One of my favorite ways to waste time is to read the blog, New Dress A Day. This girl vowed to spend 365 days and $365 converting hideous thrift store finds into cute outfits. As of today, she has 88 days and $89 to go.
I like everything about this blog. I like how the first image you see each day is of the pre-chopped up article of clothing (and yes, they are all completely gross…I wonder how long most of these sat in the thrift store before she bought them). A lot of them have at least something going for them (usually, an interesting fabric print). When you see her wearing each outfit, it looks like you could fit 3 or 4 of her in them.
I also like that she illustrates how she alters them, and explains what she did. Obviously, these are one-of-a-kind pieces, but the basic ideas can be replicated. I was particularly interested in her ‘grab and cinch’ technique where she gathers fabrics in the shoulder strap area and cinches them in with a safety pin.
Years ago, I altered a few thrift store finds with mostly success. I still have some of those tops and dresses today. I think the trick is to not shy away from clothing that is definitely too large for your body, because those pieces give you the most options as far as being able to cut away fabric to make them sorter or whatever.
Here is a top that I altered from a dress. Not too bad, right?
