Autumn Luciano @autumnlucianostudios charged me with the task of bringing these babies back to life. They once belonged to Niagara @niagaradetroit, who would perform in vintage showgirl pieces, before finding their way to Autumn. Otherwise not much is known about them.
When I say “restoration,” what I really mean is getting these pieces to a state in which they will cease falling apart further and are safe to handle. They definitely need some love to even be displayed, let alone ever worn again.
When I acquired them, these costumes had a very foul odor and literally pieces of filth flying off of them. Much of what was flaking off & making them problematic to even handle was the sequins’ original metallic coating. Washing them in a bowl here with gentle soap did further strip the sequins, but also cleaned them to what I deemed safe enough; they’re not leaving metallic mold dust trails anymore. I hated “damaging” them more, but it was important to knock off what was already waiting to fall off and go from there.
Airing them out for a few weeks after washing helped with the odor as well! I didn’t want to try the diluted rubbing alcohol spray method on them because I wasn’t sure if that would cause more damage to the sequins.
Aren’t they beautiful?! Which one should I get working on first?
Thank you again so much Autumn for the opportunity to work on these! I was literally made for this task haha – dream come true!
Also – if you like vintage, be sure to join me at Maison de Mila on IG @maison.de.mila and MaisondeMila.com!