Peplums are so hot right now – even Vogue says so. A peplum is a ruffle or flounce around the waist of a piece, be it a skirt, dress or even jacket. In this post I’m going to show you how I brought a vintage dress up to date by adding a peplum.

The dress itself came from Beyond Retro several years ago and due to the original unflattering length, it had been in the refashioning ‘to do’ pile ever since. Unfortunately I can’t remember how much I paid for it, but my shopping partner H concurs it was around £20.

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This is a really quick t-shirt remake based on a men’s Metallica shirt I found in Scope, Barking.

The print can only be described as….. zombie-mummy-skulls with fangs and straitjackets…. AWESOME. Even more awesome was the price. £1 reduced from £3.50… yeah! Continue reading →

Happy New Year, readers!

To start the year off with a bang, how about this jumper?

This was a great find in the British Red Cross shop in Barking, because it’s just so, well, big. Plenty to play with for £3.50!

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Peachy keen, indeed! Peach is one of the most difficult colours I can think of to style. When done right, it can look uber-chic. If done wrong, it’s suitable only for the elderly, and even then only on a cruise ship holiday. Or at best a bridesmaid from the mid-80s.

This blouse fits the second category. 100% polyester and designed for old ladies’ loungewear, it is a vibrant shade of peach. I bought this last summer at Scope in Whitby, parting with £3.50.

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Thinking about a holiday wardrobe for a trip to the tropics I got very excited about making summer clothes despite it being a rather chilly November here in London. First on the list was a shirt to keep the sun off my shoulders while sailing.

I picked up this XL mens’ Hawaiian shirt on a recent trip to San Francisco. It actually came from the Goodwill store in Haight-Ashbury. I am happy to report that this store has a great selection of mens’ Hawaiian shirts, in case you’re in the area :-)

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*Disclaimer: There isn’t much recycling going on here, I just thought y’all would like to see how I made my Halloween costume.

This year I wanted to go as the King of Pop in one of the best music videos ever produced… THRILLER! (Mua ha haaa)

This is perfect for Halloween, as it’s zombie-tastic! After studying the video about 300 times, I had a pretty good idea about what was needed. A red leather jacket with black stripes, red jeans, white socks and black shoes. The jacket is obviously the key element to the look, it’s fabulous. Continue reading →

This project was a little different to the others, in as much as I had the idea for what I wanted to make first, and then set out to find suitable cast off garments to cut up. Normally it’s the other way around.

Now, I’m a big Stella McCartney fan, and I’m also a fan of Nicole Scherzinger’s style, so imagine my delight when I saw the cover of last month’s InStyle:

It’s Nicole Scherzinger rocking Stella McCartney Winter 2011!

Obviously a “tribute” to this dress went straight to the top of the list of future projects. I know Ms McCartney probably uses only the finest, heaviest, drapiest 100% cotton jersey that’s hand dyed by silkworms in Nicaragua or something, but I had a different raw material in mind. Yes, that’s right, charity shop men’s T-shirts.

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Today’s project came from Oxfam in Whitby – this cost £3.99, which if you ask me, is a total bargain as there’s a very large amount of material. I was instantly attracted to the Japanese-inspired print and colours. It’s 100% viscose, quite heavy and drapes nicely. Continue reading →

This started out life as a men’s checked flannel shirt.

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Here’s my inspiration picture for this project – Kelly Rowland at the X-Factor auditions in Manchester a few weeks ago. Note the woman in the background admiring the back view …Kelly is wearing a fabulous bold print dress featuring a fitted sleeveless bodice with an semi-ellipse cut out at the chest and what looks like a short circle skirt. Unfortunately I don’t know the designer.

I love this dress – I mean, I absolutely LOVE it. Luckily I have a bold print of my own with which to make my version….

Step forward, hideous permanently pleated polyester!

This skirt is a real corker. £4.50 from Scope in Whitby, size UK 16, 100% polyester. It’s in permanent pleats which are sewn closed to about 6″ from the waistband. When I put this on for the before pictures, it didn’t look as big as a 16, which was slightly worrying as I was going to need a lot of material. Continue reading →