As White As White.

Right...

So.

The other day my wedding dress came in the post. I kid you not, it came in a standard size USPS box. Like really thin. So I was spazzing thinking it was going to be a disaster.

I left it in the box, and went to the airport to get my cousin to bring her to my other cousin's house. All in all I had the dress for over 10ish hours before I opened it.

When I did I was none too impressed. Turns out the images that I used to base my purchasing decision had been photoshopped. DAMN IT.

Nothing too over top just lighting and the colour of my dress.

What I thought was going to be a white, crispy, angelic looking, 50 year old vintage amazing find, was actually something that looked its age. The colouring was well off, and non consistent. You could see where the different parts of it had aged quicker. And you could see where it had been in a bag or box with other clothes because there was rust marks from 'another' zip on small areas. It sucked.

So, I was having huge dilemma of whether to spend time trying to get it looking amazing, but run the risk of ruining it and not being able to sell it on, or just selling it on there and then.

I opted for the former.

Washing began on Wednesday. I left it in the bathtub with normal washing powder and some bicarbonate of soda. It was in there for pretty much 12ish hours. The water was a disgusting yellow colour when I took it out. Seriously, it was gross.

I forgot to mention that the dress originally smelled like it was 50 years old too.

So this yellow water was 50 years of musty stench. So gross.

While I was out (for that weird interview) I went looking for some Oxi clean stuff. I was in mini-Sainsbury's in the town and they had vanish oxi action which you could soak clothes in for 1hr if it was colour or 6hrs if it was whites. However it specifically said not to put anything with metal fasteners in it. Hmmmm. Dillema.

The only other product like it was Sainsbury's own 'Oxy action stain remover for whites'. There was no time limit mentioned on this, and nothing about zips. In fact, the product was made in Turkey, and actually just had the bare minimum of instuctions on the back. It seemed totally dodge, but I bought it anyway. Take the risk.

So I came home to the yellow water and my wee brother was black from playing rugby so I had to let him in the shower. I was wondering what to do about the oxi action stuff, whether to use it or just keep on with the washing powder. It was a risk.

The genius that is my wee brother suggested I do fabric test with the ends of the sleeves that I was planning to cut off anyway. How he remembered that I was going to cut the sleeves off I don't know, but the problem was solved.

I put the end of the sleeves in for 2 hours, and then did a secondary material test with the other types of fabric on the dress for 1 hour.

It seemed to be alright, and you could honestly see where the chemical stuff had reacted and had whitened the sleeves. There was a definite line. It was crazy.

I downed tools and went to bed.

Thursday was Oxi action day.

Around 10:30am I put it in the tub with the same level of concentrated oxi action as the night before. One scoop to one bucket.

It was in there for 11 hours. I kept a close eye on it checking every 40-60 minutes. I would always check the sleeves that I had done the night before, because they were two hours ahead, so if they were still in tact and not having an adverse effect then it meant the rest of the dress could keep going for another 2 hours.

As I said before, the brother is a genius.

At around 11pm I took it out the bath tub, made up double strength (2 scoops to one bucket of water) oxi action and threw the dress in the bucket for an hour/90 minutes. Then I rinsed it, and left it in between towels to dry.

This morning I looked at it and it was so white, I couldn't believe it. Seriously... Success!

I'm just after putting it back in the bathtub with washed powder to make sure all the oxi action is officially out of it. Because if you leave any detergent in any fabric it apparently turns it yellow or something. So I thoroughly rinsed, and it's now inside out drying on my mannequin.

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE having a mannequin. Seriously. Best free gift ever. Laura my flatmate used to work in top shop and she got us all mannequins when they were chucking them out.

The mannequin will be going on sale though in the next couple of months. It's just something that's too heavy to keep and immigrate with. Ahhh. Married, wedding immigration. Eep.

So the end of story is that the dress is spectacularly white, it does fit in a tiny box. It's very light, and it needs an awesome petticoat. Hmmm. Need to source one.

I seriously can't believe how white it is. Thank you Sainsbury's.

Now to make it my size :)

it's like a size 12-14 just now... and I'm an 8-10... hmmm.

Wedding Chat #1

Ai'ght.

So, it might be new news in the blogging world, but It's a month old news for me.. and I have a folder on the desktop called Wedding, Marriage, and Immigration.

In that folder in another one called Wedding, and in that folder is 8 folders titled:

cake
dress
flowers
hair
invites
lists
photography ideas
quirky ideas

So, yeah... let's get cracking on the ol' wedding chat... Oh yeah!

I've been scouring many websites but my two favourites so far have been:

Rock N Roll Bride

and

Off Beat Bride

It's not because I think i'm so rock and roll or so crazy... but those sites are real, as opposed to the 'magazine' sites where the designer of a dress means more than the marriage itself.

Anyway.

I want this girl to make my dress. I want to have one of the ones in stock modified with possible colours and collars and sleeves and all sorts of excitement... pleased.

But for some awesome 'wedding porn' images I'm going to show you all the enjoyable photography ideas i've sourced over the past month... Ready?

Okay.. so I had 80 images in there so far... i've cut down to 45 so it's a little more manageable.





I love the Colour in this one.



When I first saw this movie (Control.. about Joy Division) I turned to my friend Mary the Skills Mills McIlroy (she just got married on Thursday) during this scene and I said, I want my wedding photos to look like that. I just love the angle, the focus, and the deep contrast.

Sadly it's the scene in the movie that Ian tells his wife he doesn't love her any more, but that's not the here nor there.







Can't beat a bit of the Chuck Taylor love.

Question: Will you be wearing Chuck Taylor's on your wedding day?

Answer: Although it's been done, it's very possible. It's a very 'me' thing to do. Wait and see my friends wait and see.



Turquoise... Yes.

Umbrella... LOVE IT.



Shapes, words, soft focus... love it all.



Type again. Random strangers love it... chalk drawing... AMAZING.



This is Max Wanger's section now.. the rest I can't remember where I found them, but Max Wanger is my current love and I am hoping I can make enough money to hire him, he's seriously the best I've found in the LA area. Amazing.

In this picture I love the play park, the way the girl isn't really in the shot, brilliant.



And the groom answers with his swing shot too.



Hand, objects, cuteness, I LOVE IT.



Sweeties.. best idea ever. Giant lollipop even better.



Hobbies and interests, random places, normal situations, strangers, poses, public transport. I can't get enough of this shot.



Again, strangers and public transport... it kind of makes the couple's love seem like a world of its very own. Like they're in a bubble of love.



Pirate Kite... Heck yeah... enough said.



CAT! Zero will most likely be moving with me to the States.



Shoes.. Kitsch shoes... SHOES!



Brilliant shot... public transport... different focus... juxtaposition... oxymoron. PERFECT. Pure dedication to the shot as well.



More public transport and oxymorons.



This reminds me of Roald Dalh's the witches... and the wee girl that lived in the painting. I love it. It also reminds me of innocence or little red riding hood or something. I love fairytales.



Flowers good.



Hollywood hills... it reminds me of the end of Singing in the Rain.



This one's a bit cheese but I like it.



I really love those hills. I just love the focal point and the way that Wanger knows people don't have to be close up to be in a picture.



EVERYBODY KNOWS VIKKI LOVES TYPO-GRAPHY!



Cutest Idea ever... I want my wedding laced with cuteness.



Asians always get the kitsch down to the K.



TYPE.



Personality comes from all of the person not just the face.



As I just said.



Type.



Love, smoochies... but dulled down a little so their kids can one day see the pictures.



Sparklers bring the pretty.



Hula Hoop... Rings... bond.



Type and Urban and the colour is immense.



The angle blows my mind.



More Type and words.

Say it by saying it.

Here endeth the Max Wanger... his stuff his here

I love it... seriously.



I love the different colours and textures of the petticoat.



This girl's hair is amazing. It reminds me of onion rings.



Doughnut wedding cake.



Coca Cola bottles and lollipops instead of flowers. I'm all about the alternatives.



I like the forrest, and the pose reminds me of a smashing pumpkins video or something.



I can't get over the perfect shape of the Silhouette. I've seen silhouettes before for wedding photos but none as amazing as this one. The stripes and stuff are perfect.



Can't beat the sunglasses.



I don't plan on jumping in water... but if it happened I would still look amazing and juxtaposed haha.



Mother cleaning a son's trousers... I just love how old it looks... and movie-esque.



I think that's what I'm going for is some kind of old movie star, vintage, tea party style or something. With colour, sugar, sparkle, cuteness, joy and sweets.

I love it. LOVE it.

My Wedding Dress Dot Com

Okay, so I tend not to be a girl in most things. Or rather, I try not to be. When I was younger I was more of a girl than I am now and I used to think about my wedding day and how perfect it would be.. blah blah blah. I wanted to get married in the San Diego temple. Or I wanted to be married here in Glasgow with kilts and parties etc etc.

I stopped dreaming and thinking about it though because i'm really not all that fussed anymore.

However, thinking about one's wedding dress is one of those things that I do indulge in. I was just skimming on ebay for some vintage dresses (not specifically wedding dresses) and came across this little number:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-50s-Strapless-LACE-Wedding-Party-DRESS-Shrug_W0QQitemZ380048971934QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item380048971934&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318

I like it :) I would, however, modify it of course.

So if anyone feels like proposing in the next six days and one hour let me know, and I'll bid on this dress.