Outfit Rewind

The rewind piece for today… Original post date: 4/2/13  (Click here for full project steps and original post!)

The Before Look:

The After Look:

This rewind comes a little early as this was the dress that I wore for Easter about a month ago.  I just loved the colors and it was still hanging on the outside of my closet, so I figured that I'd just wear it again today!  We're expecting summer weather over the next few days (yeah, apparently it's going to be in the 90s) but today was still a glorious low-70 temperature which was perfect for this dress.  Tomorrow I'll be sleeveless...getting that dress ready as we speak!

For the second time around, I topped the dress with a thin Club Monaco sweater that I've had in my collection for years, along with a pair of my favorite knee high Calvin Klein boots, and some vintage necklaces.

Just the addition of something on top of this dress gives it a completely new look!

Instead of adding a cardigan, I went the belted/thin sweater route and grabbed my vintage clutch that brought out all of the same colors from in the dress!

It's one of my favorite accessories on top of my astrological sign necklaces!!

I'm loving the styling of this - I have to say, this sweater has been out of commission for a very long time and it was fabulous to revisit it before it goes into my donate pile!  (Yeah, I think it's time...)

Thoughts on the sweater?  Shall I donate or is it worth it to hold onto?  That's what I'd like for you to think of this Thursday :) xo M

Wednesday Giveaway! (Tony Awards Edition)

Today's giveaway is pretty much in honor of one of my favorite people in the world, Mr. Charl Brown.  (HERE'S a refresher from the wedding we were at in September together!) Yeah, so he just got NOMINATED for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for Motown The Musical.  Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!  And, um, it's totally NBD that Tom Hanks, Nathan Lane, and Cicely Tyson are all nominated too.  Like so NBD.  (Also yay for another school pal, Stark Sands (and Charl's BFF), who got nominated as well!! USC represent!!)

Yep, he's totally Mr. Broadway.

So to celebrate Charl and Broadway in general - it's my favorite and I miss going to shows on the regular - today's giveaway is theater inspired!

Up for grabs is this fab goodie pack with prizes tied into my fave musicals...

Rent - DVD copy of the movie version (I saw the original B'way cast when I was in high school and it was everything.)

Singin' In the Rain - Poncho

Hair (another musical CB was in) - Comb

Wicked - An apple card with "tempt me" written on the inside

Les Miserables - A pack of Roger & Gallet French perfume wipes

Hairspray - Artec texture shine spray

The final part of the giveaway is a costume necklace with charms, I <3 NY.  (I own a copy of this as well and it's a staple!)

To enter, leave a comment with your favorite musical, a musical or play that you performed in high school, a your favorite show that was turned into a movie or movie turned into a play/musical.  A winner will randomly get chosen next week!  (Also, all the giveaway winners from the past few giveaways will be announced tomorrow!)

I think my favorite musical is Chicago - I love all the Fosse choreography and I always wanted to be a dancer in the chorus.  I wanted to be the "Lipschitz" part in "Cell Block Tango" :)

A big across-the-country-hug filled with an abundance of congratulations goes out to my CB!!  xoxo

Karen's NDAD Creation

I get lots of emails about the perfect LBD and thought that this piece that Karen shared was perfect to feature.  She totally succeeds in the LBD arena, and I'm wanting to try something like this for myself now!  Check out what she did...

Hi Marisa!  I've been following your blog since early 2010 and look forward to your posts each day!  I've always wanted to repurpose something, but most of my projects end up in a pile with other unfinished projects... until today!  I intended on taking in a few tank tops that were too big, but instead felt inspired to try something different!  I took one of the tank tops and an old dress and put them together to make something new and fabulous!

The dress was a $10 Express find that I bought in 1997 for my senior year homecoming.  I hadn't worn the dress since then because it had a small snag near the top - it's always just hung in the back of my closet ever since, following me from place to place.  I must have known all along that it was destined for something better!

Time to see how this pairing turns out!

I put the dress on with the tank top over it and pinned the lace at the top of the tank to the dress.  I sewed the lace to the dress, made a new seam in the back, and began carefully cutting the bottom of the tank top off, leaving just the lace.  I finished the piece by cutting the top of the dress off and taking care of that pesky snag that had always been an issue. 

I was left with a pretty cute LBD that I can't wait to wear out!

Hopefully someone will compliment my unique dress so I can whip out my phone and show them some before and after pics!

Karen, you must send updates because I'm sure you've been inundated with compliments!  I think that you came up with just the right recipe to make your snagged dress something that won't sit in the back of your closet anymore!  (PS - I totally love that you held onto this since Homecoming '97 - I still have my dress too and just I might need to get some reworking done!)