Recycled Vintage Fingerless Gloves

I have a fun and easy tutorial for you today.  I am always trying to think of new ways to redeem some of the damaged vintage pieces I come across.  Here is how I made some fingerless gloves in less than a half hour. 

Cut Up Your Shoes, Win A Prize

Melissa is a Brazilian brand that's been creating recycled-plastic shoes for quite a while, overshadowed by other sweat/stink inducing brands like Crocs.  They've been on my radar since they moved beyond basic jelly flats and into the growing galaxy of designer collaboration...

Vivienne Westwood (mimicking her Anglomania ankle straps and peep toes)

Jean-Paul Gaultier (remarkably comfortable!)

The latest collaboration is with Gaetano Pesce, who has contributed this futuristic bootie:

The fun part?  The little circles can be snipped away to create a personalized design.  The company is even running a contest, rewarding the person who contributes the most unique visualization of a cutaway shoe on Facebook.

Rave On

Congrats to Blandine Bardeau, a French womenswear graduate whose work in now gracing the Oxford Street windows of Selfridges department store.

Check out her blog, or the article Susie Bubble wrote.  Her pieces are fun and youthful, and brought to mind that necklace I couldn't find from last Winter's Swarovski X Aldo collaboration:

These neon rubber confections are as rave-worthy as glowsticks, lollipops, and LED belly-button rings.
If you're not the trance-dance type, then consider them artful statement pieces that elevate a plain white T.


Blandine Bardeau necklace, anything but Bland.



DIY supplies: look for beading laces, fishing line, rubber craft laces, etc... 

Group them together, string a few beads here and there, and then coil and loop until you're content.  No Masters in Contemporary Design required (although 4-H camp friendship bracelet skills help!).

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Recently arrived at Shopbop, Eugenia Kim's (famed NY milliner) chunky fox scarf ($232)...

It's a cute commentary on the ever present fur debate, but nothing new. Industrious crafters have already posted handcrafted 'vegan' fox stoles, for much less, on Etsy.

Seller Celepiu's:

Raspberry Foks $75

Chocolate Foks $95

Those who can knit & purl may want to recreate it themselves (go freeform, or check out pattern options at Ravelry.)

Eugenia Kim fox scarf $232-

Ravelry pattern $3-

Yarn and notions $45-

Two afternoons worth of The Mentalist and a headstart on carpel tunnel $0=

Total savings $184

Walking into Spiderwebs

Vera Wang necklace on last season's runway

Antik Batik Anka Bag $495

Just in time for Halloween, arachnid accessories are everywhere again. The deep, loopy fringe is on a more bohemian bent this time, festooning exaggerated bib necklaces especially well.

This Antik Batik design could be recreated by the experienced DIYer, or perhaps with a little help from the lovely middle-aged ladies who inhabit bead stores.

Anka Necklace $187.00-

Leather cord to tie in slipknots $5.50-

Thin wire or fishing line $2.77-

Glass seed beads in 2 sizes $16.44-

Follicle transplants to replace hair you tore out in frustration $788.00=

Total Savings -$625.71

FAIL

Models are so skinny, but they have nice hair

For an old Carolina Herrera runway show, Orlando Pita created beautiful twists and chignons accented by lengths of seed beads. I've been playing around with this look for a while, and am determined to wear it out of my apartment, to a semi-formal wedding this weekend.

I recall reading that Pita custom-made the haircessories, but that they were remarkably similar to the cheap glass tubules you can find at any craft store. To Michael's I went, buyings two shades, gold and copper, which will hopefully blend into my ginger without looking like bad brassy highlights.
So...

Cost of becoming a model to have Pita do your hair (ie: lipo, drug habit, etc...) $18,500

Cost of seed beads $12

One afternoon of bathroom mirror practice $0

Total Savings $18,488

The Great Wall Of Necklaces

I don't have pierced ears, so I overcompensate with statement necklaces and scarves. I often scour for found objects I can repurpose as neckpieces a la 30 Rock's glorious Liz Lemon:

Edie Falco: "I like your necklace."

Tina Fey: "Oh, it's actually a rape whistle but the whistle part fell off and I liked how it looked [pause] so [pause] I kept it."

Some of my favorites 'scarves' once lived as tablecloths (pick up great textiles in Chinatown or from Indian importers), pima cotton T-shirts or metal mesh that I've cut into strips (very Whiting and Davis circa 1972).

Here's a smattering of 'necklaces' that hang on my bedroom wall. I'm pretty big on what I call Sartorial Decorial (definition: the decorating of one's living space with objects designed to be, and which occasionally are, worn on one's person). Those are foam blocks from a dollar store tacked to the wall with pushpins anchoring the necklaces. For those NOT afraid of having to spackel your apartment when your lease is up, try real nails and spray-painted bulletin boards.

The Good, The Plaid, and The Ugly

Bona fide prairie gals, like myself, were wearing plaid long before Ashley & Mary-Kate 'Bag Lady Chic' Olsen were churning it out under their lesser label Elizabeth & James (Eponymously, the two other siblings. See also, fancy-pants classics from their line The Row). But I did purchase a 3/4 sleeve blazer and two button-downs, purely to research the intriguing detailing that nips in the small of the back...

Oh, wait. It's just buttons. Or sometimes a zipper. Cute, but not MSRP $225 cute. While ruminating one night on these sartorial splurges, I roused from a fitful sleep... epiphany! I would transform my father's fugly old workshirts, now so fashionably thin and threadbare, into button-backed wonders. Suck it, Michelle Tanner.

Elizabeth & James Style LW081-223M $225.00-

Father's old work shirt $0.00-

Three loose buttons $0.20=

Total Savings $224.80