A Passion For Fashion: The Thrifted Umbrella Skirt

There are a lot of options for shopping without bending to the pressures of consumerism. One way that I've recently discovered is through thrift store shopping. Obviously this is not a new concept, but it has been more important for me to revive it lately, as I'm currently unemployed. (I should be fully employed within a few weeks, since I recently accepted a job offer.) Not having a steady income and having to rely on savings really makes one look at spending differently. And though I'd like to consider myself on the path to enlightenment when it comes to minimal living, not having an income can certainly speed things along a bit.

I've always enjoyed shopping for clothes and shoes, and there's no denying that the right outfit at the right time can really make the day. But I think sometimes we attach emotional feelings towards clothes...I'm definitely guilty of that, at least. When downsizing for each of our recent moves, I always have the most struggle when trying to glean my clothing collection to fit into smaller and smaller spaces. Even if I haven't worn something for several months, it's difficult for me to give it away; I just keep thinking of (unrealistic) excuses in my head for why I might need it one day.

In reality though, or at least my reality, it's the clothes that fit me really well and that fall into the limited color pallet that I'm drawn to that I tend to wear again and again. And those clothes make up less than 50% of my closet. I've bought clothes in the past that almost fit, that just needed to be hemmed...or tucked...or taken in on the side or whatever, because for me, being really short and thin, it's difficult to find clothes that fit off the rack, so I end up buying something that almost fits and just trying to make it work. Now I realize it's those "make-it-work" clothes that I rarely or never wear, because they just don't look as good as something that fits well. And when I add up what I've spent on all those clothes that I just don't wear, it's horrifying. I've wasted a lot of money.

Once I recognized the error of my ways, I decided that I have a few options to rectify things:

1.  I can learn to sew my own clothes (which I'd love to do, but realistically it would take years to learn to do this).

2.  I can (and will) make better fashion choices in the future, either by not purchasing something that I don't love or by being realistic about the tailoring (and the tailoring expense) that would be needed to make it fit.

3.  I can go through the clothes that I have now, sorting and keeping the ones that only need minor alterations and then actually going to the tailor and getting the alterations.

4.  I can shop in places where a fashion purchase that ends up being a mistake isn't a HUGE financial mistake, i.e. thrift stores, consignment stores.

I'm actually implementing all four of these options in some form...I've decided that once I have an income I'm going to purchase a used sewing machine and take classes to learn some simple alterations. I could save a lot by doing my own alterations and a whole new world will open up to me when I'm not limited by the way clothes fit off the rack. One of my inspirations for this plan comes from Jean of Extra Petite, a blog my friend recommended to me, in which a short, thin girl (Jean) buys, reviews and alters clothes for her frame. She's my hero...I'm already making better in-the-moment purchasing decisions, which are a lot easier now that I don't have much money to spend...I haven't found a tailor yet in Austin (actually I haven't looked), but I plan to when I have the means to invest in some good tailoring for clothes that I want to keep but that don't fit just right yet...And to conclude the implementation of my new resolutions, last week I stopped in at a thrift shop when I had a few hours to kill. I actually ventured in with the intention to look for furniture, as we are in need of several pieces to complete our apartment and I love the idea of old furniture restored to its former glory or, better yet, updated to a modern look. (By the way, I didn't find anything there I couldn't pass up.) But, I wandered into the clothing section for a peek, picked out three or four items and tried them on. Some of them didn't fit and the others I didn't like once I put them on. But there was this one striped umbrella skirt that I loved despite the fact that it was too long. The colors were beautiful and it just looked so cute and retro. Right then and there I decided to take it home and try to hem it.

First of all, I don't have a sewing machine, and while I could have hemmed it by hand, I didn't think that method would hold the shape of the skirt very well, so I decided to do a no-sew hem using some iron-on adhesive that I already had. I'd used it before on a pair of jeans and it worked really well, even holding up after several washings, and I thought it would give the hem a little extra weight which would hold up the shape of the skirt pretty well.

First, I had to determine the length that I wanted the skirt to be. I was initially hoping that the black horizontal stripe would be a good place for the hem visually, but after pinning it and trying it on, it was still too long, hitting just below the knees in an awkward length for my height. So...new plan. Decided to make the bottom horizontal set of stripes the same width as the top/waistband, because it just looked funny and unbalanced when I did it any shorter.

 After carefully measuring and pinning the hem where I wanted it, I ironed it to hold it in place and make my work easier. Then I cut off the extra material, leaving enough to cover the adhesive once the hem was folded over. (After cutting, I realized I should have left a more generous margin, as there were a couple areas where I had to trim the adhesive to prevent exposure above the hemline, which would have made a mess of my iron.) I  turned the garment inside out, placed the adhesive inside the hem and ironed it to adhere it to the fabric, working in 2-3 inch segments at a time, as it's difficult to keep a long piece of adhesive in place while trying to iron it. Working in such small increments made it manageable but it definitely took a while to complete.

Overall, I'm happy with the results, though I'm not sure the shape of the skirt is the most flattering on my figure. The adhesive hem was definitely the way to go, as it did preserve the shape and lay of the skirt in the end. Here's the final project, and also pictured styled with a black sweater, black tights and boots and then with a creme sweater and gray boots. Not my proudest moment, but for a $10 skirt, it's not bad. Now let's see if I actually wear it.

I don't think there's anything wrong with having "a passion for fashion", I plan to keep mine, but with a few tweaks to keep from overflowing my closet and make sure I choose pieces that are wearable and have longevity. It's definitely a learning process...graded on a curve, right? ;-)