There is something good to be said about wearing vintage wedding dresses. They are exquisitely made and amazingly designed considering their age, not to mention that you can actually wear your "something old" and show it off!
Still, shopping for vintage wedding dresses can be easier said than done since you have to contend with various issues like stains, rust and missing parts. Not to worry though if you have your heart set on a vintage wedding dress with these tips.
Check Your Measurements
Vintage dresses are often sized differently than the more modern clothes you shop for. As such, you should be armed with a full set of body measurements, your measurements of course, from your arms to your shoulders.
Better yet, buy a corset or a girdle and put it on before fitting on the dresses. This is because most women for whom the dresses were made often wore corsets and girdles to achieve a sculpted look. Besides, it will look good to have curves on your wedding day!
Check for Stains
Some stains are harder to remove than others. If you think that a stain will not come off and it shows in a very visible area, then you probably should just walk away and look for other vintage wedding dresses.
Some tips to help you remove stubborn stains from your dream vintage wedding dresses, which is assuming that it can be removed without going to a dress restoration expert of course.
* Place your dress in a bathtub filled with either lukewarm or cold water mixed with a gentle liquid detergent. Be sure to remove metal and plastic accessories first as these can add to your restoration problems. Soak it for at least 24 hours to loosen stubborn stains and lessen yellowish discolorations.
* Remove stains with a sudsy spray solution and then gently brushing them with a toothbrush. Just don't apply a club soda solution as it will worsen the stains, even make them settle more into the dress.
Whatever you do, avoid rubbing vigorously on the fabric. It can be fragile that any drastic wringing, rubbing, pressing and cleaning performed on it can make it fall apart. And then where would you be? Perhaps, you will be saying goodbye to anything vintage, wedding dresses or not, and that would be a shame.
Check for Missing Parts
Some vintage dresses may be older than your grandmother so checking for missing parts - buttons, embroidery, ribbons, and other stuff - is a must. If you can find a store that sells vintage accessories, it will be better for your restorative efforts.
If you don't have any knowledge of such a store, try looking for possible replacements. Some stores may even carry reproductions of vintage accessories that you can use to cover up the missing parts.
If you have your bridal heart set on vintage wedding dresses but can't find one that meets your requirements in terms of it being able to withstand wear for more than 8 hours, then you can always ask to have it reproduced. There is no shame in that and you can even pass it to your daughter!
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