How to Prepare Your Gown for a Formal Party

Your evening gown may look its best with a quick bit of preparation before your big event, and a few tips from The Knot website tell you how. Pressing the dress with an iron can work for taffeta and thicker fabrics while steaming the dress with a hand-held steamer can work for thinner fabrics.

Press the bodice either on the outside or inside of the bodice, depending on the number of embellishments. Press a plain bodice from the outside, rubbing the iron over the exterior material. Press an embellished bodice from the inside, after laying the exterior on top of a soft towel on the ironing board.

Press your dress’s skirt by hanging your gown near the ironing board, just close enough so the skirt can lie on the board. Gently move the iron along the side seam of the skirt, from the waist down to the hem, then do the same on the front and then the back of the skirt.

Steam your dress by hanging in an open area, such as from a shower curtain rod, and slowly move the steamer along the seams and then over the entire dress from top to bottom.

Press your dress’s skirt by gently moving the iron along the side seam of the skirt, from the waist down to the hem, then doing the same on the front and then the back.

Press or steam your dress about a day or two beforehand, and your gown will be crisp, wrinkle-free and ready to party whether you're headed to prom, quinceanera or the Governor's Ball.