Most brides spend hundred and even thousands of pounds on their wedding dresses. Dresses are not cheap and are probably the most expensive piece of clothing you will buy during your lifetime. Traditional and with the majority of wedding dresses, they are white or a very light colour like beige. Obviously this means that any marks or dirt will show up more readily.
During the actual wedding, in having a great time and enjoying yourself, your dress will get some dirt on it no matter how careful you are trying to be. Panic not as you can always clean your dress. You can always try and clean the dress yourself but this is not recommended! There are professional dry cleaners who specialise in cleaning wedding dresses.
Wedding dresses are usually substantial garments and therefore cleaning them is a a task in itself. Not only that, the value of wedding dresses means that the dry cleaners do need to cover themselves with insurance in case anything goes wrong. Due to these factors, having your dress dry cleaned is an expensive business. It can cost a couple of hundred pounds and in some cases can cost a percentage of the cost of your dress. I have come across people who were charged 10% of the cost of the dress! A large proportion of this goes towards the insurance.
Once your dress is dry cleaned, then you need a proper dress storage box for it that is the right size and more importantly is pH neutral. This means that there is no acidity or alkalinity within the material of the box. This is important because over time, any acidity or alkalinity can over time degrade the fabric of the dress or discolour it. So, when you have your dress boxed, store it somewhere at room temperature so you avoid wide temperature fluctuations.
The main piece of advice on this site is to invest in getting your dress professionally dry cleaned rather than doing it yourself. Once cleaned, store it properly in a pH neutral dress box.
Difficulty: Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
- Silver jewelry
- Brightly colored bangles
- One each of a vintage, new, borrowed and blue accessory
- Black hat
- Black wrist gloves
- Flower hair clip
- Silk scarf
- Bold statement purse
- Step 1Remember the rules of the most important white dress--something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Good ideas for these include vintage rhinestone earrings, hair pins, combs and necklaces. For a very marriage-minded and modern touch, get a tiny nose piercing with a blue, red or pink stone in the left nostril, which is an indicator of fertility and relationship luck in India and Africa.
- Step 2Pair a basic white tank dress with a fabulous black hat and short black leather gloves for retro appeal. A wide-brimmed, floppy black hat suits many women, and it makes a very strong statement for lunch and dinner engagements. The leather gloves are a sexy extra touch.
- Step 3Wear romantic-looking accessories with silhouettes that flow. A pink or blue flower hair
clip adds a spot of color while enhancing the wearer's sensuality. Alternately, try a feather hair clip.
- Step 4Trim white business dresses with a rich-looking silk
scarf . If you're feeling bold and want to convey power, favor a bright-colored square. For feminine appeal, use a softer shade like pink or violet. Tie it with a simple knot, or use a more complex method for a stronger look.
- Step 5Look at the undertones of the white dress before wearing gold or silver jewelry. Cool shades like winter white fare better with silver, while warmer colors like ecru look great with gold.
- Step 6Grab a bunch of brightly colored bangle bracelets. A good mix of colors and textures will work with virtually any white dress.
- Step 7Carry a statement bag with your white dress. This can be an animal print clutch, snakeskin bag, or bright turquoise hobo. Shy away from black and brown bags when wearing white, since the "blank slate" nature of a white dress complements a bolder purse.