I was recently gifted with a treasure trove of vintage dresses from a friend who was cleaning out her grandmother's house. I was so floored by this gift and very aware of the gift I was given.
While I have some vintage clothes in my closet, I do not have many, because frankly, buying vintage clothing is quite pricy. I always balked at paying the price of ready-to-wear vintage clothes. However, after cleaning and repairing vintage clothes , I now understand the labor that goes behind getting something clean and wearable!
I washed the dresses individually several times - then did vinegar rinses, and for some (like the dress below), did a baking soda scrub to tackle the underarm staining. That + lots of sunshine did the trick!
One dress was gorgeous, but needed a lot of TLC. After washing it, I reinforced nearly all the seams, re-did the hem, and resewed on the buttons. It is definitely starting to disintegrate, but I plan on wearing it as much as I can until it does!
Another dress that I thought didn't fit or flatter me at all simply needed to be hemmed for me (I am quite short at 5'0"). That simple change made ALL the difference in the world!
Before
After
My last challenge is this dress. There is fading on the sleeve into the chest. I feel like I have 3 options: (1) Try to dye the dress and lose the white trim of the hearts and stitching, (2) Cut off the sleeves and add trim to cover the fading that is left, and (3) Reverse tie dye to camouflage the fading. I haven't decided for sure which one I will do - but that's a project for the summer! Stay tuned!
I will always be grateful to my friend for the gift of these dresses, and if you have some vintage dresses in your closet (or your grandmother's closet) - know that I will love them and give them a great home! :)
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