I’ve been putting off refashioning this dress for months. I just wasn’t quite sure where to go with it!

This house dress-y frock’s amazing print drew me right in! It also reminded me of something…

You’re looking at a 1960’s pic of Lilly Pulitzer, aka “The Queen of Prep”. Her original simple dresses made of vibrant patterns are still a major influence for the Lilly Pulitzer brand today. I’m a big fan of her designs. I’ve even done a Lilly Copycat before, and I’ve been wanting to do a tribute piece since her death last month (April 7, 2013). I may not be a wealthy socialite (in fact, I’m quite certain I’m not), but I think I can emulate Lilly’s fun & breezy style!
A new Lilly Pulitzer dress sells for about $200. Let’s see if I can make a suitable knockoff for $1! 🙂

Most of Lilly’s dresses were sleeveless, so a bit of ripping was in order.


Then, I pinned and stitched down my raw edges.

My new dress was beginning to look Lilly-ish, but it still needed a final fitting! My dress form happily obliged.


I’m almost done! 🙂
All I had to do now was figure out what to do with that now-collarless neckline.

After stitching down my new V, and giving my dress a good press, I was ready for a HAWT South Carolina day!

I wore my new dress to the Grand Opening of Columbia, SC’s first brewery, Conquest! For those of you in bigger cities, this might not sound like a big deal. But this is a HUGE event here. People waited in line for an hour in the hot sun just to get a sampling of our local brew! 🙂
Many beers were tasted!

Much photoboming occurred!



I like to think Lilly would be pleased with my little homage. 🙂
Cheers!
Great refash! I love it!
Thanks a bunch! I was pretty happy with it!
Super cute! I’m getting inspired to possibly attempt my own refashion in the near future!
I think I missed out on a whole bunch of your posts, so it’s going to seem like I am stalking you! But I love this one too!
Z
http://beingzhenya.com
I love the pattern and colors!
I am living for this bright, funky print! I’ve made several halter-style sundresses with much success and I would LOVE to find a bright, retro print like this! (Or even an old house dress to refashion!!! lol)
a local brewery!! what fun!!! We LOOOOVE our Ghost River here in Memphis!
Absolutely love it!
What a great refashion! I just bought a dress for 50 cents at a garage sale and I can’t wait to refashion it. BTW: I just started a new sewing blog: http://www.MySewingHabit.blogspot.com and posted a refashion (and will post more). Can you check it out and follow? ALso, do you do blogger spotlights? I’d love to do a refashion for a spotlight if you do them.
Reyna
P.S. I’m having a threads magazine giveaway if you want to enter! http://mysewinghabit.blogspot.com/2013/06/threads-magazine-junjul-2013-giveaway.html
I love this dress! I wish I wasn’t so anti girly and could wear a dress for more than 10 minutes without fleeing to my closet to put some shorts on! I have been working on refashioning though! Once I can do more than cut off the sleeves of a shirt I will send it to you!
Eres la mejor!!!
I think this is my new favorite redesign!
I think you should hem the dress so it falls right above the knee. It looks great and I’m so glad your doing what you do. Keep the long leg line by hemming it an inch.
Yup I agree with Lauren….. could use a wee bit of a hem..I lived through that era and that far below the knee wasn’t “in”……AWESOME lil frock though, tanks for the info about Lilly….I have heard the name in passing years ago….great story on how she made those frocks herself to slave away in the heat at a juice stand at her hubby’s grove and turned it into something much bigger….wasn’t easy for a gal to do back then…
besides, you have killer cute set of legs…show’em off!
I’m a HUGE fan of Lilly Pulitzer fashions. When I lived in Pittsburgh, I found a gently used Lilly Pulitzer dress in my size for $4.00 at one of my favorite thrift stores in the area, and I often find that brand for bargains at the thrift stores in that area. I still travel to the ‘burgh for bargain hunting because the thrift stores in North Central West Virginia don’t really have too much – I live in a college town, so most of the stuff there is either the “Forever 21”-type junior clothing throwaways or COUNTERFEIT designer handbags and shoes. But I digress….back to your post.
You can DEFINITELY see the Lilly Pulitzer inspiration in your after dress. The print and the line is very Pulitzer, and the style flatters your figure very well. I’ve read through your posts, and like a fine wine, you’ve gotten better. Will you start selling your creations soon?
Jennifer
http://highlife.mymwalimu.org
Wasn’t sure you could make that print look ” fashion”, but you DID! Lovely!!
Awesome! It looks lovely.
Hi Jillian! I just LOVE this refashion! LOVE the print, it’s gorgeous!!! So lovely!
Kisses from Portugal!
I think this is one of my favorites! At first I expected a dye bath. I totally didn’t envision your final product from your first pic!
Wow. That dress is adorable. You have got the touch. Love it.
So cute; thanks for the link, too. I don’t know much about brands, so it was interesting to learn about Lilly!
One of my very favorites! You look adorable! And…more Douglas, Please!
Great design and the pattern makes me happy.
That turned out awesome!!! And Douglas the assistant is so darned stinkin’ cute!!!
I would’ve done that dress as soon as I bought it. Love the design and us Floridians love us some Lily.
Freakin’ LOVE it! Awesome work and saving of a whopping $199! You did her proud. Zoe xxx
One of my favorites you’ve done! I love the finished product!! Great job maybe you’ll get a spin off line…Lilly Jilly?
I thought of Lilly P right away when I saw the first photo – I think she would be VERY impressed! I LOVE the print and colors, and in fact, I like your end result better than most Lilly dresses I’ve seen. It’s very flattering on you – great job yet again! Please keep showing us pix of Douglas – he’s so darn cute!
What a fabulous retro refashion!
ps. I love all your facial expressions and poses in the “before” photos- too funny!
Wow, this is so nice! Wish we could do something like this but we’re not as talented.
Thanks so much for sharing, x http://chictrends.co.uk/
LOVE your site! Are y’all in the UK???? The “London look” is always ahead of the game and sooooo super cool!
Haha! Nope. I’m in the US. South Carolina!
Adorable! I love the color and print of this dress…what you did with it make it chic and upda.ted, great job! You look smashing, I like the head scarf as well.
I have been admiring your work for a while and finally decided to comment. I LOVE this refashion!!! My favorite yet. Keep it up – love all of your ideas!
I love this dress! especially the pattern and the bright green in it!
What a great find! Love that print!!!
SO CUTE! I love springy dresses like this!
I love you refashions, they’re always so cute and you make it look so easy!
Lauren
livinginaboxx
bloglovin
This has to be one of my favorite refashions you’ve ever done! FAB!!! And inspiring. My machine is out….now to find some cheapy thrift store dresses!
Reblogged this on Trendy, Thrifty, Now! and commented:
When I think of beach attire I immediately think of “The Queen of Prep”, ” The Princess of Prints”, the flamingo pink and apple green of Lilly . The bright prints, quality fabric, and classic cuts are the epitome of resort wear, which is why I had to reblog this beautiful Lilly inspired frock by Columbia, SC blogger Jillian Owens of ReFashionista Blog
Surprisingly, our local Goodwills ( lower South Carolina) receive a decent number of brand new ( with tags) and gently used Lilly pieces. From bathing suits to shift dresses, we’ve seen it all donated!
I love it! It’s my favorite. you are really an inspiration for people on a tight budget who still want to wear up to date styles. If only I knew how to operate my sewing machine!
I LOVE it. Great redo/tribute/wannabe!
I just have to say thank you. I lost a lot of weight over the last year and as a result I have bags of clothes that are now too big but I kept because they are still good. Thanks to you I have started altering t shirts and have plans for a skirt, dress, and pants.
Fantastic! One of my favorites!
This is my FAVORITE one yet! That looks so amazing! :o)
This is a super cute re-do. I would wear that to picnic any summer day.
It looks so great, and congrats on the brewery! I would be really excited, too.
Absolutely love this refashion! Stylish and pretty!
Too cute ! My red smooth Doxie Jack wants to hang out with Douglas.
great job! Love it!
I love the pattern! One of my favorites yet!!
Absolutely adorable 🙂
beautiful – fabulous print an dlvoe what you did with it!
Love the dress. Wish I could have seen what you would have made for the lockup.
sqee! i’m commenting before reading because i was waiting with antici pation for you to take this one off the rack!!!!!!
just looked at the picture! adorb!!!!
*squee
That little dress is super duper cute!!
I think this is one of my favorites you’ve done. So cute!
This is so lovely!!
Great job, as always! The print is fantastic!
Great job with the Refash! I love this site! You are so creative and I look forward to all your projects.
You are so talented!! This makes me aspire to really go to my new sewing machine. For a beginner sewing woman who is 5’3″, 34/27/36, 110 lbs..
What adjustable dress making form would you recommend? I want it to be accurate, yet affordable. I don’t want to purchase a cheap one now, only to outgrow it in a year? I would really love your input! There’s too many to choose from. 🙂
minibux, you can make your own dressform with duct tape, newspaper+batting stuffing, a cheap Goodwill lamppost, a bottle of wine, a great friend and a little bit of time!! Google a DIY dressform for the deets, it’s cheap, fits you exactly, and you can just make another one later if your size changes!
Waaayyy cool Melissa! Thank-you! I only saw a tutorial tat involved plaster of paris banages (too bad I dont work in surgery anymore I used to have them!) and some noxious toxic foam stuff tat looked rather expensive and hard to find…..
could you post a link perHaps?
Eeeep! I absolutely adore this! You look so amazing!
xoxo,
Laura
http://lauraisthriftingthroughlife.blogspot.com/
It looks great! And I love Douglas! Maybe he could get a little refashioned sweater this winter?
This may be my favorite refashion yet!! Thanks for all the great ideas.
Good !! Very stylish !!!
Lovey pattern on the frock, wow that’s a massive saving. Cheers for the info.
I love that you copied Lilly. I love her style and I am so sad to see her pass. I love the print of the dress and how you refashioned it. AMAZING!
Looks super cute!
This is one of my favorites! Great refash!
My mothers’ name is Cathy Phillips. Nice to meet another one! 🙂