It's finally time to show you what I did to this lovely piece after asking for input on what color to dye it!
We all remember this lovely yellowed stain...
...so knowing that I was going to be wearing this to my book launch party, I decided to push the envelope a bit, go out of my comfort zone and pick...
...CHERRY RED!!! (Thank you to Boatgirl, Kathy, Dani Marie, Leanne, Sarah, Tracy, Laura Whitman, Lovestosew, who offered this color as their pick!)
I was totally on the fence with Emerald Green/Cobalt Blue/Buttery Yellow/Turquoise as my other options (I loved all the jewel toned ideas!), but just felt that red was the color I needed to choose. I was especially excited to see how this was going to turn out because the bottom part of the dress was a polyester and was going to take the dye in a very subtle fashion.
Here's a little teaser...
...full rundown of the project and fun party pics are below!
After the dress came out of the dye bath, I was loving the subtle pinkish shade that the polyester bottom of the skirt turned! I gave it a quick trim...
...then cut out the lining of the dress. It was a bit bulky and wouldn't stay flat, so I decided to just take it out!
I hemmed the bottom of the shortened piece and was ready to go! I loved the different comments of removing the sleeves and cinching and pinching, however when I saw how gorgeous the dye took to the lace, I just needed to keep everything intact.
Off to the signing!
I decided to pair the dress with more modern accessories including a pair of studded Marc Jacobs heels (a total score for $12 at Plato's Closet in Denver) and an 80s necklace found at an estate sale! I loved the softness of the dress with the edginess of the shoes/jewelry!
The podium was set...
...and I got to chat a bit to thank all my amazing friends and blog family and let them know much their love and feedback really meant during my little journey!
I am so lucky to have such incredible people in my life and it was perfect to get to share my night with them, like with AM below...
...and SJ with her crazy/beautiful locks...
...and radiant AK!
We nibbled on delish cupcakes from Hansen's Cakes and enjoyed wine from our fab sponsor Vibrant Rioja!
It was just so crazy to see the book that I've spent the past 16 months cooped up in my apartment prepping/sewing/editing/rewriting/more editing/taking pictures, alive and real, you know?
It was a surreal moment getting to sign and put personal notes in each copy!
It was amazing to have friends from my East Coast youth there, like RG...
...on top of my West Coast family of friends...
...new thrifting pals...
...and work friends who were there when the blog came to fruition!
I totally got choked up when I saw this pic of NK so happy!! Made me smile :)
I got to give lots of hugs...
...take lots of pics...
...and give my on-site, non-profesh photog, a peck on the cheek!
It was such a fun night at Book Soup, and once we closed down the place...
...we headed to a bar around the corner for some cheers-ing! The lovely server gave me a celebratory shot to go with my Blue Moon and I got to spend more time with my pals catching up and talking about how crazy it really was that my book was finally out.
Such a perfect night!! Can't wait to head to your cities next... NY, Boston, SF, Phoenix, Charlotte, & San Diego are all on the horizon pre-2013. Other cities to come after the new year!!
