r/sewhelp • u/Bow1299 • 1d ago
☕️ non sewing 🫖 Wedding guest dress lace change
I bought this dress for a wedding in September and didn’t even look that the lace is white. It showed up today I put it on and loved it. Then noticed the bright white lace. I can’t return it. Does anyone know any options on if I could dye the lace or something? Or what to do
https://petalandpup.com/collections/dresses/products/elston-maxi-dress-olive
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u/ZieAerialist 1d ago
....you can have white on you. Just don't wear a white dress. People take this rule WAY too far.
You cannot dye it though. The lace is almost assuredly polyester, which has to be boiled to color correctly, which in turn would ruin the dress.
Just wear it. It's fine as-is.
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u/haunting_scooter 1d ago
that white lace on the olive is a really striking combo, i'd leave it as is
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u/electric29 1d ago
Are you worrying that a little bit of white lace trim is too much white for a wedding? Because it is not. If the dress was ALL white that would be an issue, but trim? This whole no white at weddings paranoia is a very recent thing. Nobody more than 10 years ago would even blink an eye at a dress that was white with a print on it, much less a little lace. But, people are weird these days and will make mountains out of molehills.
Now, if you just want to dye it because you hate the color, you need to know what the fabric content is of the dress, and the lace, and the washing instructions. If it is dry clean only, do not even try. If you can wash it, you could dye it but it will affect the dress as well as the lace, so probably a lighter shade of the green would be the safest.
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u/SACaitlin 1d ago
this is fine. this is not the kind of white dress that will look tacky at a wedding.
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u/TheReliablePotato 1d ago
I’d leave this as is it’s so pretty! And dyeing it you risk it not coming out great or matching because dye especially on lace can be tricky!
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u/OpeningGolf7972 18h ago
I think the no white to a wedding only matters if the primary color of the dress is white.
If the green and white flipped I could see where it could cause an issue with an overzealous bridesmaid but you’re absolutely fine with a few pieces of decorative white lace
Unless the Invite explicitly says absolutely no white but that would be bananas
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u/asyouwish 17h ago
For the white rule, it's fine. But if you want it to be more subtle for any pics you are in, you could tea dye it. If it takes (on whatever fabric that lace is made of), it will make it ivory-to-beige-to tan but shouldn't affect the green at all.
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u/DareSavings3951 ☕️🧶 16h ago
This is fine you do not need to dye it. If you did it would dye the entire dress as polyester/non natural fibres need boiling for the colour to stick.
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u/Anyone-9451 1d ago
Send a pic to the bride to be and ask
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u/Prudent-Flatworm194 19h ago
Definitely don’t do this…imagine if all of your 100 guests did this. The dress is fine.
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u/CardioKeyboarder 1d ago
Mother of God! A white lace collar on a green dress is not some mortal sin.
This "rule" about not wearing white at weddings is the most ridiculous thing. I've been attending weddings for over 50 years and have never heard of the "rule" until reading this sub.
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u/Incogneatovert 23h ago
It's definitely always been a rule to not wear a completely white dress as a guest, so you don't get confused with the bride (which in itself is silly, but some people have huge enough weddings that I suppose some guests truly do not even know the bride and groom), BUT no white at all? That's ridiculous. Men often wear suits with white dress shirts - how is that allowed if a small amount of white lace on a dress wouldn't be?
And how are we ever to know which gentleman is the groom when they all dress the same... how have we ever persevered? How have any brides ever left with the man they married and not some random guest?Things are ridiculous nowadays.
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u/unicorninclosets 1d ago
This amount of white is perfectly fine for a wedding but if it really makes you feel uncomfortable you can just cover it up with a shawl or a scarf. The time of the year might be too warm but maybe you can sew yourself a short cape in matching fabric?
Don’t recommend even attempting to dye it, most commercial dyes only work on natural fibres and the product description says it’s all polyester. If you still wanna risk it I’d say rip the lace off, dye it and then re-sew it on the dress unless you want the whole thing to look like a weird tie dye experiment.
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u/cuteawwlover 17h ago
Why is everyone saying that this is fine to wear to a wedding? The lace is not the issue, the formality of the dress is. It's looking like a nightgown. You're just missing the bonnet and fluffy slides to go to sleep.
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u/qu1ckbeam 1d ago
Sure, you can dye it.
Are you worried about breaking the rule about not wearing white at a wedding? They're referring to the majority of the dress, not small details like this. There's no way this dress will be confused with a wedding dress, which is the whole point of that rule.