Thursday, February 20, 2014

The Thrift Store Ruby Dress

I am really, really cheap-- sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity.  But one of the things that I love about going to thrift stores is that it's like going on a treasure hunt-- you may find something great buried in the racks or on the shelf.  And that's what happened with this outfit: the boots, belt, and dress fabric are all thrift store finds, for a total of $7.50!

So let me start with the boots, since this week's Project Sewn challenge was to make something based on a pair of shoes.  I typically play it safe with shoes-- a pair of tennis shoes, two identical pairs of dress shoes (one in black, one in brown), a pair of brown books, some LL Bean Mary Janes, a few summer shoes, and a couple of pairs of high heels.  A few months ago I was at a local thrift store when I found these boots, and though I'd take a chance on trying something a little different-- low boots with heals, in kind of an orangey-brown shade.


So I decided for this challenge that I wanted to be brave-- instead of wearing the boots under jeans, as I normally do, I wanted to wear them with tights or leggings and a dress.  (Because that's what blogging is all about, right?  Taking risks and being brave?)

I wanted to use some rayon that I bought a thrift store last month (two and a half yards for 50 cents!), and thought that the Ruby Dress would be the perfect companion to my boots.   And.... it was!



This outfit is not something that I would normally ever wear (my wardrobe is mostly jeans, t-shirts, and cardigans), but I love it!  The dress is really comfortable, and just the right length.  When I made the Ruby Top in January, I had problems with the armscyes being too tight.  This time I kept the seam allowance at 3/8 inch all the way around, and it made a world of difference-- a perfect fit!  The belt was another thrift store find, and paired nicely with the brown boots:






You can see the fabric print better in this picture.  Elizabeth and I have had some discussions lately about rayon prints-- they are typically really ugly, and it's hard to find good ones.  I don't completely love this one, but for 50 cents I can live with it, and it goes with just about anything.  Does anybody have any recommendations on where to find any good rayons?

I will be making more of these dresses, maybe as part of my commitment to being brave I'll actually make some sleeveless ones, haha.


Finally, I wanted to share a series of pictures from my "photo shoot", it's kind of amazing that I get any half-way decent shots at all! (I had the camera set up on a continuous timer)



8 comments:

  1. I love your dress! The accent color on the yoke looks fantastic--I would wear this outfit all the time :)

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    1. Thanks, Beth! It's comfortable enough that I could wear it just about anywhere! I might have to trade in some tees and jeans for a few more of these dresses!

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  2. Love it looks great! And love the series of pics!

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    1. Thanks! And yeah, it's kind of amazing that anything gets done around here!

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  3. i actually really like that rayon print. The whole outfit is awesome, and made more so by the thriftiness of it! I recently bought some rayon at Fabric Mart - I thought it was nice but ymmv :)

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    1. Thanks! I feel like I'm not always good at seeing a fabric's potential, especially when it comes to prints. There seems to be such a fine line between tacky and trendy, and I don't always fall on the right side of that line (as my recent pink skirt fiasco demonstrates). I've never heard of Fabric Mart, but I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip! (And I had to look up what ymmv means, googling acronyms always makes me feel old :)

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  4. I love your new dress. and really like the fabric.. It is very pretty.. and oh how fun...when we find these thrift store fabric finds.. And Cute boots too..perfect outfit...

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