Oh yes,
@Sewingforfun and I saw the Strictly washing machine on the tour last year but it wasn't so visible this time behind piles of stuff that had built up during the Blackpool madness! It's just a front loader. They stick them in a bag and chuck them in on a gentle wash cycle. You may lose a few stones here and there but nothing that can't be re-stuck.
The power of dry cleaning can be a great thing
@Sandra when you want to recover expensive rhinestones from a discarded dress of course.
I think we had the best introductory talk of the three I've now seen with interesting info about Vicky Gill's backstory that was new to me. We didn't get to go through a big rail of the season's dresses to date this time, instead, some were brought out for inspection and some more to try on. Fortunately two of them were the ones I'd really hoped to see:
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Saffron's waltz dress with red embroidered flowers – I wanted to check the skirt profile and underskirt construction (similar to the ones we saw last year sewingforfun but the crin configuration was different – more beefed up). Made in 8 straight panels with narrow godets for the gentle flare (lycra leotard then mesh above the waist down to the underskirt seam while the embroidered tulle skirt with underlying nude georgette was zigzagged on under the bust at the front and angled around the back neck. Only 2 underskirt layers but with three rows of wide crin deeply tucked to kick it out, 2 on the upper underskirt and 1 on the lower layer.
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Oti's Viennese Waltz dress with all the draped strings of beads – for the beads (not beads at all but actually flatback rhinestones stuck back to back either side of a thin rolled strip of mesh sewn to the thickness of buttonhole thread) and an interesting construction for extra bust support (crossed straps over the sternum and two layers of elastic tightly holding the bottom of the bra ups together so the bust couldn't slip below them). I'll be trying all that I suspect.
Amy's waltz dress was there, I did get to see it but didn't get a photograph I'm afraid. It was a lovely soft steely blue in real life I'd say and so very silky! Sadly we didn't see Catherine's tango dress with its huge depth of large feathers. I suspect they might have been concerned about the likely damage from people trying that one on. Several people did but I didn't this time - too busy studying the details.
I'll put my photos on here in a day or two as we've another trip to London on Wednesday (hopefully including a flying visit to scope out Woolcrest Textiles on the way to a joint birthday treat for hubby and a friend). I will share some of the new titbits of Strictly info that I picked up this time.