Woman Restores 'Very Rough' in Shape 1950s Wedding Dress in 45 Hours: 'Hardest Restoration to Date'

A woman is celebrating the revival of her grandmother’s wedding dress.

On Thursday, March 20, a writer, who goes by the name of Courtlin, revealed that her grandma’s 1950s wedding dress had been revived by influencer Amy Shane, who is known as “The Fairy Godmother of Vintage Dresses," per radio website Khak.

Courtlin sent her late grandmother Darlene’s wedding dress for restoration back in November after the item was worn by Darlene at her wedding to her husband Michael in 1959.

The dress was originally bought from Detroit’s  J. L. Hudson Department Store in the early 1950s before being worn by Darlene, as well as her two sisters Patricia and Beverly.

"My mom shared with me that the dress was likely an expensive investment, so it made financial sense for the family to get more than one wear out of it,” Courtlin wrote. “My grandparents were married for more than 60 years when my grandma passed away in October of 2022.”

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Due to the wedding dress being in “VERY rough shape” Courtlin’s family decided to donate the gown to be restored.

The journalist’s mother then found Shane's Instagram page, where she showcases restored vintage gowns and dresses.

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“In the comments on the initial unboxing video, many people were asking how our family could give up such a treasured family heirloom,” Courtlin wrote. “The answer is pretty simple: we believe my grandma would want it to be worn again. We don't have the ability to restore it ourselves, and to spend the money to have it restored just to have it sit in a box again is silly.”

Sharing the video on her Instagram page, Shane took her followers along as she displayed the restoration process.

Describing it as her “hardest restoration to date,” Shane worked around 45 hours to complete the gown’s makeover.

However, the hard work proved to be worth it, as Courtlin described the transformed dress as “even more beautiful than we could have imagined.”

The new version of the dress appeared brighter, while still sporting its embellished floral patterns.

“While , this dress definitely showed many marks of history it also is full of sisterly love and I was so honored to be able to restore it,” Shane wrote in her caption. “This gown was truly the most challenging and the hardest to date, and it even tried to break me, but in the end, it was all worth it!"

She added, “Before anyone goes on attack only 3” of a small portion of the train was removed in order to make side gussets to repair the silk side seams.”

“Hand beaded glass beads and pearls were added over a few of the small spots that remained ( too much aggressive stain removal would tear the silk) and a small bow was added along the front from the last bit of remaining fabric,” she continued.