What Happened to this Dress?

jauntyrooster

jauntyrooster

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I have had this sitting for a year now and am resolved to either toss it or do something about it - this weekend (I have given myself an ultimatum which I will probably ultimately ignore since I don't respond well to ultimatums).

I am perplexed as to what happened at the shoulders. The left shoulder just looks like a seam popped but the right shoulder looks more like something was removed. There is a little bit of fabric sticking up and it looks as if something was actually cut off. I am wondering if:

a) I am just wrong and both seams just popped
b) If something was removed - what? Having trouble envisioning
c) Ideas about a good fix - it seems I will have to actually cover those shoulder with something right? little bows? little fabric wraps?

This is actually one of my favorite dresses. Just has a union label - nothing else but I just love the colors and looks so cute with a crini. I am hesitant to toss but if it isn't saveable, I guess I have to move on and break up with it...:hysterical:

Thank you all - I appreciate your thougts.
Maureen

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my guess is that it may have had a chiffon scarf attached at the shoulders, possibly, that perhaps was damaged and removed (poorly) or just taken off if the previous wearer didn't like it.

just a guess.

aDORable dress! love the colors and fabrication!!
 
Oops! Cross-posted!

I am wondering if the dress had a sheer overlay or capelet that draped over the upper arms and/or back of the dress? It could have been attached at the shoulder seams at one time, and was removed poorly? Just a guess, since I have seen this on other, similar style dresses. Kind of like this:
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On a side note, I have what appears to be almost the EXACT same dress as yours for sale, but without any missing or damaged issues--in case you ever want another one! :lol:
 
I think Mary and Amy are right--that something, a capelet or scarf, was sewn in at the shoulders and subsequently removed...

I would trim the scragglies off the one side, and repair/stabilize the worse side, and, as you mention, add something at the shoulders. Maybe a matched set of long rhinestone brooches or hair clips that can be sewn on, or flat ribbon bows in a matching color. I had a dress once that had an attached drape from one shoulder, and it was fastened on with a rhinestone brooch--it looked terrific! You might even want to see if you can find a solid chiffon scarf in one of the dress colors, attach it at the shoulders, and let it fall to the back of the dress.

It's a lovely dress, and I wouldn't divorce it without trying to salvage it!
 
I agree. It likely had long blue sashes coming from each shoulder or an overlay. I've had several dresses like this. I guess to get the best result you would have to open up all of the seams in the shoulder area and get the excess fabric out of there and resew. I think the dress is lovely and well worth the effort; although that fabric can be a bit of a PITA to work with sometimes.
 
Amber is right that the "correct" way to do it would be to open up the seams and re-sew. But I wouldn't.... As lovely a dress as it is, I'm not sure I would go through that. Personally, I would take small curved cuticle scissors and trim as close to the seam as possible to get rid of the excess fabric (I find that the curve keeps you from accidentally cutting into the fabric!), and I would hand stitch the ripped fabric down to fix it to the dress (I would pull it back into position as much as I could, but if it's frayed such that there is not all the original sturdy fabric left, I would stitch it down onto the lining where it lies naturally without pulling). Then whatever final adornment you come up with will cover the repair. With the way that bit of torn fabric looks, I think you might have a bit of a problem trying to seam the shoulders back to their original state. And it wouldn't be all that hard to end up with a worse problem. I don't think I'd bother having a professional seamstress repair it, unless you know one who is very good and reasonable! I'm usually a stickler for doing things properly, but I wouldn't want to undertake undoing and re-doing the seams. As Amber also points out, that fabric can be a pain to deal with.

If you plan to resell, I would just disclose the repair.
 
If it wouldn't be hard to end up with a worse problem, then I for sure would...Murphy's Law (aka Maureen's Law!).

Thanks all for good advice and input. Going to take trip to the fabric store to see what I can find material wise. Also going to hit thrift store to see if there is anything there I could use for material to do something.
 
If it wasn't lined, Maureen, I'd say go for it--but dealing with 2 layers of fabric, and one that's been possibly damaged.... Yeah, a trip to the fabric and/or thrift shop is worth it!
 
Bit late to the party, but, Maureen, I can feel with you! Your dress reminds me very much of one of my favorite dresses, which I have shown here before, though never in detail, just myself wearing it :beach:.

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It has this fee-falling sash around the back, which is only attached at the shoulder seams. I immediately thought that that is what your dress might have had - I would venture to guess that our dresses are from around the same time as well.

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The under fabric is printed in the same pattern as the sheer upper fabric. I adore wearing this dress and I can understand why you love yours so much. Mine too only has a union label, which I discovered only recently. It must even have had a sewn-in layer of tulle underneath the skirt once, which has been cut out though. I've worn it both with and without a light tulle petticoat (not really a crini though).

I would do just as the others advised - cut the remainders of the sash fabric back as well as possible, and decorate the shoulder seams with bows, brooches or whatever I'd come across. Nobody will notice, and I'm certain you'll get lots of compliments when wearing this dress! :D

Karin
 
You might even want to see if you can find a solid chiffon scarf in one of the dress colors, attach it at the shoulders, and let it fall to the back of the dress.
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What Karin's dress has is exactly what I was picturing you could do with a scarf!

Karin, your dress is lovely!
 
yes, Maureen, Karin's dress is exactly what i had in mind ~

btw, Karin, i haven't seen this shot of you in it (on the dock)...it IS perfect on you! didn't you have another, inside shot of you in this? it was quite a lovely picture of you as well, as i remember!
 
Mary, yes, that was when I wore it to a friend's wedding. The shot by the lake is from August last year, and the wedding I wore it to was August 8th 2008:

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This is with a light tulle petticoat underneath. To the hen's party I wore without it - to make it lighter, it was quite a hot day and a balmy night. My cousin wanted us all to wear a hat, and I had an orange fabric rose brooch and a green ribbon that I put on the hat, so it all matched up with the dress. It's always fun to see how people who have no idea of the concept of wearing vintage clothing, react to this, like my cousin's friends. I always think that maybe someone gets inspired to wear more dresses or try vintage.

This dress is just a tad too "dressy" for work, so I take every opportunity I have to wear it :drinking2:.

Karin
 
It's just what I'm calling it :wacko:. In my mind, a crinoline is a fairly stiff thing, and with several layers of tulle. What I was wearing underneath is what my mom made for me, which has just one layer of soft tulle, so it's not very full or stiff - I just call it a petticoat out of habit, as that is the word we'd use in German - sorry for the confusion! The word "crinoline" in German is only being used for those huge things like they wore in the 1800s.
The skirt of the dress is quite wide, so one could of course wear a more poofy thing underneath, but I don't have anything like that (yet - you never know). It wasn't so warm at the wedding, so I wore a slip underneath as well, so that was between my legs and the tulle (would've been to scratchy otherwise, without pantyhose, I admit...).

Karin
 
Too bad you didn't get a pic of yourself flashing the camera - I could have seen your petticoat!! lol

I am going to take your pictures with me to seamstress - if that is okay with you. We sometimes have a language barrier so these, along with the advice here from everyone, will be incredibly helpful to the process.

Thanks again to everyone! Will post back pics when dress is complete.
 
yes, Karin, that's the shot i was remembering!!

i love that you having matching green shoes now, too! absolutely LOVELY!!

can't wait to see your final product, Maureen. It will be impossible to match your print, but it would look amazing in a sheer/white, too!
 
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