Dress Rescue Help

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One of my favorite vintage stores here in town is closing its doors at the end of the month. I'm sad to see it go because it's one of those shops that I can go into and spend hours digging through piles of sewing notions, boxes of old photographs and racks of vintage clothes. There's even a closet in the back that's stacked to the ceiling with vintage hats boxes. In other words, it's a little bit of heaven. Every time I've gone in to snoop around I've eyed this 40's brown velvet Jonathan Logan dress but it was priced a bit more than I wanted to pay. Since the shop is closing and everything is on discount, it was the perfect time to pick it up. When I went to try it on, I discovered to my dismay that the side zipper was stubbornly stuck and some of the teeth were missing. There's also a splotch of white paint on the front of the dress near the bottom hem. Well, despite its flaws I decided to take it home anyway. I figured it was worth trying to rescue.

First I took out the side zipper which was easy enough. I've already begun replacing it with one I had lying around. I was able to try it on and it's a perfect fit which was a relief since I couldnt try it before bringing it home. Now, here's where I need help. The white paint spot on the front of the dress is about 6 inches from the hem. I've tried to remove it but it just takes the nap of the velvet right off with it leaving a bare spot. So... I'm left with two options: leave it as is and just deal with the paint spot or cut off about 6 inches from the bottom and rehem the dress. Right now the skirt portion is about 28 inches long and falls completely below my knee. If I rehemmed it, it would be about 22 inches long and fall right above my knee. I would also use the extra fabric from the hem to make a belt since the original one is missing.

On one hand, it would be nice to get rid of that paint spot but on the other hand it always seem such sacrilege to cut into a vintage dress. What should I do? You can vote in the upper right corner. Thanks for your help!