Perfume damage on the collar

Item: Ladies black jacket in pure wool.

Fault: Two areas of localised colour loss each side of the neck on the collar fold.

Cause: Perfume or certain skin preparations cause colour loss of this characteristic appearance. The size, shape, edge features and appearance all support the view that poor stain removal is not to blame. The dyes used for the fabric have been progressively damaged by the alcohols in the perfume and drycleaning has flushed away the weakened dyes to reveal the fault.

Responsibility: The wearer should take primary blame, but this damage could have been avoided by a little co-operation between the perfume industry and the clothing manufacturing sector.

Rectification: It may be possible to fill in the colour by airbrush recolouring.