Vintage Wedding Dress

There's a wedding dress hanging in my studio. It's quite old, somewhat yellowed, and slowing losing it's shape.

That dress is my wedding dress, which I wore in 1978, but it's important to me for other sentimental reasons.

My mom wore the same dress in 1957 when she and daddy were married.  

When Richard and I were planning our wedding, she mentioned that I could wear her dress. I was honored that she offered it to me. But we also were not rich and wearing momma's dress was a way to save money on the cost of the wedding. 

With eight daughters (most younger than I), my parents were always looking for ways to save. At eighteen, I didn't think of how wearing momma's dress would affect me later in life.  Surely, I didn't think about that when she later suggested that I take it to my house since I was the only one of us to wear it. 

I plan to offer it to my nieces and great-nieces as they each grow up and begin planning their weddings. The yellowing and distortion can be fixed with hand washing and shaping, but I will do some research on the best way to proceed before I do anything. 

Of course, if you have suggestions, I'd love to read them. Leave me a comment, please, if you've ever dealt with vintage clothing.