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Your vintage tip o' the day!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008


I've mentioned in previous posts that I often alter ill-fitting but incredibly cool vintage finds to adjust their proportions and make them look better. My most common alteration is having dresses and skirts hemmed (even a few inches can transform a piece from dowdy-ish to cute!); my second most-common fix is to chop off dresses into cute little tops.

This floral vintage shirt was once a sweet secretary dress that clung to all the wrong places. I had it hemmed to a long shirt length (which is especially great when you have a long torso like me) and now wear it paired with jeans.

It would have been a shame to pass up these great buttons and high neckline. See what I mean?


PS) Last night I had a dream that I met Karl Lagerfeld in his apartment. It was completely surreal. (And of course, in the dream, I took photos and planned to post them like a good blogger. Blogging in my dreams? Even weirder!)

PPS) I've just started contributing some style coverage to Washingtonian.com, and you can see my fashion event picks for this week over here. I'm especially excited about the Listopad shopping brunch at Marvin on Saturday. Sounds like vintage-y fun!

11 comments :

Anonymous said...

Any good recommendations for DC-area tailors??

Ms. Spinach said...

Hmmm. Now that I'm back in the States, I take all my tailoring to my mom. But, if it's a really simple alteration (like basic hemming), most dry cleaners are very competent and can do it for you for a reasonable amount. (Of course, it's always best to try them out first with a not-your-very-favorite piece, just in case.)

If it's really complicated, you'll probably want to go to someone with a high level of expertise (they'll also charge you more, unfortch.) I know of a few places around town that people have mentioned -- I'll ask around for their locations and details and post them later.

In the meantime, anyone (in D.C. or otherwise) have any tips?

Anonymous said...

ooh! what a good idea. a big problem for me is finding items that i like in one respect and not another. thanks for the tip.

Kata said...

Thanks for the pick, Betsy!

Anonymous said...

that top rocks! love the details. i've tucked in a long (great paisley patterned though) jersey dress (that clung in all the wrong places too) into pants before, and you couldn't even tell! i'll definitely be using your idea now that i'm learning how to sew. thx!!! ;)

Purse Addict said...

WOW!! Thats an awesome idea :)

Elizabeth said...

This is really well done!

Ana said...

wow that's a fantastic shirt! good job!

jasmine said...

What a beautiful top, great print and buttons and everything! Love what you did with it! :)

nikole said...

it is great, especially love the fabric and buttons.

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