SFBG’s Laura Peach checks out local fashion you can afford. Check out her latest installment here.
Recently I was talking to a friend who lost her job. She was lamenting about her feelings of uselessness and loafing round the house looking for something to do. “Maybe I could pick up knitting… or crocheting… something, anything to keep my hands busy.” A few minutes later came the shift in conversation to clothes, and how she is bored with everything in her closet.
It was this combination of topics – unemployment, the need for a hobby, and the desire for an updated wardrobe – that led us to the idea of reconstructing our own clothes. Cheap? Check. (The clothes are already in your closet.) Keeps the hands busy? Check. Revamps the wardrobe? Double check.
Problem is, we didn’t know how. So we asked fabulous local clothing reconstructionist Miranda Caroligne, who we profiled in January’s Careers and Education section , where to start. She showed us how to turn a boring button-down into an exciting frilled-top worthy of Louis XIV (should his highness become a modern Mission-dweller). With her directions, some basic sewing materials, a shirt out of your closet, and a little time (which, if you are stuck in the same situation as my friend, you may have plenty of), you can reinvigorate your style without spending a dime.
Learn to make this shirt yourself! Fun and recession-friendly. Photo by Kimberly Sandie.