Birmingham Wedding Gown Care Blog

Can I Preserve My Shoes When I Preserve My Wedding Dress?

I was contacted by a Bride wanting to preserve her wedding shoes at the same time she preserved her wedding dress.  I told her it was perfectly fine to preserve her wedding shoes...just not in the same box/wedding dress preservation chest as her wedding dress.

Now why could that be the case?

Well, shoes are most often made of either leather or plastic...and they may contain metal.  Plastic will emit fumes which will cause a white wedding dress to turn yellow over time, especially when closed up in a wedding dress preservation chest.

If the shoes are made of leather, keep in mind that glue is used to make the shoes.  Like plastic, glue will cause a wedding dress to discolor, especially when closed in a wedding dress preservation chest.  And the same problem can occur with shoes that contain any metal, such as buckles and heal tips. 

To take this even further, metal buttons as well as foam breast and underarm pads on a wedding dress can likewise cause discoloration of the gown when contained in a wedding dress preservation chest.  Over time the foam rubber will decompose, emit damaging fumes and cause problems for your wedding gwon.

Don't get me wrong here...boxing a wedding gown in a preservation chest is still my recommendation for safely preserving your wedding memories. Just make sure the plastic and metal are placed in separate containers from the wedding dress.

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