Selling an Edwardian Wedding Gown - Need Advice

Fishstique

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I plan to sell my great grandmothers wedding dress soon - I have an original photo of it here (which I will put in the auction) but haven't yet taken pics of the actual dress. It no longer has the headgear or shoes, just the dress. Its been sittting in storage pretty much since she wore it in 1913 and so I think better to sell it to womeone who would want it and use it. My questions are:

1. Is there a certain time of year theses dresses sell better
2. What would you put as a reserve price
3. Keywords?

Anything else you can assist me with would be greay - I have sold patterns this old but never a dress, and never a WEDDING dress! The local museum didn't want it (the ROM), my mother had asked them many years ago - Edwardian is still too common.
 
This will sell any time and Edwardian,Teens, and Wedding Dress are all good keywords.

Reserve Price? Hard to say. I would suggest watching similar auctions for a while and see how they end to get an idea where the price range is.

Remember size and condition are big factors.

Hollis
 
THe museum that would want it would be wherever she was married. If it was in Toronto then you should approach the Toronto Historical Board, not the ROM. The ROM doesn't collect local items, in fact I think they try hard not to!
The TOronto Historical Board operates all the various historic sites in Toronto - Spadina House, MacKenzie house, Todmorden Mills, COlborne Lodge, Montgomery's Inn, etc. and they have a huge storage facility in Parkdale. There have been plans for a while to build a museum of TOronto somewhere on the waterfront and it will become more likely in the years to come, so if you prefer it to go to a museum, I would suggest you approach them. If she was married somewhere else, then contact the town where she was married.

For resale, I think you are going to find that condition is key. It will have to be displayable, and if the silk has begun to shatter then it won't sell well. If it is sturdy and you have all the history, including a copy of the photograph to include with the sale, then it will probably go to a collector, and because its also a peg top or hobble dress (words I would try to squeeze into the title or description) it has some added interest.

I agree with Hollis, check out similar wedding dresses on eBay to see their final prices, and any time of year to sell it is fine.

Also, Casa Loma collects clothing of the period when Lord and Lady Pellett owned the house (1911 - 1922) and Seneca Fashion Resource Centre might be into collecting it as an example of a peg top dress from 1913... Hell, I will take it for the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge, except we are in the middle of getting our charitable status so I can't offer a tax receipt until next year.
 
Thanks so much for all the advice... I will let you guys know once photos are taken and dress has been inspected!
 
I second Marie's thought...surely something else could go. I would love to have a dress like that with family history to display.
 
Jonathan - Just wondering if you are still intersted in the dress, I haven't tried to sell it yet (I'm pregnant and haven't felt like doing much Ebay//selling these days - would rather eat ice cream), and it is next year, and tax time... perhaps you can give me a tax receipt for it! Send me a PM if you are interested, thanks!
 
I would love to take a look at it. I have no immeadiate plans to travel into TO but I would like to go in maybe in early April. I could come by to take a look if you are available some day... let me know. My email is [email protected]
 
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