Kathy Dow Discovers

MADAME PAULETTE

The “STAIN MISTAKE” often spells doom for your nicest, most expensive piece of clothing.  And like me, you’ve probably spilled a drink, missed your mouth en route, been splashed, accidentally spilled upon or otherwise ruined what you were wearing at least once.  Right?

Then what do you do?

Well, people in the know, (and now you know) call upon New York City’s most trusted and respected fabric restoration service,  Madame Paulette.  Located at 1255 Second Avenue in NYC, the custom couture cleaners is the leader  in its field.

Famous Fashion Restoration Storefront

Celebrating  50th years in business, Madame Paulette’s flagship store owned by John Mahdessian handles the clothing of the rich and famous;  the restoration of pieces displayed in The Museum of Modern Art and will even hook up us “regular people”  when we have a stain crisis.

Giveaway of 5 stain kits.  See info below!

Trusted to maintain and restore the finest creations from world renowned fashion and interior designers, Mahdessian was a celebrity at his own two day celebration of the newly renovated flagship store earlier this month.  The Second Avenue store windows are displaying fashion pieces from throughout history that Madame Paulette has restored for prosperity.

Madame Paulette's Window Display

I stopped by the store on the first day of its celebration and asked John to describe Madame Paulette in 5 words or less.   Mahdessian said,  “We clean and restore the most expensive apparel and textiles”.  Then added,  “That was more than five words wasn’t it?”

There was a whirlwind of action getting ready to start that evening and John was the center of it all.  Smiling, shaking hands and giving last minute directions to the crew, it was easy to see how his personality could win over clients.

Madame Paulette’s started out in 1959 as a small Mom and Pop cleaners owned and operated by John’s great uncle and his French wife, Paulette.  When the uncle got sick, John’s father, who had planned to go into accounting, took over the store and he and his wife continued ownership until John took the reigns and helped propel the store into the landmark that it is today.

Over the  last 45 years  Madame Paulette has had customers such as American Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco, legendary jazz musician Benny Goodman (who lived above the cleaners at one time), Editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour, who has been a client for over 10 years and had hundreds of pieces cleaned and restored, (remember, she’s is reported to have been the case study for Devil Wears Prada) and some of today’s recording artist superstars such as Beyonce, Alicia Keyes and Cameron Diaz (to name drop just a few).  Even former President Bill Clinton and Hillary have been customers.

So how did John attract all these high profile customers?  Traci Coulter, of MP said, “In earlier days John would be at a party and pull out his cleaning solutions whenever someone got a spill and that’s how he grew the business.  They used to call him Johnny on the Spot.”

Actually, Madame Paulette saved a jacket owned by journalist Barbara Walters after it had red wine spilled on it and more  recently Eva Longoria-Parker and Melania Trump have entrusted their wedding gowns to be cleaned, preserved and stored with Madame Paulette.  Longoria included Madame Paulette stain kits  in her wedding goody bags.  The small travel size kits are able to tackle any stain while traveling and are replicas of the same professional formulas used by Madame Paulette.  Mahdessian says, “They are guaranteed to provide excellent results!”

Giveaway of 5 stain kits.  See info below!

Madame Paulette restores donated pieces for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sotheby’s, The Smithsonian Institute; consults for insurance companies who have claims due to fire or flood, restores  damaged pieces that no longer have value to the owners and restores irreplaceable couture vintage collectibles.

As a part of the grand reopening the company has instituted new services that include Destination Valet, (Madame Paulette will clean your clothes, pack and ship your luggage so that it arrives at your destination ahead of time.  How cool is that?) Closet Concierge ( a Madame Paulette photographer  takes pictures of  your clothing  and creates your own personal catalog. They are stored  in Madame Paulette’s facilities and when you want or need something, call them up and request its delivery.  That’s cool, too), a 24-hour emergency service (get a stain, make a call) and new techniques for the restoration and care of leather, suede and fur.

There is also an ultimate Coffee Table book in the works and a documentary to be shot over the next two to three months which will be aired by HBO. The film will trace the beginnings of and the processes used at the company’s two facilities (there is a second site on Long Island City).    Mahdessian says that Madame Paulette uses no chemicals in its cleaning process and the restoration of discarded clothing is their way of being “green” by giving new life to clothing.

Window Display

Look for an upcoming online Fashion Donation auction with restored clothing once owned by the famous and donated to Madame Paulette.  After restoration the fashions will be auctioned to the highest bidder.  MP is currently collecting fashions and will take bids from around the world once the auction begins.  If you want a piece of fashion history the Fashion Donation will be your chance to associate with Madame Paulette even if you think you can’t afford their services.

Another fascinating touch at the Upper East Side store is the boutique dressing rooms which give clients a chance to see themselves in many  different lights.  Imagine trying on your clothes in a light spectrum of  daylight, fluorescent, evening and black light.  It’s a preview of how you’ll look no matter where or when.   MP is truly catering to the upscale client.

But don’t fret, the company will service the regular person too, all you have to do is call or stop by the store.  Confident of MP’s abilities, John asked,      “Do you want to test me, send me something to see if I can get the stain out?     You know what? One of these days, John, I might just do that.

Mahdessian generously provided 5 of his stain travel kits for my readers.  So if you ever need quick action after a spill, this wipe/rinse system is for you. The key, according to Mahdessian, is quick reaction time (hence the handy travel kit) and quick identification of the stain (the kit has formula’s for different types of stains).

It’s a must have for brides so the first bride to subscribe get’s a kit! Send me an email at Kathy@KathyDowDiscovers.com with wedding verification.

A random draw from the subscribers list will make 5 lucky subscriber’s stains disappear (if not, call John).  Winners will be notified by email and the stain removal kit sent by US postal mail service.

Thanks John and Madame Paulette.  The place where no stain remains!

Be sure and subscribe to Kathy’s List for a chance to win one of Madame Paulette’s famous stain removal travel kits.