Regency Gown

This gown came to us from America. A client found it when her grandmother died and wanted to display it. But it had been stored in a binbag in the attic, so it had poorly suffered from heat, light, and insect mage. The delicate silk embroidery was almost gone.   

It was couriered to us after meticulous packing instructions were provided to the entre.  On arrival, we unpacked it and gave it a complete assessment.  We also had it spend some time in our deep freeze to kill the moth eggs.  Following a careful clean, using a conservation vacuum, we took the skirt apart and applied new supporting silk, which we custom-dyed.   Each piece was carefully supported using silk thread dyed to match.  The skirt embroidery was then reapplied where needed through the two layers of silk, and a conservation net was applied over the top to protect it further. 

Once repaired, the skirts were reattached by hand using identical materials. We then packed it in multiple layers of conservation tissue and support forms for the courier to return to the USA. We found the lady a specialist dummy maker to make a custom dummy to the dress’s size and shape so it could be safely displayed in a glass case with conservation-grade glass to protect it from light damage.