As winter lingers on like a bad relationship, us fashionistas are longing for spring and summer. I LOVE designer fashion so I headed over to Net-A-Porter to see what luxury pieces would cure my blues. I found so many amazing pieces that would absolutely set my warm weather wardrobe up for instant success. However, as I try to make conscious fashion my first option these days I went to my closet to see which of these pieces I could make myself. Before you invest in new online goodies, check out my best 5 designer pieces to upcycle this spring and summer. Click here to watch video with tutorials and styling.
1. Steal Your Man's Dress Pants and Make them Fit!
I've been craving some high waist plaid pants like these by Gucci. I had thrifted these plaid men's dress pants (below) a while back for another project, but my YouTube subscribers convinced me to just turn these into women's pants... and by that I mean just take the pleats out and make them fit how I wanted them to.
So, I completely took away the pleats while still keeping the pockets. Click the image to see the how-to video.
2. Make a Designer Blouse from Men's Dress Shirts
I LOVE love #upcycling with men's dress shirts. So when I saw this top by Attico, I knew I had to give it a try.
For this project, I'm actually going to use two white men's dress shirts. I could have done this project with one shirt if it were a big and tall size, but the arms were not long enough to do the gathered puff at the end with the shirts I found at the thrift outlet. But, they were only a dollar each so no worries.
With a little experimentation, I was able to create a blouse that I love even more than the designer version!
3. Upcycled Wooden Ring Handle Suede Bucket Bag
Now, this outfit is definitely going to need some accessories so let's make a bag kind of like this one by Simon Miller.
I have some wooden rings off and old purse that my mom gave me and green suede from an old skirt.
Using a rectangle of the suede skirt and lining and a circle for the bottom, I created the perfect bucket bag for this look.
4. Make Beautiful Statement Earrings Perfect for Spring
To compliment the neck line of the blouse above, I'm definitely going to need some statement earrings. So why not try a pair like these by Balenciaga.
But instead of silk, I'm going to use this scrap of yellow linen left over from a project that you'll see in a few weeks.
I just cut two strips out of the linen and wrapped them around the silver earrings. I tied the ends at the top and added Fray Check to the edges.
5. Make Sparkly Hair Pins form Vintage Buttons & Rhinestones
And to top it all off, let's try making some of those beautiful hair accessories that I am seeing absolutely everywhere right now. The really nice ones range from about $20 on Etsy all the way up to over $100 like these flower ones by Mercedes Salazar.
For this project I'm just going to use things that I have around the house like vintage buttons, old jewelry and hair clips, and rhinestones.
So let's use a little creativity and come up with a few different styles.
So it's finally time to reveal this whole look... and Yes, I definitely feel like I'm walking a show at New York Fashion Week for sure. I am so in love with this look and I think everything came together so well. And just for grins let's do a price comparison. I would have paid $3,091 for all these pieces, but my version cost approximately $15 and few days of sewing and crafting. And trust me, I'm not at all against buying designer, but before you do think about which of those pieces you could possibly upcycle. And definitely check out the how-to video below to find out how to make these remarkable pieces.
Watch the video below to see how to make all these remarkable pieces!
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