Fashion inspiration: New Dress A Day

Lately I have been following a very inspiring fashion blog called New Dress A Day. If you have watched the movie, Julie and Julia, then you would have a better idea of the concept behind this blog. The concept of this blog is similar to Julie Powell's blog - The Julie/Julia Project - about her attempt to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Instead of cooking, Marisa buys thrift clothes at US$1 per piece and redesign or alter them to give the clothes a fresh new look.

Her blog has inspired me a lot. All this while, I have been only shorten or/and tighten clothes or dress for better fit but I have never thought that of redesign them. Redesigning clothes sounds fun and challenging at the same time. And I have already one piece for me to trial and error. So stayed tune!

Lastly hope everyone has had a wonderful Merdeka celebration or break.

Out of my comfort zone

Outfit for today was totally out of my normal styling pattern. I have mixed a vest top (to me, it is quite masculine) with a bohemian-ish skirt for eccentric look. Otherwise, I would pair the vest with a pencil skirt or a pair pants while for the skirt, I would pair it with a tank top and layer few necklaces to complement the look.

It was not only that I have tried a new look but I have found a new location to shoot and I used a tripod for this shoot. The tripod has been in my place all this while but I did not notice its existence till few days ago.

The look:
Vintage vest from the Vintage Packstocks
Maxi skirt (1990's?)
Thrifted belt
Thrifted and new bangles
Leather bag
Strapy heels

Fashion Project: How to shorten a dress

In my previous entry I mentioned that on last Sunday I would stay in and sew. And I did. Over 90% of vintage dresses that I purchased, I would shorten or/and tighten them. Well, last Sunday, I shorted couple of vintage dresses.

Firstly, lay the dress flat on a table. Take measurement tape and measure the desired length. Mark it using a chalk (specially for dressmaking, not blackboard chalk). Draw a line (with the help of a dressmaking ruler) and flip the bottom part over and run the chalk along the flipped part to mark the other side of the dress. From the first drawn line, measure at least 2 inches and mark it across the bottom part. This is what we called allowance.

Cut along the marking. Flip the top layer to expose the lining. Mark the lining by using the first line drawn earlier (which is only visible after cutting the rest of the bottom part). Cut along the marking. Lining is suppose to be shorter than the actual length of dress or skirt.

After finished cutting, you may send the dress to haberdashery shop to overlock or edgestitch the hem neatly. But I have opted to skip this part and sew as normal.

Take about 1.5 cm to 2 cm and fold the allowance of the lining inwards twice, secure the folding using a pin. Repeat until the all parts are pinned. For the actual fabric, with wrong side facing you, take about an inch and fold inwards, then fold again till the fold ends on chalk marking. Pin to secure the fold. Repeat until all parts are pinned.

If you have chose to edgestitch, just fold once and stitch or sew accordingly. If you do not have sewing machine, you may hand stitch the hem. Check out this video on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMqK-fNrCrM Since I have a sewing machine, I would sew onto the fold to finish the hem.

Once the sewing or hand stitching is done, the dress is ready for you to rock. Opps... this dress is a bit OL-ish though :-) If you would like to try alter your dresses, good luck and hope these are helpful to you.

Loads of dots...

Remember about my thrifting visit (or hunt to be exact) to Salvation Army's Family Thrift Store last weekend where I purchased two bags, a belt, a pair of shoes and few scarves? Well, I am wearing two of the listed items today.

Too bad that the belt is not shown properly. These two photos are the best ones from the lot. When I wear that belt again, I will make sure it will be in the shot.

The look:
Vintage dress
Thrifted red belt and a pair of shoes from SA's Family Thrift Store
Leather bag

Hope everyone has a very good weekend.

Yet another fun thrifting adventure...

Saturday, 14th Aug 2010, Kedai Jimat (Family Thrift Store)

This shop is run by Salvation Army, therefore any ringgits spent here goes to charity. Spent over an hour in this thrift shop. Rummaged through every shelves of clothes, scarves, belts, and shoes. It felt wonderful every time I found something nice. Although I did not find any clothes to my liking but I purchased two bags, a pair of shoes, few scarves, earrings and a belt. Can't wait to share my findings.

Kedai Jimat (Family Thrift Store)
26, Jalan Besar Tambun
31400 Ipoh
Operation hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Tel: 05 548 3314

Sunday, 15th Aug 2010, Memory Lane flea market, Ipoh and Second Charm, TTDI

Before headed back to KL, stopped by at Memory Lane to check out few items. Never thought that I would leave the market empty handed. I purchased two bags and a pair of shoes (yes, now I have bought four bags and two pairs of shoes just over the weekend). But for this tip my intention was to look for sewing machine table's legs, which is for my next project.
Once back in KL, final stop was Second Charm to check out vintage furniture and to inquire about my project (the one with sewing machine table's legs). And guess what? I purchased a shelf, which is hand painted.

Though there may be big holes in my pockets, I would not complain much as these are great finds. Thrifting adventure has to put on hold for a while. This weekend will stay in and do some sewing.

Two-hour backstage crew

It has been a long time that I have not stepped into the backstage of a runway. The last time I involved in backstage of a fashion show was about 2005, when I was working with Kapas Couture.

I am lucky to be given an opportunity to assist with a mini bridal show on last Friday. That Special Occasion showcased eleven beautiful bridal gowns. See how the dresses were beautifully beaded in the first photo.

Wanna know what happens at backstage? Well, crew members help models to change - to hand in the dress, help with the buttons or zip etc. Before the models step out, the make up artist and designer check the models to ensure everything is in place and perfect. Sound easy? But in reality, it can be stressful, especially to ensure each model is changed on time.

Overall, it was a good experience and fun thing to do. At least it was something out of my daily routine.

Note: Apologies for the poor quality of photos. The photos were taken using mobile camera phone.

New interest found

Whilst happily thrifting at my favourite flea market, I came across a stall that sells stamps, first day covers and post cards. But the coolest find was old or vintage postcards.

Bought couple of them. This entry I would like to share two postcards: the first postcard is from Germany dated 20th March 1948 and the second card is from Italy dated 1952.

I am not sure what to do with them - to frame or just keep them within my reach. But from time to time, I enjoy admiring them whilst trying to figure out the story behind them - who was sender? who was the receiver? what was written on the postcard? - although I do not have any clues what were written.

But it is fun to let your imagination running wild. You would not know what it would lead you to....

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination" - Albert Einstein.

Floral dress

One of my early vintage dress purchases. I shorten the dress for a fresh look and of course, being a petite, most of my dresses' lengths are above or fall on knees. My favourite part of the dress is the mandarin collar.

The look:

Vintage dress from De Oldies
Thrifted belt
Leather bag
Wedge shoes

PS: Apologies for the poor quality of the photo. Photo was taken using mobile phone camera.

Thrifting adventure continues....

First stop of my thrifting adventure was SPCA's charity shoppe. You could find clothes, books, shoes, bags, paintings and kitchenware in the shop. I think I am pretty lucky to come across with the banner. SPCA Jumble Sale is popular, so do mark it on your calendar. Couple years back, I purchased Vogue's patterns for few ringgits. Good bargain, don't you think?

Who would have thought there would be a thrift shop located in Bukit Bintang area? And there is one. KL Baptist Church's Thrift Shop is located at Jalan Berangan. Like the usual thrift shop, you could find clothes, books, bags or toys but in this shop, everything is nicely displayed and organised. It feels like you are in an ordinary shop. Operation hours are from Monday to Saturday, 12 noon to 6 pm and on Sunday is from 10 am to 2 pm.

For this thrifting trip, I did not spend at all. Phew, which means I could spend elsewhere. Happy thrifting!