those very fashions shown in the link

Had a good giggle at that link- those were worn by the likes of my mother- not teenagers like I was at the time! I wore maxi skirts and was a hippie- or tiny mini skirts- early 70s.

Yes - I was either in Laura Ashley smock type outfits, falling over the soaking wet bottom of my skirts as I trailed back from the "disco", or in loons and platform shoes. The tailored, elegant look came later for me!