Not So Mellow Yellow

awaywiffairies

awaywiffairies

Registered Guest
Hi ev1!

This dress is more of a vivid yellow in reality so would need your sunglasses to look at this one! The dress is by Peter Barron London & was wondering if this is late 60s or early 70s dress? The whirly/spiral black design seems to have been sprayed onto the sequinned top as there are spray dots on top of the seqiuns...anyone know what they would have sprayed to create this affect ?

There is also a bit of a cleaning dilemma. Due to the length of the dress, the hem is very grimy and so is the neck and sleeves & also there is a drink stain down the front of the dress. I did take it to the dry cleaners for advice, but they were worried about damaging the buckle which is sewn on & also that the chemicals could well remove the black spray spiral pattern. I would be grateful for any advice on this one.!

Thankyou!

Sarah x

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My first thought was 60's, but the length made me think 70s so I'll let someone wiser get to that one...as for cleaning, I have really good luck with a damp cloth - I dampen one and keep a dry one and I blot - depending on the fabric that is I also use a magic eraser (has to be Mr. Clean brand - the all white ones, the cheap ones and the one with blue on one side don't work) - if you need to rub, rub gently with the grain of the fabric - but what's it made of?? Some fabrics from the 60's CANNOT be wet, it WILL ruin them (as me how I know this :cry:) it will leave a water mark, so test and let dry a small spot on the very bottom of the hem or you may be kicking yourself - I hope you can get it clean, that's a beautiful dress!!
 
It looks like one of the tags says something about cleaning, and I'd go with that. I would take off the buckle for cleaning, then sew it back on. My feeling is that it could be dry cleaned.

I would estimate it dates from the early 70s.

Good luck with it!
 
Maggie...I would have gone with dry cleaning (that's the cleaning advice label on the dress, but as we all know more harsher chemicals are used now and the dry cleaner was worried that black spray affect on the top (whatever it is) will be removed by dry cleaning & that will so spoil the dress, unless he's adhering on the side of caution. Wld dry cleaning remove the black spray stuff?

Coffeegrl, thanks for your advice, as I'm in the UK not sure if we hv Mr Clean brand but I'll check. Material is very thick but not sure of material...I've really got to get some knowledge there. But thick heavy material wiv a bit of a sheen, rough texture to the touch, weave....

What have they used to create the black spiral affect??

Sarah
 
Sarah, I agree with Maggie: early '70s, should be okay with drycleaning but remove the buckle.

Does the labelling state a fabric? If it's polyester (but not crepe) then you should be able to wash and even soak, but I find that it's hard to get stains out of poly. Whatever you do, the spray paint stuff might come off but remind yourself that this dress has survived almost forty years and it's likely to have been washed in that time and survived okay.

If you can't tell what fabric it is, I recommend (taking a deep breath) and drycleaning. Just try to find a cleaner that you trust! Some fabrics will get damaged through the process no matter how you try to avoid it. If you're selling, perhaps sell as is if you're worried?

If it were my dress, I'd wash as best as I could (after determining fabric) and if the marks don't come off, I'd shorten the hem and perhaps take the cuffs off too. It would cute with a hem a few inches above the knee.

Nicole
 
If its ruined as it is, you have nothing to lose with drycleaning. I also agree about removing the buckle. I can't remember...but wasn't there a website where you can look for places that used a 'greener" method? I can't recall it... If anyone knows what that is, please post it.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I don't think the dress is ruined. I guess it's whether I try and sell it at the vintage fair as is or go for daring the dry cleaning. I do think that the dress wld be better shortened above knee length and once again it's whether I do that (have to send it to a dressmaker) or once again leave it to who may buy it. My dilemma is that I didn't buy it cheaply so when I start weighing up the cleaning bill plus dressmaker if I'm gonna shorten it, I panic. But maybe if I do all those things, someone's more likely to buy it and I can price it accordingly....hmmmm. I mean, I want to be proud of the clothes I sell, so maybe I should! :scratchchin::

Was confused about dating, I mean it looks 60's but the skirt length says not lol! It reminds me Dusty Springfield kind of dress.

Sarah x
 
I looked into the "greener" method and it's a water based method, so I'm not sure how that works - it was far away so I never went to them?? I wish I could feel it, sounds like it should be OK to use a damp cloth on (I am cheap and I rarely dryclean anything - and the last 2 items I did they couldn't get the stains out and I still had to pay them - grrr) - just test on the hem a little spot with a damp cloth to see how it comes out - like the back of the hem. Damp cloth, blot blot, gently rub, dry cloth blot blot, damp cloth, dry cloth - that is my system lol, hold breath, if needed use magic eraser (oh and I use an organic stain remover too), just on a tiny little spot - and then let it dry to make sure it will not mark from the water, alot of stuff comes out well with just the damp/dry method, if it does leave a water mark that should come out at the cleaners - but you might as well test it before you spend more $ on it right?, and if it's that thick poly it should be ok - sometimes it says dry clean b/c of the top part only, I'd risk it with the hem before I'd take it in - but like I said :) I am cheap and mistrusting of drycleaners :) If you're selling it in person, I would get it as good as I could and sell it as is - then it's buyers discresion. Good luck with it, it's beautiful!
 
Yes, I agree, I can just see this dress coming back from the drycleaners with the stains still there and what a waste of money that wld be. I'll have to give it a go and test the back of the hem as u say. The dress is such a vivid yellow that anything shows so that's what I'm concerned about. I was thinking of giving it a long soak in the bath first with gentle organic washing solution. Is that a bad idea? Thought it might help loosen the ingrained dirt/stains. The fabric is very heavy, as heavy as bridal wear. Well, I've got a lot of dib dabbing to do! Oh yes I will get organic stain remover too. Thanks for advice :kiss2:
 
No problem. :USETHUMBUP: If the hem doesn't stain or show water marks then you could soak it (if it does I would have to sell it as is, or dry clean it, also do you have Dryle out there? I've heard that works well on dry clean only stuff at home, but I haven't tried it)) - but I wouldn't soak the top part. what I do if the top is different than the bottom is I wrap up the top with a towel and I put an elastic band around it so the water won't get up there, then I only soak the bottom - and I use the organic stain remover, I don't let the stain remover sit either, I do it quickly, rinse, go again (I wrecked something with the stain remover before). If you have the brand Nature Clean out there it's what I use for laundry soap and stain remover - it's been pretty good to me so far - I hope it comes clean for you! Let me know how it turns out!
 
Thanks, tho I need to clean the cuffs and the yoke/collar as well, so gonna be hard to keep the sequinned top separate! :damnit: Wish I never bought it now!
 
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