The patterned one is, I believe, silk crepe and the blue one is I think silk chiffon. Would these be safe to clean as @Jonathan suggested in my other 20s dress thread (soak in cold, then warm water with a bit of dish detergent and dry flat)? They both smell a bit funky. Or would it be safer just to air them out? Is there a name for the pattern of the first dress? it looks sort of "ethnic" or traditional, but I can't place it. Just out of curiosity, I assume the blue dress would have been worn over something, as it's totally sheer. What kind of garment would it have been worn over? Someone chopped off the blue dress hem very unevenly....not sure why they might have done that. This dress needs a lot of repair work.
Blue is notorious for running, so I would leave the chiffon one alone, especially as you said it had other issues as well. The printed one is a great print - definitely inspired by Egyptian or other exotic sources. I'm not sure if I would wash this one either because there are so many colours in it, and it might be an Indonesian or some other source of print, so who knows how transient those dyes are. If its sturdy, you could try dry cleaning it, but I would leave it alone too, and let the future owner worry about it.
A very plain slip with minimal-to-no construction seaming. And depending on what color the slip was, you could get rather different looks. Example, this 20s chiffon dress came to me with no slip. It does have a matching jacket that is lined in red chiffon. The dress with a black slip from my stock underneath. The dress with a red stock slip underneath and jacket draped over an arm. A white slip would take it in a different direction.
Thanks so much. I did think that about the blue. I've hung them both to air and will leave it at that. I do have to do a lot of fixes to the chiffon one. Have to research how to do a 20s style hem. Edit: forgot to mention, I got a Chinese dragon-embroidered dressing gown from the same era with these dresses that was quite stained. Soaked it which did nothing for the stains but created some embroidery colour run :( live and learn....
Hanging these dresses out has just about completely removed that funky smell. It's amazing what some fresh air and sunlight can do!
