Another Faux That's Go

One thing I've discovered is that it's good to know design styles of haute houses so you know a good faux when you see one.  This is a pretty nice imitation of a Hermes Birkin purse.  I foud it at a Goodwill in Pennsylvania and purchased it for $8.00.  I have been intrigued with Birkin for a long time and want some day to own the real thing.  However, until that day, I'll carry this light blue version - saw a pic of Victoria Beckham carrying this exact color of the real Hermes bag.  The inside of this bag is pristine, and I don't know whether it's real leather, but it is soft and doesn't have any marks at all.  There is no indication of the maker, but it is surely 'in the style of' Birkin.

One thing I make sure I do is keep a list in my head of designers I like - I also look at the stores around town to see what labels they sell.  I seem to gravitate toward Lauren, Ann Taylor, Loft, Tailor B. Moss, Talbots, Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer, BCBG and J. Crew.  But if something is a good design (or a little funky), I'll get it.  For purses I like any vintage Coach (I've found 4 recently), faux LV, faux Burberry, and anything with a good structural shape.  For some reason, I stay away from the faux Chanel quilted look-it never seems as nice as the real thing (I owned a real one long ago).  Happy thrifting! 

My Upcycled Wedding Dress - A More Complex DIY

I had 2 months to put my wedding together (with great help from my now husband !).  There are three wedding shops in town, but most dresses had to be ordered and I didn't have time.  What to do, what to do!  My then fiance and I were regulars at our local flea market and a couple of wedding dresses were available.  I hoped I could find something I could 'tweak' but sadly, both dresses were circa 1980 crosses between Little-Bo-Peep and Lady Diana - voluminous, over-the-top and dated.  But I chose one, paying $50 for the dress that retailed at $1200 according to the tag.  I loved the beading and thought I would cut it up and embellish a simple white sheath dress I had in my closet.

When I pulled the dress from it's bag I nearly cried.  It had a 10 foot train, two tiers of stiff tulle underneath it all, and a huge bow with 3 baseball-sized ribbon roses on the back at the drop waistline.  The skirt would give any civil war southern bell a run for her money size-wise.  It would make the tiniest girl look 3 times her size!  What were they thinking!.

But I saw the potential.  The picture above is my end result, (sadly, I didn't take a before picture because I was certain it wouldn't work out!) with the addition of a short jacket that I made from the yardage of the train.   I viciously cut away the long, balloon sleeves and high illusion neckline, leaving just the beaded corset you see. Being my husband and I are both steampunk fans, I used an historic civil war jacket pattern embellished with lace cut from the original sleeves. I cut away the skirt from the corset and un-gathering a monstrous amount of fabric and removing all the tulle.  Then I began to reconstruct.  I first made a simple A-line skirt from the yardage but realized the material was too sheer.  So I shortened the top skirt and added an underskirt and made both of them with a final tea-length. It created a lovely double scalloped row of double sequins and lace at the bottom. To add interest at the back, I used the huge bow's tails folding them in half to create a waist band and left the angled ends to hang down the back.

You would never know that this streamlined dress was hiding in that garish monstrosity I purchased.  It was a lot of work, but in the end I had a good wedding dress and the story of how it came to be was a hit at the reception.  I 'said yes' to the DIY dress!

wrist cuff - easy craft

One of the easiest ways to stay current with your wardrobe is through accessories.  And the best part is you can really show your personal style by crafting simple jewelry.  My public look tends toward conservative tailored, but my heart leans toward steampunk-goth-heavy metal.  Must be my husband's influence :-). 

A great find at Goodwill (which is a good time to throw in, don't forget to look in the 'craft' section at your favorite thrift store) was a bag of leather pieces for $4.00.  I got six large pieces, one black, two shades of brown, red and burgundy.  I will use these for lots of different embellishments and accessories.  Here is the first thing I've made, a cuff bracelet.  I found inspiration online, but altered the design and final product to my style.  I used a piece of leather embossed with ostrich.  First I traced the pattern on the reverse side of the leather and cut it out.  I put black velcro to secure it on the reverse of the smaller end and the right side of the wider end.  I used a scrapbook flower pattern for the leather flower addition, again, drawing the pattern on the reverse of the leather before cutting it out.  It looks great on!  The next one I plan to make will be an industrial look with black leather and silver washers.  Sky's the limit on the look you can create.  This one-of-a-kind leather accessory cost about 50 cents to make.