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New York Times
02-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
The Met Costume Institute's Former Head of Conservation Taught Us How to Store Clothes
Before you store your heirlooms, be sure to clean them. Insects eat your stains, Paulocik told us. 'It's a source of nutrition for them,' she said. So cleaning your clothes is one of the best defenses against pests. Paulocik has a particular word of advice for anyone storing a wedding gown. Many brides have their wedding gowns dry-cleaned after the ceremony. And because a wedding gown is tricky to clean, a dry cleaner will often end up spot-cleaning it. The problem? White wine stains may not show up for a week. In such cases, the dress will actually develop visible stains after it has been theoretically cleaned. 'It's a good idea if the bride can remember if she spilled anything that might later cause a stain and alert the dry cleaner,' Paulocik told us. Generally, the longer the stain sits, the harder it is to remove, so your best bet is to catch it early. For more information on cleaning unique materials, Paulocik recommends checking the Canadian Conservation Institute's website. It's a treasure trove of detailed information and tips on caring for specific materials, including leather, fur, metals, feathers, and more. And for shorter-term storage, Paulocik said she'd also get rid of any accoutrements from a dry-cleaning sesh. 'The worst kind of plastic bags are the dry-cleaning bags,' she said (more on that later). So take your garment out ASAP. Metal hangers, which are typically used at the dry cleaner, aren't supportive, and they can rust and stain clothes over time. 'I have seen the damage,' Paulocik told us. Similarly, safety pins and straight pins (two other common dry-cleaning tools) can eventually rust. Once your garment is ready for storage, you'll want to decide whether to hang your clothes or store them in a box. Avoid hanging items that may stretch, such as knits, heavily beaded garments, or anything cut on the bias (diagonally with the grain of the fabric). However, some clothes are better off when they're hung. At the Met, the conservators would 'often hang some of the more complex garments because placing them in a box would crush or create damage to the structure of the garment,' Paulocik told us. 'We would custom make interior supports for garments such as Charles James gowns or some of the more contemporary designers like Alexander McQueen. That often involved a cotton twill tape waistband sewn into the garment to take some of the weight off the piece.' If you do decide to hang your clothes, you should avoid storing anything in dry-cleaning bags or garment bags made from PEVA or PVC. 'You don't want PVC near your clothes.' The goal is to avoid anything that's going to break down over the long term. As these 'bad plastics' age, they off-gas plasticizers. While plasticizers make the bags malleable and soft, in time they become 'really oily and greasy.' Instead, consider garment bags made of cotton or muslin, which is breathable but also protects the clothes from light and dust. These bags last forever, Paulocik said. All you need to do is wash them occasionally. Paulocik suggests using a garment bag made from cotton, instead of plastic. This one (from an archival shop Paulocik recommends) comes in several sizes, so it can accommodate everything from christening gowns to wedding dresses. Buy from Hollinger Metal Edge You can also consider Tyvek garment bags, which the Met Costume Institute has occasionally used, according to Paulocik. Tyvek is made from high-density polyethylene, a kind of plastic thought to have a much lower rate of off-gassing than materials like PVC film. Crucially, it keeps water out while allowing vapor to pass. If you do choose to hang your clothes in plastic, check on the bag every six months to make sure it isn't starting to yellow or get sticky (which means the plasticizers are breaking down and migrating to the surface). In addition to avoiding wire hangers, which can warp clothes or rust, avoid wooden hangers. Over time, wooden hangers can off-gas volatile organic compounds, which can eventually weaken a textile or yellow it. Instead, Paulocik recommends using plastic hangers made from either polypropylene or polyethylene. Wire hangers can rust, and wooden hangers can off-gas volatile organic compounds, yellowing garments over time. Paulocik recommends using polypropylene hangers instead. And to add structure, you can wrap hangers with quilt batting or muslin. Buy from Hollinger Metal Edge While you probably won't have a garment that needs to have a waistband sewn in, structured clothes, like suiting and hand bags, may need additional support to maintain their shape over time. You can cover a hanger with quilt batting or muslin to add structure in the shoulder area. Then the hanger is 'kind of customized to the garment,' Paulocik said. If you're hanging a suit, for example, Paulocik also recommends stuffing the arms of the jacket with archival tissue paper to bolster the overall shape. You can essentially make '[a sausage] out of tissue and stick it up the arm,' she said. Don't raid your supply of everyday tissue paper for this task, since it can yellow and deteriorate over time. Many pieces may be better off stored in a box. To do so, before you pack the garment away, Paulocik suggests bolstering it with and wrapping it in acid-free tissue paper. 'Try to avoid folding as much as possible. And, where you have to, support those folds with acid-free tissue,' she said. When you store a garment in a box, Paulocik recommends wrapping it in and bolstering it with acid-free tissue paper. Buy from Hollinger Metal Edge If you don't want to use acid-free tissue, you can alternatively use plain white cotton sheets, as long as they've been washed and are clean. At the museum, Paulocik would also place a clear plastic sleeve on top of the box, with a picture of the object for quick reference. (Labeling an item — perhaps with its history, such as the date the item was used, who wore it, and for what occasion — can be a good idea at home, too. That way, if any descendants discover your box decades later, they'll know what it is.) It may be tempting to put your packed clothes in a cardboard box, especially since cardboard is cheap and breathable. But like other problematic materials, cardboard degrades and becomes acidic, off-gassing organic volatile compounds (which causing yellowing), Paulocik told us. Paulocik instead recommends storing garments in an acid-free box with acid-free tissue paper. You can also use a box made from corrugated polypropylene (sometimes called Coroplast). Such boxes are admittedly expensive, but they're also inert, stable, water-resistant, and dust-proof. Skip the cardboard, which degrades and becomes acidic. Instead, Paulocik recommends packing textiles in acid-free boxes. The Hollinger boxes come in several different sizes. Buy from Hollinger Metal Edge If it seems overwhelming to buy all of the long-term-storage items individually, consider getting Hollinger Metal Edge's Gown/Garment/Textile Preservation Kits. The kits come in several sizes and include everything you need for preservation. (Hollinger's Keepsake and Deep preservation kits are sized for wedding gowns, but there are other boxes designed for christening outfits, uniforms, and quilts.) 'The preservation kits are worth it if people just want everything together,' Paulocik said. Overwhelmed by the prospect of buying the items you need individually? These preservation kits come in multiple sizes, and they include everything you need to store heirloom textiles, from uniforms to wedding gowns. Buy from Hollinger Metal Edge And for anyone who opts to use a preservation company (usually geared toward wedding-gown storage) instead of DIY methods, Paulocik recommends checking on the gown periodically to make sure it's okay. She said she's seen 'too many brides' with horror stories of poorly preserved dresses. The space where you're storing the clothes should be spick-and- span. 'I would clean the area by vacuuming and wiping things down with plain soap and water or Lysol,' Paulocik said. She said she would also avoid using mothballs, which are a pesticide. 'In museums, we monitor the storage areas and place sticky traps to see if any insects are flying around and what species they are,' Paulocik said. And this is something you can also do at home. To catch clothing moths, put traps at head height, and to trap carpet beetles, put them on the floor at the side of the doorway. These two types of critters find textiles particularly alluring. Sticky traps, like the ones from archival-storage-company Hollinger, can help you monitor for pests in the area where you're storing clothing. $29 from Hollinger Metal Edge Humidity and heat are other enemies of long-term storage, so it's important to maintain a good temperature wherever you're storing your clothes. Attics and basements are 'really terrible' for long-term storage, Paulocik said, unless they're climate-controlled. The attic gets too hot and dry, while the basement is too damp and humid — conditions that can accelerate deterioration. People with no other choice sometimes use dehumidifiers to pull out the moisture and fans to circulate the air, Paulocik noted. But 'if your pieces are important,' she said, 'I would store objects in an area of your house that is climate-controlled and then check them periodically. For most people, it's on the main floor in closets or under beds.' While heat can be detrimental to garments, in some cases the cold can be a garment's saving grace. Paulocik told us that the Royal Ontario Museum had big, walk-in freezers. They were often a garment's first stop when it entered the collection, because the cold would kill any potential moths and moth larvae. Paulocik uses this technique for her cashmere sweaters. First, she puts the sweater in a zip-top bag with a little piece of cotton fabric 'to absorb any moisture created when the textile is frozen and thawed.' How long you leave it in the freezer depends on several factors, such as the type of freezer you have (chest freezers tend to be colder) and how many things are in it. 'But usually a week is a good amount of time,' she said. (The technique also works for buggy books!) Wirecutter editor Megan Beauchamp panicked during a carpet beetle infestation and put her wedding dress in the freezer in a zip-top bag. It turns out this wasn't such a terrible idea. Megan Beauchamp/Wirecutter Paulocik's advice was a relief to editor Megan Beauchamp, who recently put her wedding dress in the freezer after a carpet beetle infestation (and a panicked Reddit deep-dive). Yet now the dress has been in there for a month, and she isn't sure what to do next. Paulocik said that Megan should now take her wedding dress out of the freezer and inspect it — especially at the seams — for any dead carpet beetles or their frass (excrement). Then pick them off and have the dress cleaned. 'Carpet beetles are less of an issue with wedding dresses unless there is a proteinaceous component to the gown,' Paulocik noted. She also warned that there are some materials that shouldn't be frozen, such as ivory. Long-term storage should start with a clean garment (remember, insects feast on stains!), as well as a clean, climate-controlled storage area — on one of the main floors of your house (rather than in a basement or an attic). After garments are wrapped in and bolstered with acid-free tissue paper (especially at any folds), most of them can be stored in acid-free boxes or boxes made from corrugated polypropylene. Never store a garment in a regular cardboard box or a plastic dry-cleaning bag, which will degrade over time. And be sure to take out safety pins or straight pins, which can rust or cause stains. You may also want to place a few sticky traps in the storage area, and check them occasionally for signs of pests. And hey, if you do a good enough job now, maybe in a few thousand years your wedding gown will be on display at the Met. This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Katie Okamoto. Despite what the care label tells you, skip the dry cleaner and hand-wash your cashmere at home instead. Does that delicate garment have to be dry-cleaned, or can you wash it at home? Check out our roundup of all the fabrics that can skip a trip to the cleaners. After extensive testing, these seven storage bins, boxes, and totes are our favorites for keeping stuff clean and dry, inside or out. What I Cover I'm a writer on the discovery team covering travel products, along with related news, fun facts, and tips. What I Cover I've covered luggage and travel gear for Wirecutter for over a decade. In that time, I've covered various topics related to this coverage and sometimes far afield from it.
Daily Mail
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Lauren Sanchez's $100k 'red carpet worthy' pre-wedding gown was 'divisive, unapologetic and extravagant', fashion expert says
Lauren Sanchez's golden $100,000 pre-wedding gown was 'a performance piece' that teased the opulent $46 million nuptials with tech billionaire Jeff Bezos yet to come, fashion experts have revealed. Speaking to FEMAIL, industry insiders have unveiled the hidden meaning behind the former journalist's striking corset dress from Schiaparelli's 2025 couture collection, as she and her Amazon tycoon fiance, 61, are set to tie the knot in Venice today. Yesterday, the bride, 55, stepped out for their celebrity-filled rehearsal dinner in a shimmering ensemble designed by Daniel Roseberry and titled 'Icarus.' The figure-hugging frock was embroidered with designs of swirling vines and florals in blue, green, and gold tones that were set against a champagne fabric. Celebrity stylist Rochelle White said the piece was a way for Lauren to reflect her 'unapologetic and extravagant' personality. 'It wasn't sublet or muted, but bold and pretty daring,' she explained. 'I feel that she knew all eyes would be on her and this could be a tease of what is to come. 'I am getting high fashion vibes from this piece, alongside good craftsmanship mixed with elegance. I feel that this could divide opinions on it within the fashion community and it be either loved or loathed.' The expert added that as Lauren is well aware that the world is watching, her ensembles are of course going to be 'statement conversation pieces'. Meanwhile fashion consultant Lisa Talbot described the stunning gown as the 'perfect editorial balance' which reflected the weekend's 'opulent Italian vibes'. 'This look strikes the perfect editorial balance, regal yet body-conscious, dramatic without being overdone,' she remarked. Lisa said the pro's of the gown were the 'sculptural neckline and luxe embroidery align beautifully with Venice's glamour'. She added: 'The cinched waist delivers a red‑carpet worthy silhouette and high fashion drama. Cohesive styling, from hair to heels feels meticulously curated.' However, Lisa however there was a con to the striking gown, saying: 'The corset's rigidity, while visually impactful, may have been slightly cumbersome understatement was minimal. This is statement dressing to the core, which might overshadow subtler surroundings.' She concluded: 'Lauren's fully leaned into the weekend's opulent Italian vibes, showcasing one of Schiaparelli's most sculptural and Instagram‑ready looks yet. 'It's a couture curtain‑raiser worthy of the pre‑wedding buzz, elegant, daring, and utterly unforgettable.' Meanwhile the scale of the nuptial do means it's been dubbed the 'wedding of a century' by some, with the couple having invited some 200 guests for a three-day celebration. However, despite the opulence and extravagance of the event, it has not been all smooth sailing so far, and the couple has already faced a number of issues. Many are unhappy about Bezos and Sanchez choosing Venice at the location for the wedding, and the run-up to the festivities has been beset by protests, carried out by anti-capitalist and environmental advocates. Elsewhere, there is a potential issue with the venue, which includes the fabulous 15th Century Madonna dell Orto church in Venice's quaint Cannargio district. The structure, however, is undergoing some maintenance; meaning that what guests will first see when they arrive is the historic bell tower covered in scaffolding. Meanwhile, Bezos and Sanchez themselves have not even been the only couple at the centre of headlines, as Orlando Bloom's break-up with Katy Perry - and subsequent appearance at the event - has attracted scandal of its own. Despite some $46 million reportedly spent on the festivities, a two-year engagement, and a guest list crammed with A-listers, it appears Bezos and Sanchez have already suffered a number of disasters during their multi-day nuptial celebrations. For one, a freak thunderstorm during a pre-wedding party on Thursday night left guests soaked and forced to cower under umbrellas. The event, held at the Madonna dell Orto cloisters marked the start of the billionaire couple's lavish wedding in Venice, Italy, which will come to a close on Saturday. However, all kicked off to a poor start, after heavy downpour and intense lightning storms lefts attendees drenched. The couple's A-list guests like Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were forced to take cover from the rain, forcing last night's star-studded soiree into an early close. Meanwhile Lauren was surrounded by tuxedo-clad gentleman carrying blue umbrellas over her as she carefully stepped on to her awaiting boat. The TV personality wore a striking off-the-shoulder dress with a dramatic gold corset cinching in her already tiny waist. Jeff - who popped the question in 2023 with a $3 million engagement ring - was seen following closely behind Lauren with an umbrella over his head. Guests were seen diving for cover under the vaulted cloisters as lightning 'bolts flashed across the sky and thunder rumbled overhead at the end of what was a torridly humid day with temperatures nudging 96.8° Fahrenheit. They then dashed for water taxis which had been called for a good 45 minutes ahead of the midnight finish time. The strong gusts of winds whipped table cloths away and sent waiters scurrying for umbrellas to protect the VIP attendees. 'It just goes to show you can have all the money in the world but you can't control the weather - although an Italian saying says a wet bride is a happy and lucky bride' commented one onlooker. In footage obtained by Lauren appeared to be in high spirits despite the rain ending their soiree early. Once inside the water taxi, she was seen sharing a laugh with her soon-to-be groom as the downpour intensified. Another major setback threatening the glamorous event has been protests against the couple holding their wedding in the historic Italian city. Tensions have been brewing over the past week as locals and protest groups object to the $46 million Venice nuptials due to fears it will 'take over the city'. The couple have already been forced to change one of the venues due to 'rising global tensions', but as news of protests continued to threaten the wedding, the couple still found themselves mired in controversy. Around 20 activists were seen on Thursday holding placards in St Mark's Square, the iconic heart of Venice, with some trying to climb a post. An extinction rebellion flag was waved, and some protestors held signs reading 'we are the 99 per cent we have the power'. Another campaigner clutched onto a placard saying 'the planet burns' in Italian while they were forcibly carried away by police. It is speculated that Jeff, Lauren and the wedding's planners will do everything to keep their guests - including Bill Gates, Jordan's Queen Rania, Kim Kardashian and Ivanka Trump - safe. The luxurious event has continued to attract huge controversy, with protests planned by angry locals. A team of former US marines have already been hired to provide security for the event by Bezos, which is due to take place over three days. Local newspaper Il Gazzettino already stated that the days leading up to the wedding would be 'tension filled' and the move to the venue was due to it being 'easier to control' as large scale protests are expected. But they also added 'the winds of war and rising global tensions between the US and Iran' were also being taken into consideration - there is a large American airbase at Aviano just 50 miles away. Bezos and Sanchez were forced to move their final day of lavish celebrations that was set to culminate at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia. They are instead taking place at the Arsenale, which is further out from the city - a move which is an 'enormous victory' for Campaign group No Space for Bezos, they said. Tommaso Cacciari from the group told the BBC: 'We are very proud of this! We are nobodies, we have no money, nothing! We're just citizens who started organising and we managed to move one of the most powerful people in the world - all the billionaires - out of the city'. Meanwhile on Monday Greenpeace activists unfurled a huge banner in St Mark's Square, the iconic heart of Venice protesting against the wedding. It showed an image of Bezos face and the slogan: 'If you can rent Venice for your wedding then you can pay more tax'. Activists from British group 'Everyone Hates Elon' were also involved and said they had carried it out to highlight the 'environmental and social injustice of the wedding'. 'Bezos encapsulates an economic and social model which is steering us towards collapse' said one protester. 'All too often now social injustice travels on an equal par with the climate, on one side the arrogance of a few billionaires who have a lifestyle that devastates the planet, the other people who suffer daily from the environment crisis'. The official planners of one of the biggest weddings to ever exist, Lanza & Baucina Limited, have dismissed the protests and insisted they have taken every precaution required. They said in a statement: 'As event organisers who have been working in Venice for over 24 years, we feel obliged to set the record straight given the misinformation, untruths and misunderstandings circulating about the Bezos wedding. 'From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimising of any disruption to the city, the respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of locals in the crafting of the events'.
