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The 'gardiens' of Jersey's heritage are getting down on one knee and proposing that islanders 'adopt' a wedding dress to help restore fashion history.
The dresses were found and donated to Jersey Heritage back in 2014 by a woman who found the collection, spanning three generations of her family, as she cleaned out her late mother's house.
The three dresses themselves, described by Jersey Heritage as "fashion history", date from 1895, the late 1920s and the 1950s respectively.
Pictured: The three dresses date from 1895, the late 1920s and the 1950s respectively.
However, the dresses need textile preservation to keep them intact, with the cost of each at £3,000.
With this in mind, Heritage is asking islanders put some money in to 'adopt' the dresses, and keep them in good condition.
Val Nelson, Jersey Heritage’s Senior Registrar, told Express: “We have some beautiful pieces in our collections but it is always the stories behind them that make them extra special. The family connection between these dresses is very unusual and we have never had a three-generation donation like this one before.
She continued: “The dresses were donated to us in 2014 and they need to be sent to England for conservation work to be completed as we don’t have a textile conservator here in Jersey."
Imagine finding three generations of wedding dresses from the same family in your attic – fashion history at its finest! These were donated to us but need some textile conservation. To donate and help us show these dresses some love, go to https://t.co/TwH1zqK3l1 #loveisland pic.twitter.com/GfPPY7Fi5T
— Jersey Heritage (@loveheritage) February 11, 2021
She continued: "Unfortunately, we haven’t had the funds available to do this yet and the dresses are currently in carefully-sealed boxes in our textile store.
"But this is where the ‘Adopt An Object’ scheme comes in – it is a lovely way for people to help to preserve unique parts of the Island’s heritage, while also making them feel more connected to their past. We’d love to bring the dresses out of the boxes so that they can be preserved for the future and we hope Islanders feel inspired to help.”
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