CARE

STORAGE:

Keep your dress covered in a garment bag. This can help prevent the dress from getting snagged on other clothing items in your closet, prevent pets from coming into contact with the fabric or beading, and help keep your dress clean.

Store your dress in a cool, dry, dark place, such as a closet that is free from natural or artificial light. This can help prevent any potential fading of the fabric.

IRONING:

Every dress purchased from COUCA is steamed before it goes out to our customer. However, dresses may get some wrinkles from being stored in the plastic garment bag. The majority of formal and semi-formal dresses sold at ASK Dress Boutique should not be ironed! If you are not sure, please contact us or visit the dress page for more details.

Usually the best way to remove any wrinkles from storage is with a hand held or an industrial steamer. If you do not have one of these at home, you can hang your dress in the bathroom while a hot shower is running. This will get minor wrinkles out from the steam and it will relax the fabric. In general, if you leave the dress to hang out of its bag, the wrinkles will relax out naturally.

ALTERING AND REPAIRING:

Be careful of wearing jewellery with metal prongs or tines. For example, a bracelet or ring with prongs that hold rhinestones or gemstones in place can easily snag the skirt of your dress if it is made with a delicate fabric like chiffon or lace. Stay clear of door handles or protruding things that can catch the fabric of your dress.

How to Repair a Broken Strap

1. Use a safety pin to hold the strap in place until you can get to the restroom.
2. After you find a mirror, check to make sure the length of the strap is correct. Adjust the pin as needed to fix it.
3. Thread a needle with a colour that matches your gown, and tie a small knot in the end of the thread.
4. Starting from the inside of the dress, sew through the dress fabric and the strap fabric. Sew up and down in this spot about six times, trying to tuck any frayed edges inside the dress.
5. Tug the thread gently to see if it makes a pinging noise. This indicates that you've made your stitches nice and tight and can cut the thread.
6. Trim the thread close to the spot you were sewing. Trim any other loose threads or frayed fabric.

How to Fix a Torn Hem

1. Find a quiet place to sit down. You won't need to take your dress off for this fix. Take a good look at the rip. The size will affect how you handle it.
2. If it's very large, use dress tape to put the fabric back together. Then thread your needle, and knot your thread. Take a few small stitches, starting from the inside of the dress, to secure the hem every few inches. This will help the dress tape hold up the hem.
3. If the rip is small, you can repair it with the sewing kit. This is a better choice, since it's more secure. Starting from the back side of the fabric, take several small stitches to close the gap in the hem. When you're done, snip the thread close to your repair.
4. Trim any loose threads or pieces of fabric.
5. If you notice that the fabric is starting to fray or run, apply a little bit of the Liquid Thread, and allow it to dry before going back on the dance floor.

How to Re-Attach an Embellishment

Dresses that have a lot of beading are prone to a bit of damage while wearing it. The beading is often attached to a layer of delicate tulle fabric by a single thread. Any excessive amount of pulling or wear can cause the beading to become loose or fall off. This is not a flaw in your garment – it is just the nature of formal wear with beading or sequins. Try to avoid any unnecessary tugging or pulling on a beaded or sequin garment to minimize stress to your dress.

If your dress has beading, flowers, or other embellishments, these can be vulnerable areas. However, don't despair if you notice something falling off; it's an easy fix. Just follow these steps:

1. Hold your hand over the embellishment, and make your way to the restroom.
2. Carefully remove your dress to avoid doing more damage.
3. Re-attach the embellishment using the Liquid Thread, being careful not to get excess glue on the fabric.
4. Adjust the embellishment so it looks just like new. This may mean moving beads around or changing the angle of a flower. Allow the glue to dry.
5. Use your scissors to remove loose threads that may be hanging.

How to ‘grease’ zipper

Zippers get stuck from time to time. If yours sticks, you can use a wax pencil or wax paper to make it slide easier and zip correctly. Simply take the base and rub the wax pencil or paper on it. Then carefully wiggle the zipper to get it free; it should zip perfectly.

How to Sew a Tear in the Dress Seam

Sometimes the movement of dancing can be too much for the delicate fabric of your dress, and you may notice that a seam is starting to gape. This is a problem you should repair right away, since it will worsen quickly.

1. Pinch the fabric on either side of the seam, and head for the rest room.
2. Very carefully remove your dress, trying not to pull on the seam at all as you do.
3. Turn the dress inside out, and find the spot where the seam is opening up. Check the condition of the surrounding fabric. If the fabric is chiffon and seems to be fraying, carefully dab a tiny bit of the Liquid Thread on each frayed area. Allow it to dry before proceeding.
4. Thread your needle, and tie a knot in the end of the thread.
5. Place the right sides of the fabric together, closing the seam. Use pins to hold it closed.
6. Start sewing about an inch before the rip in the seam, where the dress is still looking fine. Use the littlest stitches you can, and sew right where you can see the stitch holes from the original seam. Continue sewing until you've gone about an inch past where the rip ended.
7. Trim the thread, and trim any other loose pieces of thread or fabric.

How to Replace a Missing Button

If your dress is missing a button, you can easily replace it. Here's how you do it:

1. Depending on the location of the button, you'll likely need to remove your dress. Head to the nearest restroom for privacy.
2. Find the spare button in your sewing kit. Thread your needle with thread that matches your dress, and knot the end of the thread.
3. Starting from the inside of the dress, sew a couple of stitches up and down in the place where you'll be replacing the button. End with the needle on the outside of the dress.
4. Slip your needle through the button, and then bring it back down through the dress fabric. Continue adding stitches to the button until you've gone through it at least six times. End with your needle inside the dress.
5. Tug the button gently to make sure it's secure. Add more stitches if it isn't. If it is, trim the thread right near where you finished sewing.

CLEANING:

To avoid staining your dress, apply any hairspray, makeup, deodorant and or moisturizers well before putting on your dress to ensure that they have dried. If you happen to spill something on your dress while out, simply blot the area dry with a clean, white cloth and then let it be. Never scrub or rub because you could damage the garment’s delicate fibers. Contact a professional dry cleaner as soon as possible and ask how best to clean the stain.

REMOVING STAINS:

We recommend all of our dresses to be dry cleaned at first before attempted stain removal. If they are embellished, it should be only spot cleaned, beadings must be kept away from stain removal. Otherwise, any embellishments, bead-work or other sewn-in features will be damaged.

However, if you’re in a rush and want to quickly attempt to lift your stain, you can see our tips for removal techniques that can be tried on non-beaded dresses.

Quick fixes whilst you are out in your COUCA piece:

• If you drop a thick liquid/solid (such as a sauce) use a flat blunt object (for example, a dining knife or credit card) to gently scrape off what you can. Do your best not to spread the stain any further.
• Grab a white napkin, paper towel or cloth and dab away as much of the stain as possible. See if you have corn starch, baby powder or even salt to hand. You can apply these in small sprinkles to absorb more of the liquid from the material. Leave for a minute and gently brush away. This is particularly effective if the stain is oily and refuses to be absorbed by the napkin. Oil stains are notoriously stubborn.
• Small stains:

1. Chalk- If you notice a spot on your gown an ordinary chalk could do the trick - This can help remove a spot on a light-colored silk gown. Simply dab it on and brush off the dust.
2. Baby wipes or water-based makeup remover wipes - Perfect for getting stains out of polyester and other manmade fabrics, baby wipes are a good choice to keep in your repair kit. Simply dab the wipe on the spot and air dry.
3. Portable stain treater - You can pre-treat and actually remove many stains using a portable product, like Shout Wipes.

Use a stain removal wipe or remover pen on the area. Work from the outside to the center of the stain. If you don’t have a removal product or any other cleaning product, use simple warm water.

Continuing to blot the stain with a clean paper towel until the stain begins to fade and hopefully disappear.

Stain removal guide- “How to get 12 Types Out of Your Dress” by Jovani:

GENERAL SIZING CHART

Couca Size	XS	S	M	L
UK Size	6	8-10	12	14-16
Length of dress from above bust or beginning of dress cut to the floor	138cm	138cm	140cm	140cm
Length of dress from above bust or beginning of dress cut to the knees	84cm	85cm	86cm	87cm
Corset length	28cm	28cm	29cm	29cm
Waist	65-66cm	69-70cm	73-74cm	78-80cm
Bust	82cm	86cm	90-91cm	95-96cm
Hips	92-92cm	96-97cm	100-101cm	105-106cm
Around Back (above Bust)	79cm	83cm	87cm	92-93cm