Ugly Vintage Bird Dress Refashion | Thriftanista in the City

2.06.2018

Ugly Vintage Bird Dress Refashion

Sometimes you like something and can't understand why then you bring it home and realize that it's not going to work. At all. That's how I feel about this dress. The length is all wrong for me and it's very schoolmarm - high neck and unflattering hemline. It's soft and comfortable though and I really liked the birds. I bought it because of the birds. I thought they were cute. I've decided to keep the birds but get rid of most of the dress by chopping it down to a little flirty skirt.


Before turning it into something more wearable, I did some Google research on the brand and it turns out that Belle France by Jane Schaffhausen was a pretty pricey brand.  The dresses retailed over $200 in the 80s at Neiman Marcus. The birds and colors are great but why?

Since I'm only interested in keeping the birds, I turned it into a simple skirt.

Zippered Dress to Skirt Refashion


Supplies: ugly dress, scissors, seam ripper, sewing machine, sewing needle, matching thread

Instructions: The dress has a zipper in the back which complicates thing a little bit. I wanted to keep the zipper in so I had to tie it off first so that the zipper pull doesn't go out with the rest of the dress.

Cut it at the waist about an inch above the zipper.

Rip out the zipper's seam above the zipper pull.

Turn the raw edge inside and sew in place. Remove the temporary tie.


The waist ended up being a bit loose so I also took in the side seams for a tighter fit and I cut some length off. Now I have the birds and a much more wearable piece for the closet.

What I Wore: Express jacket (thrift store) - J. Crew sequin sweatshirt (thrift store) - skirt (diy) - earrings (gift) - booties (Francesca's)

No comments

You May Also Like


UP