sometimes i cry at the thrift store

It's true.  Sometimes, when I up to my elbows digging through clothes from lives lived long ago and I find an absolute gem, my eyes get all misty.  Gems come in all shapes and colors. Sometimes it's just a fabric that I really love.  And other times, it's a brand.  Recently, I found a hot pink Girogio Armani blazer.  At. The. Clearance. Center.  I always ask myself--Is this real life??  Somehow, this hot little number managed to not sell at the regular store long enough to get shipped out to the clearance center.  And I got lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to snap it up!  It's times like these, when all the stars align for me to find the most amazing clothes that seem to just be waiting for me, I shed a little tear.

I have to admit, this jacket was a bit too big when I bought it.  Enough so, that it looked a little frumpy.  And Armani is never meant to look frumpy.  I stayed up for weeks at night thinking about how to go about taking it in.  Instead of counting sheep, I imagined ripping Giorgio seams and piecing the lining back together.  I constantly worried, wondering if I should even try myself.  I struggled, letting this perfectly-pink blazer sit in my closet for over three months.  I found tons of tutorials on how to take in blazers, but it's Armani!  I didn't want to take the risk.

Then I just took it to the tailor.

I could do it.  I know I could.  But oh my goodness I wouldn't have been able to breathe the entire time.  People can't hold their breath for two hours.  And you wouldn't want to be within a mile to hear the litany of cursing.  It was better to send it to the tailor.

crazytown pants to sk

I found these posh pants at the clearance center and knew they would push my style limits. I imagined wearing them with a black button up shirt and blinding my coworkers while strolling down the hall to the water cooler, acting like a boss.  One of the top things I've learned from this project is to try patterns.  Last year, I never would have picked up these pants.  Mostly because I would have never paid full price for them, but I wouldn't have considered them for any price.

I was extra happy that they were name brand.  Liz Claiborne for $0.99?  Done.  I brought them home and everyone agreed that they were blinding, but I was determined to wear them.  I first took them in by sewing along the inside of the inseam from one foot, up through the crotch, and down the other side.  It wasn't an entire failure, but my goodies felt a little uncomfortable, and I had a few stray wrinkles to direct further attention down there.  For my life I could not get out the wrinkles.  Please, do not follow my lead by taking in pants this way!

As no one needs attention drawn to their knees, they certainly don't need it to their crotch.  I put these pants away and waited for a day when I was feeling a little more randy.  Needless to say, it didn't come.  Instead, I decided to turn them into a skirt.  I ripped the entire inseam (yes, the one I just put in) out to open up the legs, sort of cowboy style.

Then, I folded them along the seams I just ripped and cut off the desired amount of length. Chip, chop, doodle dop!

After taking off the length, I put on the skirt inside out and pinned the open pieces together.  I might should get a dress form, because I looked like a contortionist to do it.  Sew up the seam you just pinned.  I sewed the entire seam, past the part where I ripped apart for extra security.  I like my skirts pencily-tight and never want them to split down my backside.

All that's left is to hem it up!  Mine was a little tight around the knees and I wish that I had left a slit in the back before I closed it all up and hemmed, but I can still walk without looking like a Barbie doll.  I think as a skirt it is a little less blinding too.  There have been no reports of vision loss from my coworkers when I strut it up the hall to the water cooler.

throwback thursday

All this began when I was in high school.  Let me tell you, when I was in high school, I thought I was the bomb dot com.  I shopped at thrift stores and scoffed at the cool kids wearing store brand threads.  I used words like threads, capitalist agenda, social conventions, and political convictions.  I only turned on the television to CNN.  I applied to the American University in Beirut because I was leaving this country as soon as I graduated.  I carried around Nabokov to look cool.

And I certainly didn't go to school dances.  One day my dad, who was the ultimate rebel in high school (he rode a motorcycle!), told me he regretted not going to his prom.  "Really, daddy?!" I scoffed.  "I'm not participating in ridiculous social conventions that force me to buy expensive dresses and wear tons of makeup and hairspray and find a male to escort me."

I ended up caving and went to not one, but two! dances my senior year.  But by God, I wasn't going to let them see me give into their capitalist agenda propagating the consumerism of dress buying.  I bought this heinous (I even thought it was heinous at the time) royal blue satin bridesmaid dress from the 80s for homecoming.  I don't have any before pictures, but it had a sheath piece that went under the fluffy skirt piece down to my ankles that I cut off.

Just so you know folks, this was 2006.  Don't be fooled by the beautiful faux wood paneling in my living room and my Polaroids.  Do you recognize anyone else in this picture?  You guessed it!  We weren't dating yet, but my husband was one of my male escorts wayyyyyy back then.

Can you see the jewels??  I HOT GLUED PLASTIC JEWELS TO IT.  My Bedazzler was broken.

This dress was reincarnated yet again for prom that year.  And yes, my husband and I were dating by the time prom rolled around.  I was so in love, I actually wanted to go to prom with him.  Swoon.  Knowing absolutely nothing of what I was doing, I collected about 20 ties, ripped apart the seams, and sewed them together.  I stared at it for a long time, this blanket of ties.  I didn't know how to make a dress!  *Light bulb*  I had a dress I could sew the ties to, solving my not knowing how to actually sew problem.  Off came the blue puffy skirt from the dress and on went the ties.

I was so proud of myself.  I could further perpetuate my super cool image and let people know all about my political convictions.  When we were walking into the venue, a woman stopped me on the street and exclaimed over my dress and asked me if she could buy it.  I was so puffed up with pride, it was ridiculous.

There you have it, friends.  A throwback to the beginning of all this madness.