by Bridgitte Reddick
With the economy as it is, most of us don’t fully feel comfortable shopping. So I’ve come up with something else. It’s re-inventing, re-designing the clothes that I currently have! It started with a long trench coat that I’ve had for about 10 years. One day, as I was putting it on, I said to myself, “I wonder what this would look like shorter?”
Luckily, I sew and my Mom is a seamstress/designer in her creative time. So, when I went to Atlanta a few months ago to visit my parents, she cut it off at the knees and voila! I had a new trench coat! I started thinking and trying on more things in my closet. I came up with 5 dresses that I bought a year ago. Yes, I went on a dress binge. But, here’s what I plan to do with them to give them new life:
Dress 1 – White eyelet dress with short sleeves – shortened to above the knee. It will look very similar to a dress worn by Jill Zarin on a recent episode of The Real Housewives of NYC.
Image courtesy of CoutureZappos.com
Dress 2 – Black/white/floral sundress with fitted waist – shortened to above the knee and add a black belt to the waist. Black/white and floral are very in this year.
Dress 3 – White/red floral sundress with empire waist – shortened to above knee and add a white cotton cardigan over it. I already had the cardigan.
Dress 4 – Black/blue/white sleeveless dress with flared bottom – shortened to above knee and tapered bottom. I want the fit to be like a pencil skirt.
Dress 5 – Yellow/white/green floral sundress with fitted waist, full skirt – shortened to the knee.
I can alter them myself. But some are lined, so I think I’ll take them to my drycleaner. If you don’t know how to sew, find a competent seamstress (ask around rather than going through the yellow pages) or ask your drycleaner.
I just mentioned dresses, but think of your skirts, blouses (taper a full blouse to a fitted one), and pants (tapering full pants/flared pants to a straight leg pant). Also, don’t forget your crafts/fabric store for beads, appliqués, trims, etc. They can breathe new life and change the look of a piece of clothing. There is so much that you can do!
You can even have a party with your girlfriends – bring your clothes, ask their opinions, share some food and have some fun. And the best part is that it’s at a fraction of the cost of a new outfit.