Monday, June 30, 2008

The Incredible Convertible Dress

I bought this pinafore dress last summer from ASOS, which I haven't worn until now. I liked how it had a lot of volume on the skirt... and that it was on sale. There where these little pockets on the front that I stitch-ripped off, it looked like an apron before!
Anyhow, I also discovered that it works perfectly as a skirt. Just tuck in the top part and you've got yourself a great new high waisted skirt. The dress has these two straps as well that can be tied in about 10 ways, to make it even more versatile. This will definitely be one of my summer staples.

The dress:



The skirt:



Just one way of tying it...



It's quite Miu Miu-ish now that I think about it. I'd like to try it out in that style too, complete with a frilly collar and sky-high heels.

Last Day of June


Note to self: Always wear sunscreen

Aritzia

Last week I went to a new store that opened in my city called Aritzia. I've been to one in Toronto but nothing caught my eye, it was all active wear and yoga clothes... not my style. This location that opened had all their spring/summer stuff, which I dig a whole lot more. Lots of neon's and high-waisted skirts and shorts. The store itself has a really nice atmosphere, it's beautifully decorated, and awesome music pumping through the sound system.

I settled on just two things, a loose fitting tank and this bra/corset thing. Check the pics!



The tank top is this really nice yellow-green colour. It's neon but not the blinding highlighter type. The fabric is also just so soft and beautiful, I love it.

I really love this thing... whatever it is. I love more interesting pieces to put over basics and such. It kind of reminds me of a crossing guard. Very hot.
Oh yeah I almost forgot, I also bought Flaunt magazine there but I have yet to read it!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Pleated Delight

I love pleats, all types ,all kinds, and on any type of garment. I bought a white pleated skirt secondhand about a year ago but I didn't know how to wear it since it was much longer than I was used to wearing. Even before I bought it I thought to myself "Am I ever even going to wear this?... Probably not." I liked the crisp pleats too much so I just got it, even if it would never leave my closet.


This skirt has now been reborn into something that I love even more, while keeping everything I loved about it in the first place. It all started by a post by Susie from last october, where I saw this amazing dress on one of her shopping-wish collages.

I then knew my skirt's destiny ...to become a dress!
I thought that this dress would be a little tricky to put together because of the curved neckline involved, but I turned out to be 10 times easier than expected and it only took about an hour from start to finish.

I first used a pencil to trace a sweetheart neckline along the waist of the skirt, making sure to not make the dip too dramatic as it becomes enhanced by your natural shape when you wear it.

I used my heart-tee form American Apparel to help me out on the shape, seeing as the neckline is very subtle when the shirt lays flat but the heart shape is completly visible when it's actually on.

Okay, carrying on. Cut out the waist band of the skirt and along the drawn on neckline. Next take a plain t-shirt to use for the top half of the dress (again, AA helped me out on this). Make sure the t-shirt is fitted otherwise it might bunch and buldge under the dress.
Now put the t-shirt in skirt and arrange it so the neckline is where it should be. Fold the cut edge of the skirt under about 1/2 an inch and pin all along as you go. When it's all straight and secure, slip on the dress so it looks good on. If your satisfied then take it off and go to your sewing machine! Sew a seam along the folded edge with a colour matching thread, and you're done!


I added little military style shoulder flaps on mine, just for detail.







It's so fun to swish around in

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Look-A-Like

A friend once pointed out to methat I "like things that look like other things". I didn't realize it at the time but it's true, I love clothes that look like objects (There's probably a better word for this but I don't know what it is!). Fun, kitschy junk is my favourite, the cheesier the better!
For example, I have this fab bag from Fred Flare that looks like a record player (with built-in speakers... how fun is that!?). Here's some other stuff to illustrate my point:


This brings me to my next point... Jeremy Scott. Love him. He's known for his looks-like-something-else pieces. Whether it's a jukebox dress or cheeseburger skirt, I love it all! In Teen Vogue's March '08 issue, they featured a picture of Daisy Lowe sporting an amazing Jeremy Scott ruler skirt. As you could predict, it was love at first sight.


On the runway: Spring '08


I'm still looking for it on online stores but no luck there, though the price will probably just bring me even more pain. Something funny happened just the other day though while I was browsing around on GirlProps (don't ask why I was there!). There it was, in all it's kitschy glory, this ruler belt!


Coincidence? I guess we'll never know, but at 5.99 it's just a bit to cheapy for me. I sense a DIY coming on....


P.S- I also want to throw it out there that this garbage can dress is just plain awsome. Oscar the Grouch would be proud.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Bird in a Cage

I've been pondering it for a while, but with all this talk of cage skirts I really just had to make one myself. All it took was some elastic and a zipper, super easy to make and I actually think I'll get some good wear out of it! At first I thought it would be a bit too "out there" for everyday use, but after trying out a few looks I think I'm get used to it! It reminds me of a birdcage, in the very best way possible. I love the way it can be thrown on top of pretty much anything...



Casual/Simple (Grey dress - Jacob Connection, Belt - Urban Behavior)


Feminine lace meets tough jail bars (Dress - Urban Outfitters, Belt -Secondhand, Shoes - Aldo)


Ruffles and Prints (Dress - BB Dakota)


Shiny Happy Fun Time! (T-shirt -M.I.A. concert tee, Leggings - AA, Belt - Urban Behavior, Chain Scarf - Homemade, Pointy toes slide-ons - Swear London)

P.S- Sorry posting has been slow, but it will pick up!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

ThreadBanger Shout Out

For those of you who are aquanted with ThreadBanger, this week's Decor It Yourself episode features the Lyric Quilt that I made! I made a tutorial on the forum and they did a shout out of it along with other interesting entries. That's pretty exciting as I was NOT expecting any mentions of the one and only thread I've posted over there.

Thanks Threadheads!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

My Own Marni

A few months ago I found this Marni dress on eBay, and well, what's not to love about it? I really wanted to buy it but #1- It cost a lot, #2- It could be a fake.



Instead of buying a possible a knock-off, I just made one (Yeah, I know it's not a whole lot better)!
I went to go find a white dress secondhand to work with, or possibly a hugely oversized tee. I found what seems to be a night gown or hospital robe, but it doesn't matter as long as it's the right shape!



I started off by sewing in the waistband. To do this, I bought some wide elastic and cut a piece the size of my waist (unstreched). You don't want the elastic to be too tight or it will be really uncomfortable to wear. Next I pinned the elastic onto the outside of the dress. I usually hate to pin things when I'm sewing but it's crutial when working with elastic.
So pin the elastic all the way around the waistline of the dress, this means that you must stretch the elastic while you pin so that the fabric will bunch up when the elastic lays unstreched. Now sew a seam on the top and bottom edge of the elastic, holding it in it's streched position while sewing. Here's what it'll look like:





The dress/night gown that I used had a tie-up in the back, so I cut off the laces and made a button and hole instead. I figured it would look better and that those ties would probably get pretty itchy.


The last step was to put on the studs. Although I would have loved to have the huge studs that are one the Marni dress, I couldn't find any like that at any craft store or on eBay so I just used regular old pyramid studs.

I tried a few combonations of patterns for the studs before choosing the one that looks most like the original (so much for being creative!).





Final product: I love it! It's a bit short and see-through so a slip needs to be worn underneath. It looks good as a tunic too!



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