Recycled style: How to rework your vintage pieces and save money
Reworking vintage pieces is a great way to personalize your look and get a whole new outfit without having to drop lots of cash at the mall! So, we're showing you two different ways you can revamp a coveted vintage piece to get a new product you can wear for years to come:
Wendy's vintage dress
Wendy is a decor producer on The Goods with a very generous and fashionable grandmother who gave her a lot of incredible clothes. She's had this yellow dress hanging at the back of her closet for years and we're finally going to transform in into something trendy and wearable. This piece is likely from the late 60s because it has that exaggerated boat neckline. It's also made of the type of polyester that is so flammable it could set your house on fire!
What to cut
First things first, we're going to remove the collar. This is something to keep in mind when you're shopping vintage —exaggerated 60's and 70's collars are easy to remove and necklines like this are easy to adjust. We definitely want to open it up at the neck to show a little decolletage. We also need to adjust the fit. Body shapes were very different back in the day, so vintage pieces are generally not going to fit a modern day woman the same way.
What to keep
This fabric is our friend, and the colour is spectacular! When shopping for vintage, always look for a weightier fabric because it is easier to alter. Stay away from heavy fabrics like wool or knits or delicate silks, as those will cost more to alter than if you bought the item new!
The end result
With Wendy's dress, we opened up the neckline, took off the exaggerated sailor collar and cut it into two! This can be scary, but dividing this into an A-line skirt with a crop top instantly gives you a more defined waist. We used that collar to make the waistband, by the way. Also, by turning one piece into two, suddenly the dress that's been in the back of your closet for years can now be worn as a skirt and a top!
Amanda's vintage dress
Amanda bought this vintage piece in Budapest in 2010 to wear on a first date with her now husband. Four years later, the couple welcomed their first child Mira, and while the wonders of childbirth brought her a tiny human, it also brought her a new bod.
What to cut
We want to minimize parts of the dress that no longer fit as well. We generally wouldn't recommend buying vintage pieces that are too small, because making a piece bigger can require a tricky and expensive alteration. But since this dress is so meaningful, we want to salvage it!
What to keep
The print on this dress is beautiful! The piece also just happens to mix prints, which is a huge trend right now. Prints are a great thing to look out for when vintage shopping for exactly this reason. You can also find this type of 70s loose tunic at any virtually any secondhand store — they have so much fabric, you can really do a lot with them.
The end result
In order to make this piece a little more wearable for life with a two-year-old, we turned this dress into a blouse! It's more casual and comfortable — you can wear with jeans but it still makes a statement! It was a little tight in the shoulders and across the chest, so we took fabric from the bottom and put a panel down the back. We also shortened the sleeves to make them more flattering.