How to clean this dress?

Joji Furukawa

Joji Furukawa

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I just purchased this silver Betsey Johnson for Paraphernalia 1960s mini dress however there is staining all over the inside. I don't want to damage the silver but at the same time, these stains are pretty ugly. How should I clean it? MFIT has this dress in their collection however theirs is a different colour. Am I right in thinking this dress has been shortened? Last photo shows the hem. Thanks!
 

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It looks the same length to me as the one at the FIT museum, but I agree something is up with that hem. Can you get better closeups or different angles on it? I can't really tell much except that it doesn't look as tidy as I'd expect.

I would contact the FIT museum and ask if they cleaned theirs - if they did they may be willing to share the method with you.
Myself, I'd be for removing the lining from everything else and soaking out the foxing with a specialist product and replacing, but I appreciate that's more work than one usually wants to do :).
 
Hi Melanie and thank you for the reply! The dress has definitely been shortened, upon further inspection I found the original hem fold as you can see in the second image. Unfortunately, the lining is only at the very top of the dress, the rest is the underside of the lamé.

I did get in touch with the museum, they told me there isn't much I can do as lamé is a particularly tricky fabric to restore. I guess I'll just leave it, it is wearable as is.
 

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If you can take the hem down without damage (and there is no line from the update) I would do so. If the lining is only attached to the top, and loose through the rest of the dress, you could turn it inside out, and gently drape the lining into a tub for soaking, keeping the lame' out of the water. Or - if you're super keen - I would do as Melanie suggested and remove the lining, soak and reapply. But yes, more work plus you need to restitch in the same way, preferably in the same holes, and declare to a new owner if you sell.

Nice score though! I wouldn't worry about the lining, you can't see it when worn and it's a great dress.
 
As a collectable, I would leave it as is, and sell on (if that is your intent), with hem and all, because the hem length alteration could be original. A lot of late 60s dresses were offered at lower hem lengths, and some times even unhemmed, and the buyers hemmed them where they wanted them, so they would take them home and hem them up before wearing it even once. The quality of these boutique clothes are usually pretty poor, so they don't wash well -- I suspect the silver is an applied surface that might flake or crack if you wash it and that the staining on the back is probably the back of the fabric and not a lining? You could try a wash, but if it were mine I would leave it alone. There is more value in it as is, than if you wash it and bugger it up.
 
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Nicole and Jonathan tank you for the replies. Nicole, I think I'll leave it as is like Jonathan suggested and resell, I'm just not experienced enough but thank you and Melanie for all the helpful tips! Jonathan, that is exactly the case with the dress, the silver is a coating and is already worn in some places and the lining is also only partway down, the rest of the staining is like you said on the underside of the fabric. The re hemming is not horribly done, and it may be original. It definitely is structurally sound so it could be worn. Thank you all, you've all been super helpful!
 
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