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! Continue reading
This is part 2 of the refashion of this delightful 80s ensemble. For part 1 (the blouse) click here.
The original “Howard’s Way” outfit, a matching 80s blouse and skirt in size 18, was £14.99 from Save the Children in Whitby. Time to tackle that skirt!
Believe it or not, this is my most expensive piece to date! £14.99 from Save the Children in Whitby. It’s actually two pieces, a size 18 blouse and skirt in thin polyester. The pattern is so 80s… I love it. I mean, it’s about as 80s as it could be if it’s not visible white socks and mens suit jackets with the sleeves rolled up. The pattern actually reminds me of yachts – it’s straight out of ‘Howard’s Way’. Continue reading
Another ‘Pat Butcher’ blouse! :)
This one came from a charity shop in South Woodford that supports Heal, the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity. It cost £6. The blouse is made of a thicker, more drapey polyester and has a series of pleats either side of centre front which also cover the button placket. The pleats have multi-coloured dots embroidered on them, and it is these subtle but interesting dots that enamoured me to this blouse. It was a size 16 which gave me plenty to play with. Continue reading
This project begins with a polyester skirt.
It was very large and the material was not pleated, which was good as the pleats can be difficult to get rid of (ask me how I know). I kind of fell in love with the African-style print on the fabric even though there were several holes and half the hem was hanging off. This was £3.99 from the Save the Children shop in Whitby. Continue reading
Remember this sheet? It was a kingsize duvet cover which came from the Richard House Hospice shop in Romford (£6).
I got this very large, very bright stretchy knit top from the South Woodford branch of Cancer Research for £5. It’s marked XL and as you can see it’s more than a little big on me. When I bought this the Barbara Windsor lookalike behind the counter enquired very suspiciously whether I had tried this on. I told her it wasn’t for me. The flowers were on their own level of awesome but unfortunately one cannot wear such prints so close to one’s face without looking like one got dressed in the dark. This top was going to have to morph into a summer skirt.
This remake started out in life as an enormous grey satin nightie.
It came from Scope in Walthamstow for the princely sum of £5.00 and was a UK size 16. Of course when I saw this in the shop, I thought it would make a great summer dress, using the original neckline, taking the sides in and hem up. On trying it on though, the neckline was extremely unflattering and had tacky gemstones glued on in a way that hasn’t been since since 1992. Initial pinning revealed the whole thing was still going to look too much like a nightie. Continue reading
Today’s inspiration came from Stylist magazine. I’m not sure if you can read the caption on the image below but it says “Dress, £1,670, Etro”.
Needless to say, one does not have £1670 to spend on a summer dress.
To make my own version of this dress, I bought the below from Scope in Walthamstow for £6.00. The print is really pretty and it caught my eye to the point where I put it in my basket without reading the label. It’s from around 1993 (best guess) and features enormous shoulder pads and four covered buttons on the mid section. Note that the garment label says “8 PETITE”. I failed to notice this and as a result, in the picture of me below I am holding my breath whilst staying extremely still so as not to rip the seam under the bust open.
Remember these jeans?
Well, because of the economical way I placed my pattern pieces, I was able to save most of the top half to turn into a denim skirt. The look I wanted for this was a bit more 90’s grunge, so I planned to leave the hem open so that the fabric could ravel a bit and look nice and grungy! Continue reading
Charity Shop Chic 