Repurposed. Refashioned. Reincarnated. Recycled. Reworked. Remarkable!
Recycled-fashion designers are popping up everywhere and creating amazing garb with ‘cast-offs’ from our closets, thrift stores, attics, and salvage stores. (You name the place, they’ve likely scavenged it.)
In their passion to refashion, nothing is tossed out. From upscale couture to whimsical funky, even the smallest scrap of fabric serves a ‘higher purpose’ when seen through their eyes. Sweater sleeves cuff a soft linen blouse. A vintage tablecloth merges with a sweatshirt to make a dress. Grandma’s lace doilies and Grandpa’s argyle socks create focal points on a gently worn cashmere sweater turned into a vest. Antique door hinges and old game pieces rebirth as jewelry.
A Few Names to Get you Started
“Repurposed clothing is not only gentler on the environment, it also inspires uniquely beautiful garments that have stories woven into them.” Kat O’Sullivan, Yoga Journal, May 2008
• See more of Kat’s creativity expressed at katwise.com or go to her shop at etsy.
Kat O'Sullivan's Whimsical Green Dragon Hoodie
• Yoga teachers – and sisters – Zoe Foat-Naselaris and Kaja Foat find creative inspiration in racks of discarded clothes that are not yet ready to retire. See foatdesign.com to see what their muse has them creating.
A fun way to keep warm from Foat Design
• Creating high-end, one-of-a-kind pieces, Deborah Lindquist’s candy in a candy shop is cast off cashmere from wholesale rag houses. Check out her creations at deborahlindquist.com.
• Urban Outfitters has an Urban Renewal Collection where plaid skirts transform into patchwork totes and vintage sheets turn into ruffled dresses. Link to see their youthful collection.
Here’s a few more links if you are interested in reincarnating some of your own clothes and scraps. Why not? It’s fun. Good for the environment. Good for your creativity. Good for your wallet. And maybe even the start of a new business!
• Subversive Seamster: transform thrift store threads into street couture. Voted “Top Book Pick of 2008″ by the American Library Association!
• Find your muse in this magazine. Subscribe at Altered Couture
• Or order this magazine at Belle Armoire
• Shop for or sell your stuff at etsy.com – an online craft emporium.
Not Crazy. Just Ahead of My Time!
I was a rummaging and ‘repurposing’ teenager. Treasure-troves of possibilities were found in family trunks. Vintage crocheted aprons became ‘halter-vests’ for turtlenecks. Silk scarves became no-sew halter tops. Mom’s 1950′s linen jackets were decorated and worn with my 1970′s hip huggers. (Yes, I just dated myself.) Grandma’s torn velvet Garbo-esque dress was ‘re-sleeved’ and ruffled with satin and worn to parties.
Maybe it started with my great grandmother’s handstitched quilts made from scraps of fabric. Fabric leftover from dresses that were sewn by my grandmother. Dresses that whispered stories about first days at school and childhood birthday parties. A snuggle under one of GG’s quilts gave me a sense of comfort, history and belonging that these words can never match.
As I tap into the creative energy deposits made by the recycling and redesigning divas of the world, I realize that my ‘repurposing’ days are very much alive. With Enlightened Interiors, it is now homes – not clothes –that charge my passion to repurpose.
Which Brings Me to a Question for You …
What, in your life, would you like to find the passion to repurpose, refashion, reincarnate, recycle, and rework in a remarkable way?
What are you waiting for? Recommit!
The article is usefull for me. I’ll be coming back to your blog.
Maybe you should change the webpage subject title A Muse In Your Closet to something more suited for your webpage you make. I enjoyed the the writing however.
Hmmm. In what way?