Vintage Lace Wedding Dresses

In the almost two years I've been blogging ,I haven't posted many photos of items from my personal antique/vintage textile collection. Not counting a few of the hats and shoes and such that I worn for vintage outings, of course. But after chatting with Joanna of Dividing Vintage Moments about some of the wonderful things we own, I've realized that I have a lot of stuff that would be worth sharing here. Much of it needs to be photographed. There's a lot of work involved in displaying and photographing items, editing the photos, and then finally getting around to blogging about them. And let's face it, I'm lazy! lol!! Actually, I should be better about this for my own record keeping purposes. Cori and I have been working to compile a complete list of all the items we've collected, just like museums do. He's really good about assigning a new "catalog number" whenever he gets a new navy uniform. It's a smart way to manage a collection, even a small one. If there's any interest I'll write up a blog post to expand upon this subject. :)

Anyway, these are two lovely lace ladies I've owned for a long time. So beautiful and delicate, they deserve to be seen and admired, old and worn out as they are. The first, which is actually a lace coat with a separate rayon slip, was a gift from my parents. I believed it came in a box lot of stuff from a local auction house. I have the veil too but can't find the photo I took of it. The coat has tiny covered buttons and button loops part way down the front and a beautiful little pointed train. I think the lace is cut on the bias but I can't really remember. Overall its in nice condition but does have some minor issues - a few spots here and there and little breaks in the lace. The veil has yellowed and the netting has become brittle in places. I think this one is late 1930s or very early 1940s. By the time you get into the 1940s most wedding gowns are made from heavy satin or some kind of rayon. I've seen many lace and satin combinations that are just stunning. I have a couple of satin wedding gowns as well that I need to get around to photographing. Ah, so little time.....

1940s lace wedding coat and rayon slip - From my personal collection

1940s lace wedding coat and rayon slip - From my personal collection

This is my favorite photo of this wedding gown. I really like the contrast of the ivory lace against the dark red and blue carpet.

1940s lace wedding coat and rayon slip - From my personal collection

1940s lace wedding coat and rayon slip - From my personal collection

This next beauty probably was meant to be more of an evening gown then a wedding gown. I would date this to the mid 1930s because of the type of lace and the stunning bias construction. It has a rather interesting story too. I rescued it from an old steamer trunk along with another dress that had been stored in an old barn. I wasn't sure either dress was worth saving as I could tell that mice had been into them. Yuck. The words musty, dusty, and gross come to mind when I think of the state they were in when I found them. Each dress was first gently rinsed in cold water to remove years of grim. This lace sheath then took a nice long soak in a cold water and Borax bath. I know many people use Woolight to clean vintage textiles but I have never tried it although I've heard good things. I've had good luck with using Borax on both modern and vintage garments. Borax comes in a powder form and dissolves quickly in water. For stronger materials like linen or cotton you can work the powder directly into the wet fabric to remove stains then let it soak. I find that very handy when cleaning my linen aprons after a weekend of camping in the 18th century.

**Side Note - I would not recommend scrubbing older textiles 

as they can be very delicate especially when wet!!**

While this dress may look nice on the form, it does have it's issues. There are several small stains on the lace that I was not able to remove. There are also numerous breaks in the lace which make the gown unwearable without major repairs. The majority of the damage is to the lower back hem - stupid mice! I should have removed the metal hooks and eyes from the side opening before letting the gown soak because one of them rusted creating a new stain. Thankfully its really small but lesson learned. Even though it can't really be worn this gown is an excellent piece for study and display.

1930s bias cut evening/wedding gown - From my personal collection

1930s bias cut evening/wedding gown - From my personal collection

So there you have it. Two extremely beautiful gowns. Sorry, they are not for sale. However, I do have a couple satin gowns for sale. Two are already listed in my shop and I have two more waiting to be photographed.