Suit Yourself in a Men's Dress Shirt

This morning I'd like to introduce you all to the creative and fashionable author behind the blog Cubic Dreams. As her "about me" says, she is currently living in London (is there a cooler place to live? I miss London almost as much as I miss Paris) studying Interior and Spatial Design. She also has some fabulous ideas about how to s-t-r-e-t-c-h one's clothing budget.

Suppose you come across a men's dress shirt at the thrift store that you simply love. You love the fabric, the buttons, the color...you wish it were a dress or a skirt and not a men's shirt. At this point, if the shopper were me, I would sigh wistfully, caress the fabric, and put it back on the rack. But not this gal! She makes the shirt into a dress or a skirt!

Here is a photo of the dress she made out of a shirt (too cute!) and the tutorial on her website.

And here is a skirt she made out of a shirt and another tutorial!

Now, make sure you add Cubic Dreams to your Google Reader for some daily inspiration!

(photos from Cubic Dreams and used with permission)

Finds for Spring

My roomate and I went secondhand shopping on Saturday to three stores: Goodwill, Value Village, and Village Thrift. She bought some lovely things for spring and summer, and I also dug up a few “finds” to change up my summer wardrobe.

From Goodwill…

Banana Republic Gray Tank Top (Gray is a big color for spring) – $5.23

From Value Village…

Banana Republic Gray Wool Sweater – $5.20

Ann Taylor Gray Tee – $5.20

From Village Thrift (having a 1/2 off sale on yellow tags)…

J.Crew Khaki Skirt (totally getting in on the khaki trend) – $4.15

Black Rayon Sweater (I never have enough of these) – $2.57

Vintage 1970s Peep-toe sandals – $9.05

Fairly productive day, if I do say so myself. New totals: $55.92 left out of $200 for the month of February.

MLK Day Shopping

On Monday, I convinced my mother and sisters to do my favorite leisure activity: shopping! First, we went to Anthropologie.

Pros of the store:

1. Awesome place for fashion inspiration and the chance to try new trends. Raid the sale racks and try on a variety of things to see what you like on yourself.

2. Their clothes are very expensive full-price but they are fairly generous when it comes to sales.

Cons of the store:

1. The clothes are not structured, so they do not work on all body types.

2. Everything is displayed beautifully, to best influence you to buy *everything*. You must resist this urge.

Anyway, after trying on four or five things from the sale rack and taking note of brand names/sizes for future eBay reference (more on eBay shopping another time), I came upon this lovely belt…

I have been in the market for a wide belt for a couple years. A caution for short (& possibly squat) people: if you are going to wear a wide belt, make sure you are wearing a long tunic or dress to lengthen your frame and counteract the belt.

I bought the 100% leather belt for $10.49 including tax. Score!

Later, my mum and I swung by Value Village, a huge secondhand store. The store is dirty and the merchandise requires a discerning eye – if the employees even remotely recognize a label (e.g. Ann Taylor) they have the habit of WAY overpricing secondhand clothes – but shopping there is quite an adventure and I have found many treasures.

Today I found two handpainted 1-inch pinback brooches: one from Russia and the other from Poland (?) that would look lovely on a purse or lapel. I bought them: 2 ($3.45 ea.) + 50% off on federal holidays + tax = $4.15. Score!

[I will try to post a pic of the pins later.]

Current budget: $200 – 10.49 for the belt – 4.15 for the pins = $185.36