Hi Do you think it is possible to remove the stains on the skirt from this cocktail dress? I didn't see it when I bought it (kind of blended into the dress) but the lighting in the room showed them off. I'm not sure of the material. It has metallic threads. Also, when does this dress date to? 50s or 60s? And for my own future reference, what dates it to the correct era? Thanks!
Hi Tamzzyn, your dress looks early '60s to me. It's the fabric, flat bow and cut of the bodice/skirt. A '50s dress like this would have shorter darts, more fitted skirt, probably longer skirt too. The fabric is best dry cleaned and it's likely the stains have been set so won't come out, sorry. If it's a lost cause and you're happy to risk damaging the dress, you could try soaking it but if it's lined, there's also a risk that either the dress or lining will shrink and throw the fit off a bit. You could just wear it out at night, where you won't see the stains. That's what I'd probably do. It's a nice dress. I hope whoever sold it to you knew about the stains and priced it accordingly.
Nicole is on it. You could try a good dry-cleaner, but the odds aren't great. Foley's spray cleaner may help, but may leave a big ring whether it helps or not.
Thanks for the advice I got it at a thrift store for $4 so not too bad of a loss to be honest. Shame though ... I think the dress is lovely and maybe I can try and see about soaking it as an 'experiment' .. or I might just wear it anyway because it really doesn't show up too badly in most light!
