Where do you keep your party/holiday dresses

[TulipVictory]

I have a whole wardrobe of party/going out/holiday dresses. I've rarely worn them to be honest 🙈 but I can't bare to part with them. As I rarely use them the whole wardrobe and them now smell off/mouldy/mothball like. What's the best way to store them to dig through on the odd events I do go to ? sigh

I have two wardrobes and this, occasional, sort of thing goes in the wardrobe with the out of season clothes and occasional jackets and coats.

Very rarely worn dresses (and costumes!) are stored in zip bags in the attic then placed in large plastic boxes. I store pancake tutus, in flat tutu bags, similarly!

Will watch for other replies with interest.

You can get hanging vacuum bags. I have a lot of stuff stored that way at one end of the wardrobe, and do a switch around each spring and autumn.

@ArabeI Oh how glam - I wish I had pancake tutus in my attic! I'd prance about doing the hoovering in them. Irresistible!
To be honest, OP, I have the same problem. Our loft is full of my OHs carnival of crap/hoard so my wardrobe is stuffed. Like you say, some frocks I probably wouldn't want to wear again as they're a one time thing but it's sad getting rid of them. I guess if you do have room then special dress bags, tissue paper and a rail in the loft is the way to go.

Most go to one end of the wardrobe. The obvious sun dresses go in a suit case in the loft at the end of the summer season, but easily assessable in case I’m heading off somewhere warm in the winter months (pre lockdown).

Other dresses l tend to wear throughout the year, but with a cardigan in the winter. Indoors at least. Dresses are very much my daily go to item.

I always use extra fabric conditioner if they are likely to go away for a long period.

@CheerfulBunny I'm afraid the pancake tutus belong to my daughters. But, yes, tempting to wear if they were mine!

Why don't you just wear them?

I have a large wooden vintage sea-chest where I store clothes currently not in use - party/occasional wear items, & winter clothing in summer / vice versa. When I've got an event coming up I extract whatever I want to wear a little in advance & hang / steam / iron / air as appropriate - never found it problematic. I've got items in there that date back to my teens/early 20s (& now in my 50s) that still come out from time to time. I do have cedarwood & lavender in there, but mostly just because I like the smell, rather than in the expectation that it does anything.

I did though sadly lose an amazing matt heavy weight latex dress that I got in the early 90s in a dress hire place closing down sale - left it in an attic for a few years while travelling abroad, & it had degraded / fallen apart when I returned :( That plus a 1930s bias cut crepe full length evening gown (vintage bargains were seriously easier to come by in the 90s!) that got ruined on an overly good night out are two serious clothing regrets in my life.

I store them in one of my 4 wardrobes! Luckily I have space to do this and am lucky enough to have a separate dressing room but if I didn't I would have to get rid - I probably wear about 5% of my actual clothes!

I really must have a clear out...

I did have a massive clear out but still several occasion wear dresses and store these in IKEA suit covers (maybe three or four in one cover.

Holiday clothes go in a storage bag in the ottoman bed which has been such a massive revaluation for storage that I want another one!

But yes a massive clear out abs will on vinted and feel so good.

If they smell funny it sounds that you have a damp issue and you can get small dehumidifiers for wardrobes (not the electric ones but the sachet ones). It maybe better to store you dresses folded - depends on the cause of the smell.

I don't own any dresses in general, but stuff I would pack for a 'week in hotel in Greece' type clothes are stored in the suitcase I would take to said hotel, along with other relevant accessories such as beach towels and sarongs/swimming costumes etc.

I've got a whole wardrobe full of dresses too, just the smart/party ones. My holiday stuff is all chucked in a box and lives on a high shelf above the dresses. It's all quite thin/flimsy so can fit loads of dresses, beachwear and shorts in the one box.

I can't wait to have this baby and lose 2 stone so I can wear my lovely dresses!