Thursday, July 3, 2008

Thank You for the Wedding Gown Restoration!


(Click on image for larger view)
Last March I bought in my mother’s 67-year-old wedding gown to your Newport Beach store. They sent it to your La Jolla store to be cleaned and conservatively restored. It was to be worn by the bride’s granddaughter, (my daughter) at a wedding gown fashion show during which we wished to honor my mother for her 90th birthday. I want to thank you for doing such a wonderful job with the dress. My mother was delighted to see how you had improved her dress, which she had literally done nothing to preserve since 1941.

One of the pictures here is of my mother, Joyce, in the blue dress, now 90 years old with her granddaughter, Jamie, who is wearing the gown you restored so beautifully. (The little girl is Jamie’s daughter, Naomi.)
Again, my entire family thanks you for making such a wonderful memory possible for all of us and especially for my deserving mother.

Sincerely,
Ann B., Tustin, California

Invisible Stains & Plastic Windows




This gown was incorrectly preserved by another cleaner in the past. The box used for preservation was the outdated type with a plastic window. It had invisible stains when it was originally process, which oxidized or caramelized over time to cause all the dark yellow stains you see here.


As you can see below the gown brightened up a great deal and most of the stains were completely removed. Now it's on it's way to a proper preservation, which is why the buttons have been removed.




Monday, March 12, 2007

Margaret's Cleaners "Famous" Split Gown


Several years ago, Margaret's bought an old wedding gown at Goodwill, cut it down the middle, restored half of it, and then sewed it back together, as an example of what can be done with restoration techniques. The right side (as you look at this image) is "before" and the left side is "after". Most of the yellowing caused by age has been eliminated by the restoration process.
The gown is "famous" because it's been featured at all the bridal shows we attend and has even been on a TV news show about the restoration and preservation of wedding gowns.