Wedding Attire

[suesyl]

I have the wedding dress with slip and the black wedding suit complete with pants, suspenders, vest, coat and a bowler type of hat of the couple of the house we bought. They were married December 22, 1910. With the dress, all rolled up in the bottom of a blanket cupboard I found their marriage document. Actually there are two about 11x14 decorative, signed and dated, I think they were meant to be framed. They are in pretty good condition. The dress has a few stains,it is very light weight fabric not satin, not chiffon. Pretty simple for a 1910 rural Iowa wedding in their parents home. The slip has a couple of small holes from I think a mouse before we got here. What should I do with these things, is there any value to them? I can take pictures if it would help. Thanks

[greenacres]

You'll have to take some pictures. In order to help you everyone will need to see what your writing about.

[talesofthesevenseas]

The fabrics need to go into acid-free tissue, available on Ebay, and ideally into an acid-free box too. These are also available on Ebay but they are fairly pricey. Separate the document from the clothes, and put a layer of acid-free tissue or cotton cloth on the bottom of the drawer. You want to separate the cloth from wood and paper. Both are acidic and will damage the clothes over time. Keep them in a dark, dry environment. Use crumpled acid-free tissue to pad the folds, so that the garments are folded in larger, gentle folds, not hard tight folds. Value would depend upon how well-preserved the gown is how elaborate and things like if it could be worn again by a modern sized woman. If it were me, I would preserve the clothes first, then attempt to find the descendants or relatives of the people who owned the house and see if they are interested in it. If you don't want to store it, I would consider donating it to a textile museum or collector who will preserve it. You can see approximately what antique wedding gowns sell for by running searches on Ebay and Etsy and looking at what similar examples sell for. Having the male attire and the marriage documentation is a big plus and they should be kept as a group.

Let us know what you decide to do and I can help with more information on packing in acid-free storage.

[suesyl]

Here is one picture of the wedding dress. The bride was tall and thin, probably at least 5'8-9''. Thanks for looking.

[mart]

Thats a beautiful dress !!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Beautiful!!! At this point in time she would have been corseted, so if you measure the waist versus the bust you will have a much smaller waist compared the the bust than what you would see on a modern lady.

[suesyl]

Here is a picture of the bodice. Sorry it is so long between pictures, life somehow has a way of interfering 
Tales, I have so many textiles in this house, every thing from table linens, clothing, crocheting, dresser scarves, quilts. I don't know how to treat it or store it besides your previous post of the tissue. I read somewhere about wrapping things in muslin fabric. do I wash these things first? Is there a plastic tub that would be usable since I shouldn't store in wood. I only recently had access to these things and I'm still finding more as I search. If there is damages to some of these things should I try to repair them, I think some mouse holes and maybe just deterioration from age. I have some of her old thread still here along with her treadle sewing machine. I had a lot of joy discovering these things and now I worry it may be to late.

[mart]

If it were me,, I wouldn`t worry about washing any of them till warm weather !! Then lay some towels on a flat surface and put the garment on top of the towels, Sponge it off carefully using a very mild soap, then rinse with a hose and let it stay flat in the sun to dry !! You can roll it up after rinsing and transfer to dry towels and unroll to dry !!  You do not want to pick it up by the shoulders or such like we would modern clothes !!  Old threads break very easily !!

[talesofthesevenseas]

I would not wash it at all, but preserve it in its present state.
http://www.victoriana.com/Victorian-Fashion/vintageclothing.htm

[Kerri]

Sorry but I have to jump in here and say HOW COOL to find these things in your home! I bet you were just tickled pink to find those wonderful treasures!

[bigwull]

does,nt ring my bell,.....but then...its a woman thing...ain,t it....shall i get my coat......

[talesofthesevenseas]

Yes, definitely a woman thing! Now off with you to the parlor for cigars and whiskey while we oooh and ahhh over this beautiful dress! 

[mart]

If it were me I would remove that hanger if its a wooden or plastic one and get one of the soft padded fabric covered ones !!

[suesyl]

Yes it is very beautiful, I only had it on the hanger to take a picture. I have folded it and put it into a pillor case until I can get the materials Tales sugested.  I still need to sort through drawers of othe linens to see what I have not discovered. It does seem to be a treasure hunt. Amazing that the family just left these things, but they had no room for them. The family did take the love letters that were written for a year prior to their wedding. They were written on very tin paper, kind of like sewing pattern paper. He was at Iowa State College for part of that time and she taught school. He always signed off SWAK.