5 tips for storing your wedding dress – before & after your wedding

5 tips for storing your wedding dress - before & after your wedding | H is for Home

Most brides spend weeks or even months finding the perfect new or vintage wedding dress. However, most brides haven’t given much thought as to how to best store their wedding dress, either before or after their wedding. These 5 wedding dress storage tips are designed to help ensure that your gown remains as pristine as it was the day you fell in love with it, for years to come.

Before the wedding

White fabric bag with bride written in gold sequins

  1. Fabric vs plastic garment bags

In the weeks and months leading up to the wedding, it’s recommended that you hang your dress in a fabric or cloth (non-plastic) garment bag. You’ll want to stay away from using any type of plastic garment bag, as the chemicals in the plastic can cause your dress to yellow.

White wedding dress hanging from a padded hanger

  1. Padded hangers

Dresses that are heavily embellished with beading, crystals or other appliqué, can make the dress quite heavy. Therefore, special precautions should be taken to avoid stretching the shoulders or sleeves. Make sure the main hanger is padded and consider an extra hanger to fold the train over, in order to distribute the weight of the dress on the top hanger.

White stiletto shoes with wedding dress in the background

  1. Location, location, location

While your dress is being stored for the big day, you’ll want to keep it as much out of harm’s way as possible. It’s tempting to want to hang it on the back of a bedroom door. However, it’s risky to expose it to pets, dust, heat, humidity or extreme sunlight. Ideally, you should store the dress at the back of a cool dry wardrobe and away from animals, boilers, windows and moisture.

After the wedding

Detail of an intricately beaded wedding dress bodice

  1. Proper cleaning and preservation

You’ll want to be sure to have your dress professionally cleaned and preserved as soon after your wedding as possible. This will help prevent stains from setting into the fabric of your dress and optimally prepare it for long term storage.  Be sure to use a highly reputable company that specialises in wedding dress preservation, such as the Affordable Preservation Company, top rated on both The Knot and WeddingWire.

Strappy wedding dress hanging inside a wardrobe door

  1. Long-term storage

After your wedding dress is cleaned and preserved, it’s essential that it’s stored properly for the long term. The preservation chest should be stored in a cool, dry place away from sunlight and extreme temperatures. The preservation chest should also be stored laying flat to prevent the dress from shifting. It’s best stored under a bed or on the top shelf of a wardrobe. You’ll want to be certain to avoid storing your gown in a basement or loft where temperatures and humidity can fluctuate and harm the dress.

Properly storing your wedding dress from the time of purchase, to having it professionally cleaned and preserved, and finally storing it properly for the long term, will help to ensure your wedding dress will be an heirloom that can be cherished for years to come.

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David Whitehead relaunch

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David Whitehead relaunch event at Broad Leys, Windermere

This weekend, we attended the David Whitehead relaunch and bicentenary.

Front of Broad Leys, home to the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club

It was held at Broad Leys, home to Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club – a beautiful Charles Voysey-designed Arts & Crafts building.

Arts & Crafts decorative fireplace vent grille featuring birds and trees

There were wonderful architectural features wherever you looked – even down to tiniest details such as this fireplace vent grille… and of course, stunning views out over the lake.

View of Lake Windermere from Broad Leys, home to the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club

It takes a lot to compete with that. Fortunately, we were there to celebrate the relaunch of six of their classic fabric designs. Compete – they certainly did!

Rolls of relaunched David Whitehead fabric

We first met Jill & Bernard Laverty, the current owners of David Whitehead & Sons Ltd, a few years ago. They contacted us after we blogged about an amazing discovery of unused vintage fabrics that had laid untouched for 50 years in a store room – many of them were rolls manufactured by David Whitehead. We shared a cuppa initially and later on visited them for lunch. We talked all things David Whitehead – the history of production, their archive and future potential.

Cushions covered in relaunched David Whitehead fabrics in bay window of Broad Leys, home to the Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club

At that point in time, David Whitehead had stopped making fabrics and were concentrating on other products. Jill in particular was bitten by the bug and keen to explore the possibilities of a textile range. She bought vintage fabric samples and visited museum archives.

Samples of original vintage David Whitehead fabrics

The company then set about looking into the production of some of their classic designs, copyright ownership, a future re-launch, press & marketing, new website etc! And here we were celebrating the culmination of all their efforts – an amazing achievement from those initial early chats – what a journey they’ve been on!

Samples of original vintage David Whitehead fabrics with antique wooden bobbins and page from a vintage Ambassador magazine fashion shoot featuring Whitehead fabrics

We had a wonderful lunch surrounded by the relaunched fabrics. There were products such as cushions and recovered chairs to show potential uses, stands & displays portraying the company history and some of their great designers – Marion Mahler, Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi, Jacqueline Groag, Henry Moore, John Piper, Terence Conran… what names!

Marian Mahler display including stool covered in relaunched yellow fabric from her original design

There was a film history showing and fabric bunting dotted about the venue – even the waiting staff were wearing David Whitehead fabric aprons.

Display including samples of Sir Terence Conran's original fabric designs for David Whitehead

And onto one of those great design names – Sir Terence Conran, as he is now, attended the relaunch and made a short speech about the significance of David Whitehead in his own life and the importance of the entrepreneurial spirit of the company in the post-war years around the time of the Festival of Britain. What a pleasure it was to share a table with him!

Jill Laverty with friend Kathy and Sir Terence Conran at the David Whitehead relaunch event

He expressed his opinion that the current owners share the same entrepreneurial spirit and that he was delighted to see the textiles coming into production again – and that he would happily help with their publicity in any way he could.

Lunch at David Whitehead relaunch event

The fabrics are being produced by Standfast & Barracks, so it’s production in Lancashire once again which is great – heritage combined with modern production techniques to produce a top quality product.

Selvedge from relaunched David Whitehead fabric

And so to the future – well, the sky’s the limit. Will Jill and Bernard sell the fabrics wholesale? Will they make homeware products using their classic designs? There were no shortage of ideas flying around from tea towels to dog coats!

The six relaunched David Whitehead fabric patterns

Whatever they choose to do, we’re sure it will be a great success. They obviously have great vision and drive to reach this point, they’re passionate and determined. These wonderful vintage designs (and perhaps new ones) will arrive on the market place with a huge impact.

Bunting made from relaunched David Whitehead fabric

And on a personal note – you couldn’t wish to meet a lovelier couple which just adds to the goodwill we feel for them as things move forward. So many thanks to Jill & Bernard for inviting us – we’re looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Vintage Fabric Pieces

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collection of vintage fabric pieces drying on a washing line

A couple of years ago we blogged about a great haul of unused vintage fabric, most of which was still on the roll.

patchwork of four different fabric pieces

At the same time, we got three large bags of vintage fabric pieces which have been sitting in our loft ever since. The fabric dates from the 1950s and most of it had already been made up into seat covers.

patchwork of four different fabric pieces

They’re unused though and there are some lovely patterns amongst them, so perfect for crafting projects…

patchwork of four different fabric pieces

…big enough for cushion panels, light shades or some kind of patchwork, maybe.

patchwork of four different fabric pieces

We’ve given them all a quick wash – they certainly brightened up a grey Pennine day when they were hanging out to dry.

collection of vintage fabric pieces drying on a washing line

We’re taking them down to our antiques centre pitch, priced at £5 each. So if you’re near Todmorden, pop in for a rummage! We can also pop them in the post if there’s anything that catches your eye from the photos.

Vintage Fabric Redux

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collection of vintage fabric from the 1950s hanging on a washing line

We’ve just received another consignment of vintage fabrics from our long-time friend Shaun. They’re in pristine condition, but a bit musty – here’s a selection airing in the garden.

As with the last lot of vintage fabric, they’ve laid untouched in a warehouse for about 50 years. This batch includes short lengths, remnants, single curtains, cushion covers etc etc. Again they date from the 1950s/60s and are a mixture of abstract, atomic and florals.

We’ve done a little slideshow of favourites for all you vintage fabric fans – in addition to an airing they’ll obviously need a good iron!























They’re a myriad of sizes, so we’ll list them individually over the coming weeks & months – they’ll be perfect for all manner of crafty projects.