Taking Charge

If you’ve been reading my blog on a regular basis, you know I’m fighting this season’s fashions. I’ve been a regular at Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, Gap and Old Navy over the past few weeks, but still can’t seem to find anything exciting to add to my wardrobe. It doesn’t help that I’ve become disenchanted with crop pants so I really don’t know what to buy. I’ve tried on skirts, dresses, crop pants (yes, I caved), shorts and just about every style of top imaginable. Then it hit me. If I can’t find exactly what I want, I’ll create it.

Case in point is last Thursday when I stopped in to one of Springfield’s premier boutiques. It’s a place I enjoy visiting, but rarely have the money to purchase unless they’re having a sale. It helps to be good friends with one of their sales staff so I get some great inside info on sales. I stopped in to say hello to my friend Prudy and have a look around. I was searching for something to wear to my mom’s upcoming retirement party, but was about to give up and just dig something old out of the closet. I wanted a cool new top to put with some skinny ankle pants. I had a vision, I just didn’t have the reality. Prudy pointed out a really cute sleeveless dress in black and white and told me it had been a special order, but was mis-sized and didn’t fit the woman. I liked the dress, but it was a dress and I wasn’t looking for something, well, that dressy. Then Prudy told me that she thought it would be a lot cuter as a tunic. Voila! We pinned it up and created a tunic top out of it. Now all I needed was the skinny ankle pants. Prudy took me to the back room where they had a rack of clothes for 90% off (yep, I said 90% off) and I found a pair of cotton sateen pants which we shortened and took in at the leg. Now I have a completely unique outfit to wear!

I rummaged through my closet and decided to do the same kind of alterations with some of my existing clothes. A pair of slightly too short jeans are now long crop pants, some wide leg khakis are now wide leg flood pants and several shirts that were too big are being taken in at the waist. I figure $50 or so of alterations is far cheaper than buying something new. It’s the ultimate in clothing recycling!