Outfit Rewind

The rewind piece for today… Original post date: 4/22/12: (Click here for full project steps and original post!)

The Before Look:

The After Look:

I wore this last spring when it was much warmer (See: Starbucks iced bevvie) and popped a squat at Pottery Barn Kids while enjoying a little Star Wars coloring.  You know, like you do when you're an adult, or tween disguised as a grown lady :)

It's a little chillier this go, so I had to dress it appropriately.  Wanna see??

I took a navy striped Banana Republic cardigan and paired it on top of the short sleeved dress along with some brown floral tights and a pair of vintage boots!

Oh, and those earrings, they're totally costume.  I got them for a buck and the best part is that they're clip-ons!

The sunglasses were the final, sunny day touch.

Tights, Target // Earrings, downtown LA // Sunglasses, Urban Outfitters // Boots, Vintage // Cardigan, Banana Republic (thrifted)

It was fun pairing this dress with some darker shades, just to bring out more of the blue in the piece.  It also totally helped to downplay the boldness of the pinks, greens, and oranges, making it feel a little more subtle.  It's so much fun to re-wear and re-style!!

Happy Friday, friends!

Thursday Neck-cessory DIY: Wooden Charms

I had another fun crafting day in the books with my crafty pal, Sonya Nimri!! We got a little crazy with her Cricut machine...

There's nothing like making letters out of leather scraps!!

We chose colored bits of leather to have our initials printed out on!

I went with a shimmery brown and Sonya grabbed a yellow and cognac shade to make the initials of her boys.

We took discs of wood (that were cut from the stump of a little Christmas tree leftover from the holidays - yay repurposing!!) and put out letters on top!  (This is something that can also be done out of wooden pieces from your craft store, a circular piece of cardboard...go crazy with your imagination!)

These guys are turning into little necklace charms!!  We poked holes in the top of our wood discs, which were actually quite easy to make...

...and then glued down our initials with some tacky glue.

Jump rings was added to the holes we created in the wood and our charms were complete!!

I loved the rustic-ness of the wood mixed with the more modern-ness of the leather letters in fun fonts and shades.

I added my charm to a long-ish chain that was in my collection, and it was wear time for my new necklace!  (You can always add a leather strap or any sort of thin ribbon/string/wire for your "chain" as well too!)

I love anything monogrammed, so this new piece is going to be prominently worn on the regular!!

Tuesday Remake: Linda's NDAD Donation

I received this dress in a little package from Linda, and the letter that came along with it was priceless!

Dear Marisa - When I saw this dress at the local thrift store,  thought of:

1. Dana Carvey

2. Marisa

3. The phrase,"isn't that SPECIAL"

4. Polyester double-knit

Who better to transform this ugly duckling into the swan it wants to be?  So, go get em' girl, just PLEASE don't rock the ugly church lady shoes!!

The note made me giggle because it DID feel super Church Lady because of the THICK polyester material.

I also felt super proud because Linda thought of me when she saw this atrosh piece (let's all say "aww" in unison), so I knew I had to do her right.

First the piece had to be seriously taken in.  Since I'm actually keeping it a dress, the fit was key.  I ended up taking in each side of the dress about 2 1/2 inches and the sleeves were given some TLC too (about 1 1/2 inches).

I tried the dress on and pinned it in place before I got my sewing machine out and took it all in, permanently.

Post-sew, I cut the excess material from my new seam...

...and then went shorter!

I decided that I'd add a little bit of neck flair and took some lace remnants and did a little coloring on top with a Tulip fabric marker.  Because of the black/grey pattern, I thought this charcoal shaded lace would look mostly lovely at the neck, next to the black piping.

I hand stitched this lace piece down in place and had a dress that was totally ready to be worn in public!!

It was chilly and windy in LA, so I wore layers with the dress, but just had to brave one shot without my coats!  (Yes, coat(s)!)

I got to hang and catch up with one of my favorite people and we did that over blood orange sorbet.  Usually when it's cold out I avoid eating things that are frozen, however this sorbet was too good to pass up.  I also liked that there was a whole matching thing going on - my dessert and the huge orange at the rim, my hair, my coat, the candle on the table...

I ended up layering the dress with a gold, waffle-y Trina Turk jacket, then with a 3/4 length overcoat by Tulle on top of that.  It really would have been awesome if I chose a jacket that actually covered my forearms, on the cold front, however I was quite pleased with how my outfit looked.  A pair of grey stretchy gloves á la Target and my Betsey Johnson tights assisted with that chill factor, for sure.

PS, it's pretty rad when people think of you in certain instances, ie. "I totally thought of you when...I saw Jessica Chastain's hairdo on the Golden Globes/I was listening to Justin Timberlake's new single on the radio/I ran into this really sassily dressed toddler at Trader Joe's (all true), so to be associated with not-so-cute dresses while out shopping, Linda, I am HIGHLY humbled and overjoyed :)