Handbag Handle Oil Extraction

The garment that I want to share with you this week is a Balenciaga handbag that was just perfect except that the handles have gotten very dark from use.

At Jeeves of Belgravia we have a special process to remove the oil which collects in the handles of handbags. This process does not change the color or texture of the bag, but “extracts” the oils in the handles. This is a time consuming process that requires a delicate touch.

The most difficult part of this process is making sure that the dye of the handles remains exactly the same color as the rest of the bag. It is very easy to “go to far” with this process and end up with handles which do not match the rest of the bag.

Rest assured the handbag cleaning craftsman at Jeeves of Belgravia have taken care of 100’s of handbags and the utmost care is taken with each and every one.

Right now the Jeeves craftsmen are cleaning a collection of 25 handbags (Gucci, Prada, Balenciaga, etc.) for one client. When we are finished with this project I will share the images with you.

When you need handbag cleaning in New York City, think of Jeeves of Belgravia first.

Thanks for listening, Jerry Pozniak.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day signals the start of the summer wardrobe season. By now the soft wools and cashmere have been stored for the season.

While pastels and linens may dominate, there is nothing like crisp white to off-set the bronzing effects of the sun.

When soiled your whites will need attention. Sent to the dry cleaner they should remain well, white. Too often whites do not remain white after a “cleaning”. Why?

Not to get overly technical, but the solution used in dry cleaning must remain clean.  At our shop anything less than “gin” clear is not acceptable.

After every load of dry cleaning the cleaning solution must be filtered and distilled. Why do I sound like a Scotch ad?

Dry cleaners looking to cut costs can easily skip this step as it is costly to distill after every load.

After just one use without distillation the dry cleaning solution can take on the color of iced tea. Anything white cleaned in dirty dry cleaning solution will come out “gray”. (Imagine taking a bath in water used by 10 people before you. Yuck.)

Cheap dry cleaning is not the bargain you think you may be getting. A dry cleaner who “cuts corners” will eventually harm your wardrobe; and that is not saving money, it’s wasting money.

As in everything in life, you get what you pay for. If you want your whites to stay “white”, find a great dry cleaner.

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak

Sofa

Deep chocolate brown velvet fabric covered the sofa as the white wine splash stood out as if bleached. The owner was heartbroken. Her apartment was perfect. The stain beckoned from every corner of the room.

Velvet is not a fabric to be taken lightly. Only a certain few dare to try to reverse the damage caused by liquids on velvet.

It’s not the wine causing the stain; the fabric is distorted. Velvet depends on light absorption to give the illusion of infinite depth. Once the fibers are altered with the splash of wine, the fabric reflects light when it should absorb.

Technicians from Jeeves of Belgravia’s on-site team took on the task. At first all traces of the wine need to be extracted and then each square inch of fabric, every last fiber had to be “re-aligned” so the splash would be “no more”.

A tedious job, yes. And most upholstery cleaners in NYC would say “No”. The technicians from Jeeves are the most highly qualified craftsman anywhere. Would you expect any less?

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak

Label

“Hand wash: do not wringe to remove water. Place it first in a sponge towel and then dry flat. Soft cool ironing on inside out garment. Avoid low cost dry cleaning services that would not guarantee optimum results.” Critical Shopper, New York Times.

At last a garment care label that reflects the fact there are differences between dry cleaners. A label which actually tells you something more than just “dry clean only”.

Clothing is chosen on impulse, what looks great is the decision maker. Most of us never care about the “care” of the garment when we are in purchase mode.

Fashion is no longer as simple as “machine wash” or “dry clean only”. Labels profess, cajole and dictate optimum wearing conditions.

My personal favorite on a purposely wrinkled garment, “Do not wear in humid conditions”. I guess rules out wearing this light-weight designer jacket in NYC in August or anywhere in the Caribbean?

My staff reads every label of every garment to make sure every garment is taken care of correctly. Jeeves of Belgravia, who happens to have the “Royal Warrant” as THE dry cleaning service for HRH, The Prince of Wales and family is known for their attention to detail.

Other dry cleaners; who knows? This is why it is best “to avoid low cost dry cleaning services that would not guarantee optimum results”. Let Jeeves read your labels for you.

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak

Peachy’s Purse

Peachy Deegan of “Whom You Know” was less than peachy.

Her favorite red purse was failing her, not as a fashion item, but literally. The straps were tearing.

Peachy rushes over to her favorite dry cleaning establishment, Jeeves of Belgravia, as featured frequently in Whom You Know (oh, by the way Peachy’s blog has the best insider information about all things Manhattan).

Jeeves of Belgravia is the only dry cleaning establishment which is only steps off of Madison Avenue, and has locations world-wide.

Our head craft-person Amparo was on the case, with stitch-work and creativity, Peachy’s purse was perfect.

Problem solved. Peachy’s happy.

Dreams

“Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you…”, Frank Sinatra.

I digress this week. Instead of fashion, this week it’s about 1600 girls.

Girls who dream of going to their high school prom, parents out of work and money problems.

No, this is not going in that direction.This is not about negativity.

This is a thank you.

A thank you to Megan Kerrigan and Rashia Bell for their tireless efforts to make dreams come true. Their organization, Operation Fairy Dust, along with many volunteers made it all possible.

3600 dresses were collected, a high-school cafeteria transformed into a boutique and 1600 girls shopped and smiled.

Smiles of gratitude and empowerment. Girls able to pick, try on, and model. Beaming moms with tear’s streaming. Dreams realized. Problems forgotten even if just for a day.

Do watch this short video, it will make you smile. ( Operation Fairy Dust Video)

Fairy tales do come true. Kudos to Megan and Rashia, true angels.

Thanks for listening. Jerry Pozniak

Garment of the Week, May 8th 2009

Every Friday I am going to post a “garment of the week” which I will comment about. This may entail the complexity of cleaning the piece, the lack of serviceability (cannot be cleaned as labeled), a difficult stain removal or a really well constructed garment.

For the first “garment of the week” we have a costume from the Metropolitan Opera House,  as we are in the process of cleaning the entire wardrobe from “The Damnation of Faust”.

This leather jacket worn by the principal male lead is a challenge because of the construction as well as the artificial aging added by the “paint shop”.

This garment was cleaned “by hand” by my head cleaning technician Michael White. The “aged” effect was well as the detailed construction did not allow us to use any other method.

We were able to remove the makeup from the collar as well as deodorize the jacket for the next performance with any harm to the aged detail or faux fur trim.

Pleats

“Clothes make the man”, or so I was told some time ago by my father, and more than likely ignored by myself.

After my firm acquired Jeeves of Belgravia I went to visit Elisa Niemtzow of Taste Generation to better understand how to dress and look my best. The first thing Elisa commented on was my pleated pants. “Pleats make your profile too wide, you need to wear flat front pants”, Elisa said.

Elisa said wide, I think “fat”.

I digress, Jeeves of Belgravia is the only world-wide garment care firm, with branches in New York, London, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jakarta and soon in Bahrain as I must “toot” my own horn.

From a fashion perspective most style mavens suggest not wear pleated pants, they are dated and make most of us look heavy. Imagine that, heavy Americans.

In my opinion there is nothing worse than pleated pants that are tight and pull across the waist area.

Please wear pants that fit.

When you have your flat front pants cleaned you should let the person at the counter know if you would like them “creased” or not. The rule-of-thumb that we use at Jeeves of Belgravia is that flat front pants are not creased (they are rolled) and pleated pants get creased, but we always do as our clients ask.

By the way Elisa was right, now almost all of my pants are flat front and I wear a suit every day to work.

Pleats for women are another subject and I’ll talk about them next time.

Thanks for listening.