All My Dresses: Finale!

The end. That's it. All done. No more dresses.
The other day I walked by a shop window with a cute blue chiffon dress that had little polka dots on it and walked in to look at it, them immediately realized I have enough dresses, and turned around before I touched it. I had enough dresses to get me through March to June with no repeats. That means NO NEW dresses. Does home-made count??? I don't think so. OK. No BUYING any dresses is the new pledge (sewing them is fine :)
What's your pledge for the day?

All vintage, all thrifted, except bottom center: Prabal Garung for Target.

All my Dresses:part 9

Another week, another 6 dresses. I was just about done and then I opened a vintage hard-side suitcase I keep in the bottom of the closet with vintage clothes I rarely wear... and don't you just know it? There were a handful of dresses in there just waiting to be pressed and worn. So the project rolls on...
Have a great weekend. I'll be racing in a triathlon this Sunday so no dressing up for me. I have to take a break once in a while :)

Gray shift Made By Me, with paper bead necklace, also MBM. Button print dress, MBM; black dress thrifted; white dress with blue flowers MBM; vintage green dress thrifted; black polka dot dress thrifted.

Also, I got a haircut; you may have noticed.

All my dresses: part 8

Oh, my dears, the end is near. I'm one more week closer to the end of this exercise. Dreaming of skirts and tops, mixing prints, patterns and fabrics...Oooooh...separates! :)

Get dressed up today! Wear everything in your closet!!! (Next week, I'll have to get into some of my evening dresses. I'm dead-set on wearing EVERY dress.) Until then....  Have a great weekend.xoxo

Black cotton dress from Shimamura; blue bee dress Made By Me; blue bow dress from ModCloth; summer flower dress from yard sale; pink jersey shift Made By Me; orange geo dress from ModCloth

All my dresses: part 5

New shoe clips, in navy blue! I used this tutorial. YouTube has hundreds. Thank you for sharing, fellow craft-maniacs!

Half way through the dress challenge. Missing my skirts so much...

Red jersey dress from ModCloth; black mexican-style dress thrifted; green stretch dress from ModCloth; tweed suit from Macy's about 8 years ago; blue striped nautical dress from ModCloth.

Have a great weekend!xoxoxox

All of my dresses: part 4

Week 4 and still going strong. Lots of dresses to go...but I think this exercise is a good test. If you aren't willing to wear the stuff in your closet, get rid of it! So far, so good. I'm finding it all useful and most of it fits well. (I did find a few things too big so I donated them. And also one dress that I can never ever press the wrinkles out of. aaarrrggghh. Good-bye.)  On the coral dress, you may recognize that bow on the belt... it's one of the shoe clips I made a few weeks ago!! WooHoo- multi-use crafts!
Have a great weekend.
xoxoxo
Trista

Coral silk dress by I.N.C, striped dress and dot cardi from ModCloth; brown vintage dress, blue dot dress, and beige flower dress thrifted; black tank dress from Macy's.

My latest button ring. Coming soon to my Etsy...

All my dresses: part3

Well, the saga continues... I'm about a third of the way through the dresses in my closet. This week's pic (dresses from last week) features my new brown "bow tie" shoe clips. I LOVE them! And since I had to travel for work to a conference in BEAUTIFUL Chicago, you get to see my "travel dresses." I pack the same dresses every time; they don't wrinkle and are easy to wash in the sink if needed. The pink (top center) and black and white (bottom left) are both Jason Wu for Target. The top right is a Made-by-Me from a vintage 80's pattern. Non-travel dresses included here: top left is Made by Me from a Butterick knit wrap-dress pattern, and bottom right is vintage 1960's wool dress from Korea.

Chicago was great. I enjoyed being by the river. It's a very pretty city. The conference was interesting and I ate delicious deep dish pizza at Gino's and saw Book of Mormon and The Second City revue. I didn't waste any of my free time.:)  I encourage you to do the same- Don't waste time! Do things you love! 
Have a great week.

All My Dresses, part 1

It just came to me one day. In a recent conversation about dresses and shopping and sewing, that I have a closet FULL of dresses, that I do not wear enough, and could wear them for months without duplication. So that set me on a closet exploration. How many do I have and can I wear them all and post them all? It turns out there are about 50 dresses in my closet (this does not count any skirts or matching separates) and my plan is to wear them all this spring. If something doesn't fit, I should probably let it go. That'll be a struggle.

Blue Esprit cotton print dress from Goodwill; black and white "film strip" dress from ModCloth, pink cardi from H&M; turquoise peplum dress from ModCloth; pink vintage dress with white birds from a Paris thrift store with vintage belt and head scarf too. The last one is Made By Me from Butterick 5520.  (One pic with cardigan, and one w/o so you can see the contrast raglan shoulder). This is a great easy pattern. I recommend it and I will use it again. I made one long sleeved peplum dress with it as well in sage; I will post it in the upcoming weeks.

Happy Closet Cleaning!

Black Striped Dress

Little Black Dress? Little black striped dress. It has gold stripes and sheer shoulders and sleeves. And a gold zipper with a pretty gold leaf for a zipper pull. And box pleats. I love pleats! It's a great dress. (Soft and stretchy.) It's from ModCloth.

LA weather is fairly warm and dresses are so easy to wear year-round. Get "dress"-ed today!!!

Black jacket - too obvious? Perhaps a gold cropped jacket next time? Where can I find one of those?

Too bad the decorative seam on my stockings shifted off center.

Blue Dot Dress

I'm still loving this thrift-store find. It's the drape of the dress that I think I love so much. It just flows and swishes in lovely ways. Now to find more ways to style it... My fave, of course, is the wide belt... (this one is new/used, from Urchin Vintage). Now that it's getting chilly in LA, I'll be adding cardigans and scarves to everything, including this dress. I'm also sewing a similarly flowy wrap dress out of some white-on-black polka dotted knit fabric. It'll be finished soon and I promise to share the pics!

Windy & Wet Fall Days

They say Los Angeles doesn't have seasons but this week it got really cool and wet. It's here - FALL! or as the anglophiles I know love to say...Autumn. This comfy chic green dress (from ModCloth) was perfect for the cool weather this week. Nice flats and a little black cardigan. I felt dressed-up but not overdressed at all. And when the weather is bad, you do not want to be wrestling with a fussy outfit or worrying about something very delicate getting ruined by rain.
What do I love wearing for fall? you ask... tights! sweaters! jackets! scarves!!!
It's time to layer and dig out those pretty coats we don't get to wear much in SoCal. Shop your closets ladies!
Have a good weekend, everyone.
<3

More Polka Dots!

Wow, I feel I've now become a parody of myself. But I just cannot help it. I love polka dots.
This cropped sweater is a new cut for me. I've never really liked the cropped bolero jacket, but this has a snug waist band, so it's like having a wide belt on -- which is how I often cinch my dresses anyway. Tighten that waist to accentuate the hourglass figure (a nice way of saying busty with big hips. hahaha :) 

Brand new dress and sweater from Modcloth sale. I<3MC.

 

I look forward to creating some different looks with this soft and warm sweater for fall/winter. Fun fun fun!

Print shift: Made by Me

A simple, stretch-knit, pullover shift. Fun to make and fun to wear!
I fell in love with this fabric as soon as I saw it and immediately envisioned the dress I would make. I had this pattern at home in my "craigslist score," and whipped this dress out over a few hours this past weekend.

It had no shape, and I need a nipped in waist or I feel like a walking potato sack, so I added this wide woven belt.

I love this outfit.

Made by me Navy Dress

This dark navy blue dress has the cutest white button print with tiny red thread in the button-holes. 2-3 yards were given to me by my dear friend Karen for my B-day about 5 years ago. I FINALLY made a dress out of it. A simple dress with a zipper in the back, a bit of gathering at the top of the sleeves, and a matching tie for the waist (but I like to wear a red, gold, or black patent leather belt with it as well).

And I made a skirt too.
Fabulous!

LBD Week finale

The final style for Little Black Dress week.

A simple vintage stretch black knit shift (from The Garment District). Burgundy pinup pumps (bought online from Newport News, 2000). Gold beaded necklace from Goodwill, leather and brass bracelet from Mexico, and cocktail ring from Target.

LBD Week

A few months ago, I cleaned out my closet and got organized. I found tons of wonderful things that I haven't worn in a long time, so I decided to give myself a weekly theme; I'd have to be creative and wear some of these great pieces that don't see a lot of action. I've done purple week, brown week, gray week, pink week...skirt week, scarf week, suit week, polka dot week, vintage week... You get the idea.
This week is Little Black Dress week.

MONDAY: black cotton dress, with polka dot bottom, ribbon belt, from Shimamura in Japan

TUESDAY: Black shirt dress from Macy's; patent leather bow belt from Shimamura; shoes from ModCloth; socks from Little Tokyo Mall

WEDNESDAY: Dress from ModCloth; shoes from Seychelles, thrifted

THURSDAY: vintage polka dot dress from BBC Vintage; Belt, thrifted; Shoes, Remix

What's the LDB look for FRIDAY? Tune in next week to find out...
It's a fashion CLIFFHANGER!!!