Inspiration meets Chanel

On a recent "Dollar Sunday" thrifting hunt, I came across this adorable, lemon yellow, two piece. It was such a cute color, and the retro knit was in great condition. The 60's era tags not withstanding, it reminded me of a hybrid between Chanel twin sets and Juicy Couture's acid color palettes.

I really wanted to go from the above to something resembling this Chanel inspiration from the 2011/12 Cruise wear look. Granted, I didn't have the sleeves, but the general idea was there.

As far as re-design, my find wasn't monstrously big. Still, it definitely needed some adjusting to get from there to here. The shirt was loose and the cowl was super long in the back. The skirt was slipping and the elastic was shot. Here's how I altered each piece:

For the skirt:

Step 1: Removing the waistband with the old elastic. (I cut off about 2.5" as the skirt was a little long anyway). 

Step 2: Cut a long piece of  1" elastic and measure it around your waist. It should be comfortably snug, but not tight. Snip the length that meets at your comfy zone.

Step 3:  Pin the elastic on 4 corners, so that it divides evenly throughout the skirt.

Step 4: Run the sewing machine in a wide, zigzag stitch over the elastic, and then fold the waist over and do it again for a prettier finish on the inside.

For the top: 

Step 1: To take in this knit top, I had to distribute the nips and tucks evenly because it was fairly big all around. So I made darts. Do this by measuring two diamond shapes on either side of both the front and back.

Step 2: Pin the diamonds so that the points narrow at the tops and bottoms, and the middle areas are the widest. To keep everything symmetrical, create darts on both sides of the garment.

Step 3: Iron flat pressing the diamond shaped darts open.

And here's our reveal! From frumpy to funky...

...Via a few alterations and some killer kicks.

I was inspired by the thigh high, white boots with the open toe. But I'm still an east coast gal at heart, so I subbed in black suede instead...

 Since the boots had amazing studded detail, I kept the jewelry minimal with studded hoops.

This look will be perfect for fall as well as the present. I'll just need a killer jacket. (And I think I just found one today on a thrift run)...

And that's how we rock a trend report here at Secondhand Star!

Love,

Noa B and Tanya D

Top and bottom set: vintage re-design, found for a dollar!
Boots: Jeffrey Campbell
Hoops: via Main Street boutique, Abbott Kinney