I’ve been quiet over the summer, being preoccupied with a rediscovered hobby, dressmaking. We are off to the Goodwood Revival in September, and I needed an appropriate outfit to wear. I found a vintage 50s suit pattern on Etsy and dug out my sewing machine from the cellar - amazingly it still worked after 5 years of dusty non-use.
Several weeks later I have a lovely pale blue silk suit that fits, and I’m really proud of myself. Thanks to a brilliant book I found in Foyles on couture sewing techniques I’ve learned lots of new ways to do things. But what to wear with the lovely new frock? A hat and white gloves of course. And where does a girl buy her hats and gloves in these Accessorise-blighted days? Ebay, that’s where. And that's where the rest of my summer went, haunting Ebay for hats, gloves, jewelry and the odd vintage frock.
I managed to find the most stunning pair of white kid gloves, perfect to wear with my new outfit. Actually, I am not sure about whether I should be wearing kid or cotton, if I am dressing like it's 1947 and I shop at Dior. But no matter. I’ve seen the photos from other Revivals, there are some very mismatched vintage outfits going on. But when my lovely gloves turned up they were rather marked and needed a good clean. And in case you should ever find yourself in the same situation, with a pair of white kid gloves that are unwearably grubby, I will share with you my cleaning journey, as it had some scary moments but ended very happily.
I hunted all over the internet for advice on how to clean kid gloves, with advice ranging from wiping them with soap powder and a soft flannel, to cleaning them with milk, to using benzine (which I don’t happen to keep about the house, sadly). But a feature on Vintage Sewing seemed to offer most hope. It seemed to suggest you could wash your kid gloves in soapy water. Well, as the gloves were really very grubby, I decided to chance it. I washed them quite gently in Ecover delicate washing liquid, putting them on my hands so I could see where the dirt was, and rubbing them with a flannel and each other to get the marks out. This worked a treat and the stains all came off. I blotted the gloves in clean towels and laid them out flat to dry.
The next morning, they were dried and mummified. Stiff as cardboard and brownish yellow. Oh well, I thought. Back to ebay for another pair. As I turned them over in my hands I noticed there were the odd patches of white, and I pulled the glove to look closer - why had that patch stayed white? As I pulled, the glove stretched and turned white again where I had touched it. I pulled some more - a big streak of white spread across the glove. Compulsively, I stretched and pulled and tugged until the whole glove was white and soft and ready to wear. Honestly, it was like magic! Before I did the other glove, I took a picture so you can see I’m not making this up.
So I’m not exactly recommending this is how you wash your kid gloves, but it worked for me. Though I’m glad it was only a pair from ebay that I nearly ruined.
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