Category: Uncategorized
True Blue
Today, I’m starting with this rather plain pale blue gingham shirt, which I picked up in Age UK in Orpington for £3.49.
I thought it was something of a bargain, given its excellent condition, complete lack of wear and stains, and decent fit.
It’s 100% cotton and feels lovely.
Tie, Take Two
Confession time… it’s been more than 6 months since my last blog post. Hopefully y’all haven’t missed me too much during my unplanned break! I have one more refashion from my US trip that I want to share before I show you some new stuff, though quite frankly I cannot believe it’s been 9 months since I was there. Looking back through these photos made it seem like yesterday. Anyway, here goes…
After the success of my Epic Yale blazer, I wanted to have a go at applying the tie-as-bias-binding technique to another type of garment. This one isn’t a patch on the blazer (no pun intended), but I’m showing you it anyway as it was quite interesting and the photos we took on location were just fabulous.
This one was intended for our trip out to the beaches of Cape Cod, so I wanted a preppy/sporty vibe. I picked up this cream cardigan in the PDSA shop in Orpington (if memory serves…) for £4.99, thinking it looked a bit like a cricket jumper. It’s actually a rather unfortunate polyester item which has clearly been treasured by an elderly lady in its former life. It’s ugly, but the fit of it isn’t too bad, if you like oversized (I do).
I got this tie at the same time as I got the one I used for the blazer, at the Save the Children shop in Orpington. An amazing find, as it was exactly the right colour, and ties were half price (I think, £1). Unlike the other one though, this is completely synthetic, which made it a good match for the cardigan.
Brought to You by the Letter S
Yes, another red jumper! This size 22-24 sweatshirt had a rather ugly motif embroidered on the front.
Again, this was £4.99 from Age UK in Orpington. It clearly had not been worn; the tags were still on it, claiming its original price was £17.
Outfit: Red Cashmere Jumper
So this post is mostly going to be about a simple red jumper. I bought this in the Age UK shop in Orpington for £4.99. It was a little worn, but crucially, it’s 50% cashmere, 50% silk, so it feels lovely. I thought it would be a great addition to my red, white and blue holiday wardrobe for my trip.
All I did with this was to gently remove some bobbles and it was good to go.
Epic Yale
Hi folks! OK, I just got back from a well-deserved holiday, so I hope you are ready for a trillion posts with a gazillion pictures telling you all about it. Sorry, not sorry.
My trip to New England this autumn started with a visit to New Haven, home of Yale University. I was extremely excited to visit this great ivy league institution. But what does one wear around campus, bearing in mind one’s wish to remain stylish while including a nod to one’s academic surroundings?
Of course, I studied all the available cultural references.
Yes, I know Elle Woods went to Harvard, but it’s realising the reason behind a newly engaged Vanderbilt is ‘first year, Yale law’ that made me think to include her here.
Both Blair and Elle have picked up on the wearing a tie thing, but I’m more enamoured with Serena’s incredible blazer. I believe this is the ‘Goodman’ crested blazer from Ralph Lauren, which I found out courtesy of the lovely Devra over at Puu’s Door of Time. Devra made a beautiful blazer based on this a while back, which I’d encourage you to check out here and here.
Anyway, I’m going to follow Ms Van Der Woodsen’s lead with a blazer, but combine it with a tie as a twist on the Blair/Elle look.
Here are the blazer and tie I picked up on a trip to Orpington. The blazer was £7.99 from Oxfam while the tie was around £1 from Save the Children, if I remember correctly (ties were half price). The tie is 100% silk and not covered in food stains, which I counted as a win. The blazer was in reasonable condition although it didn’t fit at all.
Tank Top Transformed
Just a quick one today folks. I’d like to tell you about this rather ugly jumper that I bought from the YMCA shop in Middlesbrough for £2.99.
The overall shape is very ‘old lady’, and there isn’t a natural fibre in sight, but it has a pretty embroidered section around the neck in shades of blue and green.
Silver Screen Chic: Pretty in Pink
First of all, thanks everyone for all your support on my last post! I’m overwhelmed :-)
Today I’m very happy to be launching a new occasional series in collaboration with my friend, film writer Hannah who blogs over at I Watched This on Purpose. In case you haven’t seen her blog, Hannah is taking us through an analysis of her favourite movies in a bid to discover what makes them great. It’s well worth a read, especially if you’re into obscure and not-so-obscure movies from the 80s and 90s.
This collaborative series is going to be about refashions and fashion transformations in the movies. Hannah will be writing about the role each movie refashion takes in the plot, while I’ll be creating refashioning projects inspired by the same movies. Our first project together is on the classic thrift store fashion and refashioning movie, Pretty in Pink; I’ll be remaking this pink bridesmaid dress into something a lot more wearable.
Swedish Blouse from England
Hello Refashioners!
I bought this white blouse on my recent trip to north Sweden, in the Red Cross shop in Jörn, to be precise. There are very few shops in this small town but amongst them were several second-hand shops (“loppis” – I got some great stuff there too, more of which, later) and a rather fun charity shop run by the Swedish Red Cross (Röda Korset). I had a good browse and bought several pieces there. If you’re in the area, I recommend it. They have free coffee and everything.
I came across this 1980s white blouse in approximately my size. It has ruffles. I mean, a lot of ruffles. There are ruffles at the neck, ruffles at the shoulder, ruffles at the cuffs and even two big ruffles down the front. I love ruffles but this was a little much even for me.
I paid SEK 30:- which is about £2.60.
So anyway, I was looking for something especially Swedish to remake. I was delighted to see that the blouse had originally been sold by Swedish department store Åhléns. Thinking that nothing could be more Swedish I happily carried this home to England to be remade.
On closer inspection…..
D’oh!
Kenya safari skirt
You can’t beat a bargain like this – £2 reduced from £3.95 from the Hospices of Hope shop in Orpington.
I have had this silk skirt in stash for a while now, but it only ever had one destiny: to be part of my safari wardrobe. The khaki green colour, which I’m generously calling ‘olive’, conjures up safari and jungle images for me. It’s a colour I’d otherwise never wear, and you know I am fond of a challenge, so I set to work.
Outfit: African print
I’m sure you remember this dress in African style fabric that I bought from Thrift Town in San Francisco a couple of years ago. This project was top of the list when packing for my holiday as I really wanted the chance to wear this in Africa (Kenya to be precise). Sadly this little African inspired number didn’t make the cut.
I doubled my money with this by turning it into a skirt and top.
Charity Shop Chic 
