This is the first time in twenty-plus years that this dress has seen the light of day. That's because it's my wedding dress (and was also my Mother in law's wedding dress), and is preserved in archival packaging.
Or at least it was until today. This morning, we discovered a small flood in our basement. After pulling absolutely everything out, we realized that the main intake water pipe had sprung a leak and was spraying a fine mist of water everywhere. Apparently it took some time before there was enough water for us to see it on the floor, but the box the dress was in was in a direct line of the spray and completely saturated, along with a lot of other items. What a mess!
I'm running the dress by the cleaners in the morning, in hopes they can carefully clean it and re-preserve it. Ellie, trying desperately to be 11-years-old-polite, asked if it could be altered to have spaghetti straps when we asked if she thought she might want to wear it one day. I guess I'll have to hope for a like-minded daughter in law, just like my Mother in law did. I thought it was the perfect dress.
The impromptu clean up really wasn't the end of the world since we're decluttering/destashing the upstairs in preparation for some painting and redecorating. This reminded me I've got bins with the kids old clothing down there, which would really be better off used by someone who needs them. So our unexpected day has at least a bit of a silver lining. Now I'm looking forward to a little time knitting and then lots of sleep!
Your dress is gorgeous! I certainly hope that the cleaners can make it all new again!
Lovely dress. Good luck at the cleaners. And, bonus at making more room in the basement and donating the children’s old clothes.