To alter, or not to alter.

Helllur!!!

I am in a really good mood today.  I have no idea why but on my drive to work today I felt like a hundred pounds had been lifted off my shoulders.  I just caught myself skipping to my cubicle!  Not a good look for someone in my position at work.  Haha.  Oh well. 

So….continuing on with my discussion about buying dresses that are too large for extra length. What if you don’t want to spend the money on a tailor?  I get it.  We all have that $10 dress from the Target clearance rack that doesn’t fit you just right but  was too cute to pass up at that price and now you don’t want to spend the $30 bucks to have a $10 dress altered. 

I will start off by saying that if it is a dress, or any item of clothing, that you believe is going to prove to be long term staple in your wardrobe then it doesn’t matter if it was only $10.  Spend the money to get it altered.  Ask yourself:

Is it a quality fabric? 
A classic cut and style? 
Do you love it?
Is it flexible?  Meaning does is go easily from day to night, professional to casual? 

If the answer to these questions is yes, then you may want to seriously consider having the garment altered.  If it still is not worthy then there are of course alternatives to altering.

For example, here is my $10 Target clearance rack dress that is way too big on top:

The Limited Blazer, Target dress, shoes from DSW

 

 

My go-to solution is always a blazer! A cute, professional blazer can cinch in the top portions a dress that would otherwise gap and sag, giving my co-workers an undesired peek at the madams. This dress may also be too casual for some offices, however, a well-fitting blazer helps to give the dress a more crisp and clean professional feel, taking this dress from cas to profesh. That helps you get more bang out of your 10 bucks!

The same goes for a dress that may be a little too revealing on top for the office.  I have this wrap dress that once fit perfectly, but as I have gotten older and um, grown in um, places, the dress has become a little to chesty for the office.  I remedy this by throwing a jacket on top. 

Banana Republic wrap dress, Banana Republic Safari Jacket, AE for Payless Shoes

 

That is enough with fashion! Time to talk about another passion of mine. A passion that runs really deeply in my blood.

Furniture.

More specifically, old (vintage, thrifted, rehabbed, upcyclyed, discarded) furniture. I love things with a story. I rarely buy reproduction or mass produced items to put in my home. That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe that there is some great reproduction, mass produced furniture out there!  I love me some IKEA, West Elm, Z Gallery and Crate & Barrel. 

But for me, nothing beats hunting down that one piece of furniture that is meant just for you and yet, you never knew it even existed until you pulled up at that garage sale/estate sale/flea market/curb/dumpster. I love the thrill of the hunt and that amazing feeling when that piece of furniture finally makes its way into your home, into that perfect spot that has just been sitting there, waiting.  

I also love meeting the people who are selling, re-selling, throwing out the pieces.  I live for getting to know them, their story and the piece of furniture/knick knack's story.  I have met some of the most amazing people and heard some of the most incredible stories while standing in line at an estate sale or spending an extra twenty minutes talking to the woman with the booth at the antique store.  The point this is leading up to is that I am going to share a sneek peak of a little project I have going on...

 

Get excited,

tbg