Susan Small dress

A

Alex Rose

Registered Guest
Hello :)
Recently I bought a Susan Small rose print dress. The fabric is rayon and the lining of the skirt is some kind of paper - type material I think. I would like to know how to clean it as it has some bad stains and smells very strongly of some kind of horrible perfume. I am also concerned that at some point it may have had a built in petticoat that has been removed (if so, it was at least removed carefully and not just hacked out). Does anyone have or can point me in the direction of some photographs of what a fully lined Susan Small dress circa late 50s looks like? I would really like to know for certain if it has been altered. Thanks
 
Hi, the paper-like material sounds like Pellon which is a type of thick interfacing. It can be hand washed. It must not be dry cleaned (the chemicals destroy it). I would like to see the dress in order to determine what sort of built in petticoat it might have had. I am in the process of restoring several dresses with just this issue.
 
Yes, pellon is quite safe to wash although a cool water temperature is better as it helps preserve the paper. Eventually it will start to break down and then is best removed.

Pellon is a very effective stiffener and rarely appears with other petticoats as it negates the need for them - or rather, I've never seen the two together but that's not to say that it doesn't happen.

Fashion labels produce large numbers of different styles, you could look at hundreds of Susan Small frocks and it won't necessarily help you determine whether there was a petticoat. What will help is if you gently unpick part of the waist seam and see if there are any remnants of petticoat in there: even a skilled seamstress is unlikely to unpick all traces. My feeling is that this dress is probably intact though.
 
Thankyou both! Very glad I didn't take it to the dry cleaners (it's stashed away where I can't smell it!) I will try to get some photos, but my current phone is ancient and temperamental. I can't detect any excess fabric where I suppose the petticoat would have been.
 
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