Edwardian c.1910's Ivory Floral Embroidered Beaded Mesh Tabard Overdress Edwardian

Yes — those tiny dark silver sparkles are cut steel beads, and that's what makes this dress so collectible divine.

Size small as found condition over all good for its age was stored very well!

circa 1920-1925 sheer net tabard / boudoir overdress. The base is silk tulle sheer and shown in two photos over a silk charmeuse slip, embroidered with ivory soutache (that corded silk scrolling) and outlined with cut steel beads. The close-ups posted are textbook: that raised silk fleur-de-lis flower with the faceted gunmetal beads around it, and the little hand-sewn hook and eye back closure with the ruched waistband — that's exactly how these were finished. Hook and eye closures

Here is why steel beads are in there:

1. They were the original “poor man’s diamonds”

Cut steel beads were highly popular from the mid-18th century through the Victorian era, offering a sparkling, affordable alternative to diamond jewelry. The idea was that polished steel faces would catch the light and sparkle like diamonds. 

— simplified shapes and flat surfaces were ideal for decorating with applied glass beads and sequins. Steel beads were mixed in with glass beads because they gave a different flash — not clear like crystal, but a dark pewter glitter that moved. In clubs, glass beading would shimmer under the artificial lights, and steel beads added weight and swing so the dress danced. 

Why so few survived

The same thing that makes them pretty makes them fragile. Cut steel was prone to rusting if exposed to moisture, and the weight of the beads on fragile silk tulle meant many dresses literally fell apart on the dance floor. That this soutache is still intact and the steel hasn't bled into the tulle is really good — that's what collectors look for. 

 a great example of the transition: 18th-century jewelry technique (steel riveted studs) carried into 20th-century lingerie-as-outerwear. If you hold it in candlelight, you still get that original effect — they sparkle grey-white like old rose-cut diamonds, not like modern glitter.

all sales final ask questions it does have flaws here and there due to its age but this is a really beautiful dress. Overseas contact before purchase