Today’s quick and easy refashion is a vintage dress I found in Scope in Walthamstow for £5.50. It has enamel buttons on the front and cuffs that are the same colour as the fabric. The fit wasn’t too bad but the style was looking a bit dated. There were extremely ugly belt loops sticking out and the self fabric belt was long gone. There’s a shirt style pocket on the front and the centre front pleats on the skirt were sewn closed over the hips…. frump city!

The material is actually a polyester/wool blend. First time I’ve worked with a blend of this nature. It’s heavy but surprisingly breathable.

First, out came the stitches holding the pleats shut. This took a little time and care but was well worth it.

Next, the ugly belt loops – gone!

Removal of the belt loops left some holes at the seams which were easily fixed. The next thing I wanted to do was to remove the pocket. However, a closer look revealed it would have left holes in the fabric, so the pocket had to stay.

I rolled up the cuffs, turned up the collar at the back, added a tan belt, and wore this to see “Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are dead” at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket recently. Great play, but I think it would have helped to know anything about the play beforehand, or Hamlet, or indeed that the characters are actually from Hamlet…. What’s that you say? Philistine?