sample gown restoration

jaimelody

The dress I really love is discontinued. They have a sample in my size... in Tacoma Washington (the other side of the country). Has anyone had experience with restoring a sample gown? I'm told it's in "less than stellar" condition with beading missing and needs to be cleaned. Missing corset strings and privacy patch. Thoughts?

stina93446

When you say it's your size, do you mean that it's your street size or definitely your bridal gown size? Have you ever tried it on before to know that this dress is the one? personally, the idea of restoring a sample gown sounds awful. I have been to plenty of bridal stores where the dresses are ripped, stained,  (like you said) missing parts, etc. If you have to have THIS dress though and this is the only one, get it. Good project.

jaimelody

I tried it on in one size too small. They did measure me for it... I just don't know about restoring it to be wearable.

stina93446

Also, you need to know that old dresses that are samples get tried on so much that they stretch.

michelle142

I was thinking about buying a sample gown a while ago. I asked them to send me photos of the "damage".They sent me about 20 photos and closeups of the dirt and damage. Then I sent those pictures to a seamstress and a dry cleaner for their opinions.I ended up not buying the dress because it would have cost me about $150 to get it cleaned and upwards of $250 for fixes and alterations. Those were both only estimates, but I didn't want to chance spending that much on a sample dress that only would have cost $470 to start with.I ended up just getting the dress I have now.

jaimelody

Hmmm so I guess the verdict is keep searching... Thanks ladies!

akorniak

It sounds like you made up your mind, but just wanted to advise you DO NOT BUY IT.  I ended up buying a discontinued sample earlier this year because I simply LOVED the dress.  The local bridal shop assured me the "repairs" would be easy... to fix the snags, clean the gown etc...  not the case (already on the second cleaning, still not right).  Trust me on this (as I ended up having to buy a second dress 2 months before my September wedding), you will find a new, beautiful dress that you simply love.  Please keep looking.  Congrats and best of luck!!