Making Your Own Fashion

In these days of austerity the savvy girl about town is making more out of the things she has already got to hand. Customising your clothes and accessories is an exciting and fresh way in which to revamp your wardrobe season by season and work with the things you have to make your money stretch further. Gok Wan, the grungy fashion designer has made handcrafting and altering fashion easy with some great ideas on what to do and how to do it.

Gok Wan

Clearing out your wardrobe

It is important to clear out your wardrobe and ensure you are working with quality clothing and accessories which fit well and work with your body shape. It is tempting when you put on weight or lose weight to keep your former clothes in case you ever should need them again. Unless they can be altered please lose them, donate them to your local charity shop and let someone else make their next fashion statement with them, but if they are no longer you, get rid of them. That will ensure that each time you go to your wardrobe you are working with items which work for you and your shape and you will always feel great about the choices you make.

Professional Dressmakers

The best place to start is with taking up hem lines and taking in dresses either yourself if you are capable enough or by spending a small amount of money at your local dressmakers’. Taking up the hem of a much loved dress or skirt can totally redefine an outfit and refresh it for a whole new chapter in how and where you can wear it. Taking the hem over the knee line can make a dress for the office into one for an evening out with the girls.  Coupled with the right accessories it will not even be recognised as the same dress!  Likewise with denim when you have tired of your faithful jeans you have them made into your staple denim shorts and have a whole summer of enjoyment. Teamed with opaque tights or leggings they can also fit into your spring and autumn look. 

Accessorise

The spring and summer trends this year heavily feature accessories and their use to add ‘bling’ to an outfit. Accessories should be understated and feature cutting edge modern designs. Using gems and sparkles which can be picked up for a penny cost, you can transform a jacket or top and make it truly sparkle. Adding a simple broach or sewing on buttons for eye catching draw can also transform an outfit. 

Making bracelets is becoming fashionable once again, using either your own beads picked up over the internet and strung onto a wire in a quirky way reflecting your own style or by commissioning a piece by a professional jewellery maker. However you go about it the cost is low and the impact is high.

Tie Dye

A really easy way to add edge to your old clothes and also bang on trend is the tye dye.  Dying the bottom half of a summer dress or tee shirt can show your fashionable edge and revamp it for a whole new season of wear. 

Scarves

A great way to change an outfit and create impact is with the addition of a scarf. Scarves are available for a relatively low cost across the High Street, with some really pretty patterns and animal print among the popular choices. Certainly an investment worth making, and perhaps you might have something in your wardrobe which you can fashion into a scarf also. The unpredictability of the British weather means it could also be the most practical accessory available to you while you are out and about!

How ever you choose to alter and grow your wardrobe for the seasons ahead you should always ask yourself the question ‘What do I have that I could use for that trend and how can I make it better?’ If you do need to go and buy an accessory make sure it is in order to enhance something you are reusing and reduce your own carbon footprint’s impact in the name of fashion. Most of all enjoy your fashion and how it reflects the girl you are and the person you are within.

If you like this please follow me and I'll follow you back :) Thank you.