Garment Care

Hand-embellished gowns are delicate by nature. A little care keeps them looking as they did the day you collected them.

Cleaning

Do not machine wash, hand wash or tumble dry. Beadwork, embroidery and appliqué will not survive it, and neither will the structure of the bodice.

Use a specialist dry cleaner experienced with beaded and embellished eveningwear, and tell them what the embellishment is before they begin. If you are unsure where to go, ask us.

After a wedding, have the gown cleaned as soon as you reasonably can. Marks that look invisible — particularly anything sugary, like champagne — oxidise over months and turn brown.

Small marks

Blot gently with a clean, dry white cloth. Do not rub, and do not apply water or stain remover to embellished areas — it can loosen adhesive and dull beadwork. For anything more than a small mark, leave it to a specialist.

Storage

• Store in a breathable cotton garment bag, never plastic — plastic traps moisture and yellows fabric over time.
• Keep somewhere cool, dry and out of direct sunlight.
• For heavy beaded gowns, store flat in acid-free tissue if you can. Hanging for years puts the full weight of the embellishment on the shoulders and distorts them.
• Pad the folds with acid-free tissue to prevent permanent creasing.

Wearing and travelling

Apply perfume, hairspray and fake tan before putting the gown on, and let everything dry fully. Alcohol in fragrance can mark silk permanently.

If a thread catches, do not pull it — ease it back through to the reverse, or leave it to us.

Repairs

If a bead comes loose or a seam needs attention, bring the gown back to us rather than to a general tailor. We know how it was made. Contact us at hello@diddafashion.com or +383 45 602 877.