I needed a dress for a lovely friend’s Las Vegas themed birthday party. I chose this one for its sparkletude.
Do you see those things dangling from the sleeves? This guy still had its original tags!
See the size? It’s a vintage 14, which isn’t all that big on me. This is because vintage sizes run much smaller than you’re used to. I’m actually a Vintage 12, modern 2. Crazy, huh?
I like the gold waves on this dress, but there’s way too much dress going on here. I got to cutting.
Then, I attacked that neck with my seam ripper! Since there was a seam all the way down the front of the dress, this worked really well.
I pinned the neck into (you guessed it) a V.
I sewed up the new neckline, and ended up making it wider. My no-neck completely failed to rock the narrow V. :/ On someone with a long neck, this would have looked awesome though.
The dress was still too big for me, so I took it in 1″ on each side.
I cut off the excess material, hemmed my raw edges, and ran the whole thing carefully under my iron.
I think my new dress is Sin City worthy, don’t you?
I opted for a vintage belt from another dress to break up the gold a bit, but used the original (and awesome) gold buckle thing. 🙂
Fella and I headed over to an apartment across town to celebrate this awesome lady:
And what would a Vegas-themed party be without these guys?
Cheers!
I think the vintage sizes correlate to sewing pattern sizes or vice versa. But I don’t know, just a guess. Here’s kind of an explanation as to the sewing pattern sizes and why they’re so much bigger than our modern store bought sizes (in the U.S. at least).
http://www.adventuresindressmaking.com/2012/01/clothing-sizes-are-weird-but-so-are.html#.UdCC7Pn4nIc
I love the refashion!
Just came across your blog. Love it! I also refashion and reuse. The original tags are from a store about 45 minutes from me. Small world!
I’d like to see you do some refashions for your not so rail-thin friends.
I really like the makeover. I would have overlooked the dress and missed out on a golden(no pun intended) opportunity.
What a beautiful dress, both before and after. But I think you meant that vintage sizes run SMALLER than you’re used to. From a 12 to a 2? What has this world come to? So if I’m a modern size 12 – I guess I wouldn’t have been able to buy clothes anywhere without being a size 22! LOL Another great job – but I think some heels would have looked nice with that dress 🙂
You’re right about the running smaller vs. bigger! Geez…I’ve gotta stop writing these before I’ve had my coffee! 🙂 As for the heels…I never wear them. Last year I took a nasty spill in the middle of the street while wearing a pair of 6″ spikes and shall never wear them again!
Absolutely charming and so perfect for Vegas.
A flippin amazing! I just taught myself how to use the sewing machine today. Definitely not crazy enough to use real clothes yet, but practicing on scraps. Any sewing 101 site suggestions?
Very Vegas Glam!!! You are lucky to be so petite 🙂