Choosing the
Perfect Wedding Gown
Couture
Designer Bridal Gown or Family Wedding Gown: Choosing and Caring for Your
Beautiful Gown
by Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D.
Your New Bridal
Gown.
Chances are your wedding gown will be the most personal
choice of all the wedding decisions you make. Are you a romantic or a fashion
maven? Are you an undiscovered movie star or have you always been a princess?
The bridal gown you choose reflects the essential you, but keep an open mind as
you look. You may be surprised to find a bridal gown style you thought was not
for you is your best choice.
Also, did you know there are many, many different shades of
white and that some shades may not be flattering to you? Try on one or more
shades or ask your designer to drape you with swatches of different fabrics. If
you are a blonde or a redhead, you may actually look much prettier in an
off-white wedding dress..
And beware the unserviceable bridal gown!
For the most part, custom or couture gown designers use
materials of the highest quality, but manufacturers -- even some with famous
names -- can be very casual about the serviceability of beads, sequins,
crystals, or other decorative trims. Glued decorations never hold up as well as
those that are sewn although sewing can also be done so carelessly that beads
start falling on your way down the aisle.
Your Family Bridal
Gown.
For the bride who values tradition and sentiment, a
vintage wedding gown may be just right. Whether it belongs to your mother, your
grandmother, your favorite aunt or even a close family friend, always make the
decision to wear a family vintage wedding gown based on the meaning the bridal
gown has for you and whether the style suits you -- not on the way it fits or
its condition. A specialist can restore even a yellowed, badly stained vintage
wedding gown to the true color, and a talented dressmaker can reshape almost
any vintage bridal gown to your size.
You can also update a vintage bridal gown by changing the
neckline or the shape of the skirt or even removing sleeves. Some brides add
lace or beading, but brides more often choose to wear a vintage gown because
they like the simplicity of the cut and the beauty of the fabric. Simply cut,
unembellished vintage gowns can look just as elegant as bridal gowns by some of
today’s best known designers. And if you wear an heirloom vintage wedding
gown, remember to save a special place at the reception, perhaps next to your
guest book, for displaying a portrait of the original bride.
Your Perfect Day.
For short term storage before the wedding, be sure to hang your bridal gown by
loops inside the gown attached to the side seams. Protect your bridal gown from
exposure to air and light by wrapping your bridal gown in a clean sheet or
freshly-laundered unbleached muslin. Never keep your bridal gown in a plastic
bag for any length of time. Plastic emits fumes than can yellow fabric, and a
metal zipper can accelerate the damaging chemical reaction of gases trapped
inside the bag. Keep your bridal gown away from extreme heat or humidity; never
store your wedding gown in the attic or the basement.
But no matter how careful you are, accidents can happen.
Would you believe -- true story -- the cat may decide your wedding gown is the
only place for her kittens? More likely, on your wedding day someone’s
kiss or a greasy car door or even a glass of red wine will soil your wedding
gown. There is a kit on the market containing chemicals and sewing supplies for
emergency bridal gown care, but in a pinch baking soda, talcum powder, or even
the “white-out” used in offices will do. You can also dab spills with
clear water or club soda, which actually does contain an enzyme that makes it
slightly more effective than plain water. Caution: even clear water can leave a
permanent stain on such water sensitive fabrics as English satin, matte silk
satin, or silk organza.
Your Bridal Gown Preservation
Choice.
What should you do with your bridal gown after the
wedding? (Your mother says you have to get your wedding gown out of the guest
room today!) You may be a bride who knew even before you selected your your
wedding gown that you wanted to preserve your wedding gown and turn the memory
of your special day into a family heirloom wedding gown. If so, you have
already done your research and know exactly where you are taking your bridal
gown to be cleaned.
If you are like most brides, however, you have not even
thought about your wedding gown’s “happily ever after.” Choosing
a wedding gown cleaner is not a fun thing -- more like cleaning house after the
party -- and very few wedding planners discuss the problem. Note: it is almost
never true that you did not spill anything so if you just hang your bridal gown
in the closet you will almost certainly find it covered with stains the next
time you look at it. And if you decide to sell your wedding gown, the
consignment shop will not accept a wedding gown that has not been cleaned.
Your Wedding Gown Preservation
Service Questions.
If you want to keep your wedding gown in the
family, choose your bridal gown preservation service carefully. As a general
rule, avoid a service that promotes “vacuum-packaging” because the
plastic in which the bridal gown is sealed can trap moisture and emit fumes
that yellow the bridal gown. Desiccants have a very limited capacity to absorb
such moisture and must then be replaced. Desiccants added to an unsealed box
have little or no value.
Both sealed and unsealed plastic containers can trap
moisture, and both -- even chemically inert plastics such as the one
trademarked Coroplast -- also set up an electrostatic charge that can
permanently set wrinkles in the wedding gown.
On the other hand, acid-free boxes of paper board "breathe"
and allow for expansion and contraction of bridal gown fibers subjected to
environmental changes in heat and humidity. Museum quality archival boxes are
almost always made of completely acid-free paperboard.
One wedding gown cleaner uses pretty much the same chemicals
and solvent as another, but very few bridal gown cleaners actually do their own
work and clean wedding gowns on site. Some do not know that shoulder pads, bust
pads, and underarm shields should be removed because they are made of materials
that can bond to the fabric of your gown and destroy fibers. Others have no
idea wedding gowns require special cleaning cycles and special packaging. Some
offer no guarantee. You should ask lots of questions before you make a final
decision.
Is the work done locally so you can personally inspect your
bridal gown after it is cleaned?
What special precautions are taken to protect delicate trims
and decorations on your bridal gown?
How does the bridal gown preservation service guard against
latent stains on your bridal gown caused by alcohol and other sugar-based
stains that do not dissolve during ordinary dry cleaning and if left untreated
will eventually caramelize into dark brown spots?
Does the wedding gown preservation service provide an
environmentally-safe, acid-free, museum quality archival container that will
not discolor or damage the fabric of your bridal gown?
As the wedding gown is folded, are the folds in the wedding
gown buffered with tissue?
Is the tissue and/or the bust form used to stuff the bridal
gown acid-free? (Colored tissue is never acid-free and can also stain the
bridal gown, especially if the box is soaked and the paper gets wet.)
Does the bridal gown preservation service seal the box
itself or leave it open? Ask why or why not and whether the preservation or the
guarantee -- there is a difference -- depends upon an unbroken seal.
Does the wedding gown preservation service guarantee the
wedding dress will not be stained or discolored when the next bride in your
family is ready to wear the wedding gown? Today or twenty-five years from
today, who will honor the guarantee?
Be sure you are comfortable with the answers to all of your
questions. After all, your wedding gown is the perfect wedding dress for you.
You want to give your beautiful bridal gown the care that will keep it perfect,
an heirloom legacy for the next bride in your family!
About the Author
A
former museum professional, Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D, is president of Orange
Restoration Labs, the largest wedding gown preservation and vintage gown
restoration service in New England. Recognized by the Association of Bridal
Consultants as a Master Wedding Vendor, Sally frequently lectures on fabric
conservation. She also serves as Executive Director of the Association of
Wedding Gown Specialists, a group of wedding gown cleaning specialists
represented in more than 500 cities around the world. The Association of
Wedding Gown Specialists originated For Your Perfect Day: Emergency Care Plus
For Your Special Gown, a kit with supplies for wedding day emergencies and a
gift certificate redeemable at nearly 2,000 sites.
Copyright ©1999-2005 Association of
Wedding Gown Specialists. All rights reserved.
Published in the United
States of America.
"This article can be reprinted provided it is
not edited in any manner and proper credit is given. This includes listing
Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D. as the author and contact information for the
Association of Wedding Gown Specialists."
Cleaning Your
Wedding Gown: It May Suit You, but Is It Suitable for Use?
Whether you first see the wedding gown that could be the
right one for you in a magazine or on the internet, chances are you know even
before you make your first visit to a bridal salon just what style and fabric
you think your wedding gown should be.
But will the bridal gown that suits you be suitable for use?
Before you fall in love with that bridal gown, take a second look. If there are
beads, sequins, crystals or other decorative trims, be sure they are securely
attached to the wedding gown. Glued decorations never hold up as well as those
that are sewn although sewing can be done so carelessly that beads start
falling on the way down the aisle.
Now look inside the wedding gown. The bridal gown care label
provides a guideline for cleaning. It may not be the only way to clean the
wedding dress, it may not even be the best way to clean your wedding dress, but
is the method specified by the bridal gown manufacturer. So if beads melt or
glue melts or fabric shrinks, the manufacturer is liable for the damage to your
bridal gown.
You may find symbols as well written directions on the
wedding gown care label. After a transition period that ended in 1999, symbols
only may be used. Although European bridal gown care labels carry slightly
different graphics, those in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are expected to be
identical.
Five basic symbols stand for washing, bleaching, drying,
ironing, and dry cleaning. Much like the universally understood pictographs
seen in airports and on roadways, a diagonal line through the symbol prohibits
use of the process it represents. And there are wedding and other dresses,
particularly specialty dresses and dresses for the mother of the bride that
carry labels with lines through all five symbols!
Marks added to the basic symbol indicate still more special
handling. For example, a picture of a washing machine plus the image of a hand
equals “hand wash.” Less easily read are dots and dashes indicating
temperatures for drying and ironing or cycle times for dry cleaning. As a rule,
the fewer the dots, the lower the suggested temperature, but dashes appear more
randomly. Then there are letters that stand for dry cleaning solvents.
Unless you have no interest at all in whether or not your
wedding gown can ever be cleaned or worn again, ask the bridal shop to advise
you if you cannot read the bridal gown care label. Be wary if no one can answer
your questions about the bridal gown's serviceability and think twice before
you decide to buy such a bridal gown. Is this really the only bridal gown you
will ever find that is just right for you -- or should you look further for a
bridal gown that not only suits you but is also suitable for wear.
Copyright ©1999-2005 Association of
Wedding Gown Specialists. All rights reserved.
Published in the United
States of America.
"This article can be reprinted provided it is
not edited in any manner and proper credit is given. This includes listing
Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D. as the author and contact information for
Association of Wedding Gown Specialists." |
