Looking after a piece

Wear it. That is what it is there for. It is someone's real coat and she is expecting it back, and beyond that there are four things not to do.

Do not clean or repair it without asking her first

Never dry clean a rented piece unless she has explicitly asked you to. A wrong treatment on a delicate fabric turns a mark into damage, and damage is a different conversation.

Never, in any case: bleach, strong detergents, machine washing anything delicate, embellished or structured, machine drying, a stain remover she has not approved, or scrubbing and stretching the fabric.

If a treatment she approved makes it worse, that is damage and it is yours. Which is the real reason to ask before doing anything rather than after.

You are not asked to clean it before returning it, and no cleaning charge arrives afterwards. See Cleaning.

Do not alter it

No taking in, no hemming, no dyeing, nothing that cannot be undone.

Never lend it on

A rented piece is not sub-rented, lent, gifted or handed to anyone else. Whatever happens to it during your rental is yours, whoever was holding it at the time.

Keep it on Jelly

Arrange and pay for everything on Jelly. Jelly cannot mediate or collect on something arranged off it.

If something happens to it

Spills happen. If something lands on it, do not attack it. Say so on the order with a photo and let her tell you what the fabric can take. See If you damage a piece.

Normal wear is expected and is not damage: deodorant marks, a light washable stain, creasing, gentle stretching, minor pilling, a scuff on a sole. A piece that needs cleaning needs cleaning.

Wearing it well

None of this is a rule, and all of it is the difference between a piece that goes back clean and one that starts a conversation:

• Hang it up when you take it off, and keep it somewhere dry.
• Put your makeup and your scent on first, then the piece.
• Smoke is the one thing that does not come out, so keep it away from it.
• Think about the surface before you sit down in silk, and about the floor before you dance in something long.
• Do not iron it unless she has said what it can take.