The story we shared in our blog about Classic Cleaners Eagle Creek bride who spotted a rainbow on her way to the church inspired one of our clients from the other end of Indianapolis to tell us about a piece of folklore that caused her to change her own wedding plan.

In modern times, we’re finding, people pay less attention to folklore. When it comes to weddings, though, traditions and even superstitions continue to play a part in the planning. Of course, no one really knows for sure whether certain things bring good luck or bad, but, as the website weddings.lovetoknow.com  explains, brides don’t want to take a chance!

One loyal Classic Cleaners customer in McCordsville recalled originally planning to have each of her bridesmaids dress in a different jewel-tone shade, with the groomsmen in bowties to match, and the same colors replicated in her bouquet and in the table decorations. That most original and colorful concept was scrapped when an aunt shared with her that it would bring bad luck if the bridesmaids weren’t all in the same color dresses. Not actually “buying” that story, our customer nonetheless had all her attendants wear the same color.

Early bridesmaids actually wore dresses similar to the bride’s in order to confuse evil spirits who might want to harm the bride or cause mischief. In fact, we learned, that’s why the groomsmen were there as well!

Another wedding custom related to color choices has some tradition behind it as well – the boutonniere. In medieval times, when a lady fancied a particular knight, she’d give him a token – a scarf, flower, or ribbon – to carry into battle.  The knight was said to be “wearing her colors”.

As you can tell, at Classic Cleaners, we’re really into weddings.   As a member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, we can offer MuseumCare™ preservation of wedding gowns, an advanced process endorsed by the Association of Bridal Consultants. At Classic Cleaners, we may not be superstitious, but we love to keep wedding traditions alive!

Do you have a favorite wedding-related superstition or tradition?  Please share it with us.  We want all our readers to have good luck!

 by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

MARCH SHIRT FRENZY AT CLASSIC CLEANERS

LIMITED TIME OFFER MARCH 6 – 26
BRING IN 5, PAY FOR 4
From McCordsville to Broad Ripple, at Classic Cleaners we know one thing: Most of the time (even almost ALL of the time) isn’t nearly often enough for business shirts to be delivered in perfect, ready-to-wow-‘em shape.

“Clothes make the man” is an expression older than most of our Classic Cleaners blog readers, but, when it comes to dress shirts, we found, it’s truer than ever. Tony X. Jones remarks on ezine that shirts, which used to be “nothing more than just an undergarment to fit under a jacket…the focus was never on the dress shirt itself” now make important fashion statements of their own. 

At Classic Cleaners, our large and growing group of business executive female customers seems to be at the forefront of fashion in business shirts and blouses. These are meant to be worn either under a suit jacket or solo.

In fact, sometimes it’s hard to tell between men’s and women’s business shirts, so the Classic Cleaners’ button guarantee applies to both:

Should there be any broken or missing buttons on your laundered shirt,
we sew on new ones.

At Classic Cleaners, we know shirts.  Our adjustable Unipress machine represents the very latest in shirt finishing technology.  And with our 5 for the price of 4 limited time offer, achieving a perfectly tailored business look will be more economical than ever!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Handmade in the small English town of Honiton, the lace on Queen Victoria’s wedding gown took more than one hundred lace makers more than six months to create. When the queen married Prince Albert in 1840, she started a trend by wearing a white dress – before that, white gowns were quite unusual.

To this day, lace adds a beautiful romantic touch to garments, especially wedding and christening gowns. Two famous types of lace are Chantilly and Alencon; each can come embroidered with seed beads and pearls.

The delicate surface of lace demands special sewing techniques – and special lace dry cleaning care. If the holes in the lace are large, there is even greater danger of snagging and tearing (this is especially true with vintage wedding gowns).

One of the wedding gown dry cleaning challenges the professionals at Classic Cleaners face comes from stains accumulating around the beaded edges of lace. The “terrible threes”, sugars, salts, and acids, do the kind of damage to wedding gowns with which conventional dry cleaning methods cannot cope.

 The clean, safe, and unique methods of wedding gown hand cleaning, dry cleaning and preservation perfected over the years by Classic Cleaners have kept many a lacy wedding gown in an enchanting state of perfection!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

 ”Spotters vs. Toughies” might have been the title of Classic Cleaners’ latest film. The challenge – a white wedding dress with a big red wine stain.  The goal: demonstrate the Classic Cleaners expertise in stain removal. 

The profession of dry cleaning has challenges.  Some common “toughies” are:

• “Toughie” trimmings: beads, sequins, vinyl, feathers, fur, mesh
• “Toughie” fabrics: leather, suede, wool with spandex, cottons with silk
• “Toughie” stains: mustard, ink, caramelized sugar, oxidized oils
• “Toughie” reds – red garments, beet stains, and…wine stains!

When the going gets tough, Classic Cleaners gets going, and, as you can see from the before-and-after photos, the score was 1-0 in favor of the spotters. 

Savvy post-”game” commentators on the Spotters vs. Toughies might have mentioned several points:

1. Classic Cleaners spotters knew the stain was from red wine. The toughest stains are often those the customer forgot about; the dry cleaner needs to solve the “mystery” before deciding how to treat the stain!
   
2. The stain was recent. The sooner a stain can be treated, the better the chances for success in removing it without damaging the fabric.

toughie wine stain on wedding dress

Wine stain gone