Until the 1920′s, most women in Ireland did not wear shoes, and, at least according to wikianswers.com, “this provided them with a grace and bearing which is hard to achieve by today’s dancers.”  The Irish dancers who are Classic Cleaners customers would hardly agree.

Ever since Maggie Ramsey’s mom spread the word about the excellent care her daughter’s Irish Dance Solo Dress received, other

Irish solo competition dress

dancers have turned to our professional dry cleaners for help keeping the elaborate solo dance costumes ready for performance time.

Today, of course, female Irish step dancers wear shoes, typically either “Ghillies” (low-cut soft shoes with criss-cross lacing) or hard shoes with fiberglass tips and heels. It’s fashionable to wear tightly curled hair (which might be “falls” or even wigs).  Unlike early Irish dresses, which featured heavy fabrics with embroidery, solo performance dresses today sparkle and shine with elaborate beading and sequins. In upper competitive ranks, tiaras and cloth “crowns” are popular. 

We usually associate Irish with the “wearing of the green”, but crimson and saffron and even teal and purple are worn for competition Irish dancing. In dry cleaning these elaborate costumes, the color itself can present a challenge.  For example, red dyes lose vibrancy faster than other colors.  The under skirts tend to be made of different fabric than the dress, with each fabric needing its own special kind of care. Even steam-cleaning can post risk where sequins are concerned.

Just as solo Irish dancers challenge themselves as they rise through the ranks in competitions, Class Cleaners technicians must rise to the challenge of treating these combinations of colors, sequins, and variety of fabrics. The normal dry cleaning label from the International Association for Textile Care Labeling couldn’t begin to cover all the parts of an Irish Dance Solo Dress!

Step dancers and Classic Cleaners – it must have been the luck of the Irish that brought the two together to create such winning results!

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

modern bride and groom

With Classic Cleaners owners being such history buffs, I find it fun to go back and learn the origin of various traditions we keep alive today.  And, since Classic Cleaners professionals specialize in wedding gown cleaning and preservation, I’m going to devote today’s blog post to weddings old and new.

Think it strange to be thinking of weddings in November?  Think again.
In recent years, wedding statistics show, June has come in second, or even third, in popularity, behind July and August!

I’ve read several different theories about why June used to be the month of choice for weddings:

Brides married in June were likely to give birth to a first child in spring, which was thought to bring good luck.

During medieval times annual baths (yes, annual!) were usually in May, so that June brides still smelled relatively fresh.  (If not, the bridal bouquet was designed to divert attention from any unpleasant odor.)

I hasten to add that Melissa Shell, writing about medieval history in About.Com, refutes this persistent legend

Vintage wedding

about yearly cleansing, explaining that, while full baths may have been annual affairs, most people washed themselves on a regular basis.

Although modern couples may have more contemporary – and more practical – reasons for choosing to be married in a particular month, much sentimental value attaches to weddings and particularly to wedding gowns. For this reason, Classic Cleaners is a member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, cleaning and preparing gowns for immediate use, or offering expert MuseumCare preservation as endorsed by the Association of Bridal Consultants.

Every year an average of 3 million weddings are performed in the United States. And, in every month of every one of those years, Classic Cleaners answers “We Do!” to the question, “Can you help take care of my beautiful bridal gown?”

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

 ”If I have no heirlooms, what should I pass down?” is the question addressed by Emilie Sennebogan on tlc.howstuffworks.com. Sennebogan assures her readers that when it comes to leaving things to your descendants, “sometimes emotional value far outweighs any financial worth“.

Classic Cleaners’ customer Ladonna Hanson knows all about emotional value. Thrilled by the idea that her granddaughter might be able to wear the precious baby dresses which the new mom had herself worn as an infant, Ladonna brought several 24-year old baby outfits out of the closet.  Dismayed at the yellowing she found on the fabric, Mrs. Hanson asked for help.

Passing down treasured clothing items and household goods is a very old tradition. In fact, the significance of the “heirloom chest” goes back to the ancient Egyptians. And, while the  “trousseau’ or “hope chest” has gone out of fashion, as Erik Shimek explains in his ezine.com article Storing Heirlooms Inside of a Cedar Chest,  “it can be a joy to assemble a ‘memory box’ for young boys and girls to remember their childhood.” From baby clothes and dolls to baseball gloves, the treasures in the box help recipients relive special moments.

Seeing the beautifully restored baby clothes brought smiles and tears to the faces of Grandma and daughter, plus effusive thanks from Ladonna Hanson to the professionals at Classic Cleaners.

Alas, (at least for now) the little princess remains oblivious to how impressive a fashion statement she’s making, dressed in her sparking-clean, heirloom baby wardrobe!

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Interviewed for the August 1, 1960 issue of the Indianapolis News, 80-year old Bertha Lee Redden Shaw, had this to say:

“I am a Hoosier, born in Marion County, Pike Township, Indiana, at Traders Point, and very proud of it.”

Traders Point was an appropriate name for the village in northwest Indianapolis that grew up on land surrendered by the Miami Indians in 1818. Farmers would congregate there to barter and to exchange everything from hogs and horses, to harnesses and carts.

Fast forward to 2010, when Traders Point is home to a large, bustling, outdoor shopping and dining mall near the intersection of highway I-65 and West 86th Street, with a Classic Cleaners store occupying a prominent spot near the front of the mall.

Classic Cleaners is proud of its own history, which goes back 25 years. One year ago, Classic Cleaners beame one of the many “Northwest traders” at the growing Traders Point mall. Manager Wendy Matthis feels right at home in her busy store, which attracts residents from Zionsville and Brownsburg, in addition to many who work in the numerous office buildings and hotels in the neighborhood. Many of Wendy’s customers drop off and pick up their garments, then get their shopping done at Traders Point’s other stores.

Wendy, who prides herself on quickly learning and remembering the names of hundreds of Classic Cleaners

Wendy Matthis, manager of Classic Cleaners at Traders Point

Traders Point customers, has become a favorite with the employees in the nearby Dow Chemical headquarters.  In fact, all the “word-of-mouth advertising” her clients have done at Dow has prompted Wendy to offer a special 10% Dow Dry Cleaning Discount!

Living in such a historical area, many Traders Point residents are history buffs.  One customer brought in a set of antique burlap sacks, wanting to be sure the lettering would be preserved through the cleaning process.  The beautifully finished sacks now hang on the wall of this loyal customer’s antique barn!

It’s an interesting contrast – Classic Cleaners’  ultra-modern, “green” dry cleaning technology in a neighborhood from which soldiers went off to fight in the Civil War!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team