Appeal for return of beloved wedding dress
Frances Langdon is a lively 85-year-old who likes to keep her north Shepparton home neat and tidy.
Perhaps a little too tidy.
A few weeks ago Frances was clearing out old knick-knacks and books from her linen press ready for the op-shop.
She bagged them all up and drove them to the Salvos Store in St Georges Rd where she handed them over to a grateful volunteer.
A few weeks later, Frances was horrified to discover she had also accidentally handed over her 1951 brocade satin and lace wedding dress and her daughter Sheila’s 1970s debutante dress along with the bags of linen press items.
The disaster was revealed last week when Frances’ granddaughter Cassandra Langdoncalled by to pick up her grandmother’s lace dress to be used as part of her own wedding outfit in March next year in Melbourne.
Cassandra, 29, who grew up in Shepparton but who lives in Melbourne, said she was hoping to incorporate some of the lace from her grandmother’s dress into her own.
‘‘It would have been so nice to have something of her with me,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m so close to Grandma. I’m really upset for her. It was her wedding dress,’’ Cassandra said.
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Frances said she had bagged up the two dresses and left them on a bed ready for Cassandra to take with her.
‘‘I must have picked them up by mistake. I feel disappointed I’ve done that to her — I didn’t know what to say,’’ she said.
Frances said she wore the wedding dress when she married her late husband Ken 64 years ago at Barpimba near Ballarat. The dress was made by her mother Frances.
The long ball gown was bought for her teenage daughter Sheila to wear at her debutante ball at Katandra.
Cassandra said she had contacted a Salvos Store staff member with no success.
‘‘She couldn’t have been more helpful — but no luck,’’ she said.
She appealed to anyone who might have since bought the dresses to consider re-selling them back to her.
‘‘I’d be happy to buy them back,’’ she said.
‘‘Of course I can completely understand if they intend to wear them at their wedding. As a bride-to-be I have empathy. But if it’s for a dress-up or for cut-ups I’d love to buy them back.’’
She said the once-white wedding dress had now faded slightly to cream with age.
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