Shall I keep this dress?

[PortiaFimbriata]

Formal work environment.
Hobbs short sleeved formal straight tunic dress for £12 from local chazza
Perfect fit, perfect colour, perfect condition. Very flattering in a sixties Pierre Cardin kind of way.

But...
above the knee
dry clean only

I'm 49 and a Hobbs size 12.

Do I keep it and wear it with black opaques in the winter and take my chances on a wool wash? Realistically speaking it's going to need a wash every wear unless I go for some kind of armpit protector option.

But surely wearing a top underneath spoils the line of a dress and makes you a bit too hot? I'd likely be more sweaty with a top as well as a dress.

Bear legged and spit cleaning. This thread is a right laugh.

I say, buy the dress and get some of those stick-in dress shields that you can change. I have a leather t shirt from Hush (nicer than it sounds) and I use them with that because NO WAY am I dry cleaning it at £40 a pop every couple of wears!

I think the dry clean only label is often a lie. I've bought many a charity shop/ boot sale/ vinted item which claimed to be dry clean only, but was fine on a delicate wash

Take it to a seamstress and get them to make a pattern from it, then you can have copies made in washable fabrics.

If you ask on goggle it has loads of info on washing dry clean only items but also if you have a tumble dryer you can buy a kit from amazon to dry clean at home

I have dry cleaning sachets for the tumble dryer. Still haven't tried them yet, mind.

Mitchum is a game changer of deodorants, try it. Plus I use a febreeze fabric spray on all my tops after one wear, freshens them back up a treat. I’m making a conscious effort to not wash every wear…

Most of my similar dresses have never been washed..... But I always wear something underneath. Would hate that type of material directly on my skin

I think wearing something underneath wouldn't work: it's almost a boatneck top and quite short sleeves so it would be very difficult to find a T shirt that would fit underneath without showing. A camisole top wouldn't show but neither would it achieve the desired objective.

I'm not particularly sweaty, but I can tell with a sniff test whether I've worn a dress/top and I don't like to rewear tops that have been next to my skin for a full day.

I will look into washable dress shields though - it's a green choice and it's a sufficiently tailored dress that they wouldn't show or slip round.

This shape, but somewhat longer.

It's quite a normal shaped dress - should be easy to find a top to go underneath and it doesn't matter if it can be seen a little.

By the way, I wouldn't put it in the tumble dryer after a delicate wash. Hang to dry

Definitely won't tumble dry, that's where the shrinkage would happen

Bought from a charity shop, do you mean? are you allowed to return it? Just see it as your charitable donation for the time being and, if you do get a long life out of it, win win.

Yes most of our local charity shops allow you to return clothes if they don't fit/aren't suitable. I buy from them and donate to them a lot, and have no qualms about occasionally returning unsuitable things within their policy just like any other shop: someone else will probably buy them. If I wasn't prepared to return things then I'd probably buy less.