Has this ever happened to you or someone you know?

Luswen

I had a wedding dress made for me (via a seamstress in China... talk about the awesome things you can find on ebay!). It was done in white tafetta.

It arrived via mail, and was obviously white. Not "diamond white," but very much so a normal, regular white. This was over 6 months ago.

It sat in my closet for a couple months, and I got to show it to my mother and soon-to-be MIL. It was white.

I take it to a seamstress and we begin the fittings. It's still white for 5 more weeks.

I go in for my final dress fitting today, and it's a dull shade of ivory. And kind-of yellow at the bottom where she had unhemmed it for my last fitting. She claims this has never happened before (and I believe her, because all she does in fitting and sewing work for bridal parties).

Has anything like this ever happened to you, or to someone you know? And HOW IN GOODNESS SAKES can I fix this? I'm a pale bride, and I have olive tones in my skin, so it looks rather dingy. And if I tan, it'll bring out the yellow (I tan caramel-ish).

The wedding is less than a month away, and I haven't a clue as to what to do.

brianabrad

I have a feeling its not really the dress changing it how the dress looks under different lights. Some clothing will change under natural light vs. fluorescent, etc. I don't think there is really anything you can do to change this.

Luswen

That's what I had initially thought, but we took pictures throughcompared them all-- the photos we took were in both natural light outside her house and the flourescent lighting in he rliving room, so the environment isn't a factor.

The dress really is a different shade, even my seamstress admits it.

dizzinea

this is really weird, because fabric can yellow over time, but that ussually means decades. have you taken it outside and seen if it looks different outside the shop in sunlight?

opalsky007

Did you store it in plastic? The fumes emitted by plastic can cause fabrics to yellow over time, but I've still never heard of anything this drastic. It may have a lot to do with the quality of the fabric--one of the disadvantages of using inexpensive tailors out of China.

bbyckes

Do you have before and after pics you can post?  

noodle_oo

To fix it:  can you bleach it?

alehayes

I wonder if maybe a dry cleaner could tell you how to fix it (if there IS a way to fix it).  I figure if anyone would know, it would be a dry cleaner.

Or Martha Stewart.  But I don't think she's as accessible.

kristinanddan

Well a Chinese seamstress from Ebay certainly isn't using the finest of fabrics so I'm sure it's possible it would yellow.

cqbride

My guess would be that the cheap fabric they used was treated with some chemical and it reacted with something in the air or some environmental factor.  The problem with these cheap knock-off sweatshop-made dresses is that they aren't careful and they cut corners wherever they can. Something probably when wrong with the chemical processing of the fabric and it was sold to them cheaply because it couldn't be sold at full price as it was. You should have it cleaned and see what happens-- even if it doesn't whiten at least you won't be wearing whatever caused it to do that.

smore154

Call a dry cleaner- bring it there and see what they can do. There's gotta be a way to get the yellow out. Good luck!

winterwitch

I agree with pp take it to a dry cleaners and have them clean it for you. I work with fabric alot, making clothes, curtains etc and have never had trouble with fabric changing colour so drastically so quickly. If the dry cleaner fails you can buy stuff on the market to bring up white fabric, but be careful when buying it as it may not suit the material your dress is made of. Good luck!

jenellsrevenge

Defintely take this to a dry cleaner. If the fabric is cheap enough that it yellowed this fast then belaching or using any whitening agents could destroy it. Some fabrics simply cannot withstand those chemicals.