• Jersey Dress – Old Navy, altered by E.
• Lace Trimmed Tank – Anthropologie
• Brown Belt – BR Outlet
• Sandals – Steve Madden

Endnotes:

For my first attempt at reviewing the two thirds rule, I have chose red and blue, two thirds of the red-yellow-blue triad.  While I have worn Crayola red and blue together,  like E. I prefer slight variations on the crayon box choices. I think this muted blue and strawberry red make for a less jarring color combination.

I love the shade of blue of this jersey dress and the how cool I can stay on yet another hot summer day.  However, this was far from the perfect dress for me when I picked it up on sale last month at Old Navy.  While, I am fairly tall, I have found that the maxi dress or skirt is not a style I can get behind.  I love the look on both S. and pregnant E. but have yet to find one I feel comfortable in.  So, I bought this Old Navy maxi dress for its color, fabric, and great price and then had E. help me alter it to better fit my proportions and comfort level.  Thanks E!

Do you ever purchase something knowing you need to alter it before you wear it?  What other criteria must it meet before you buy a not-yet-ready-to-wear piece?

A.

9 Responses to “27 July 2009”

1. stylefyles
   July 27th, 2009 @ 1:47 pm

   love these layers! very cute!

2. Nadine
   July 27th, 2009 @ 2:10 pm

   I alter stuff all the time! I cut off waist ties and slash crewnecks and cut off collars or pocket flaps and shorten things . . . I like to think of it as ‘customising’ ;)

3. Kathy
   July 27th, 2009 @ 3:12 pm

   It has to be relatively cheap for me to purchase it planning on altering it (unless it’s something like swapping out buttons or something). But then again, I just went to the Goodwill outlet to purchase silk clothes by the pound (imagine how many of those ’80s silk shells you can have in a pound) just for the fabric.

4. Erika
   July 27th, 2009 @ 3:28 pm

   This is a lovely colour combination. The alteration is a great idea; both long and short dresses are always too short for me, but I’d not thought of chopping off a long dress to get just the right length.

   Also, I was at H&M yesterday, and they have very pretty polyester flowers with both a pin and a clip attached to the back. They’re only $5 and a bit bigger than my palm. My store had black, white, bright pink and a gorgeous peachy putty colour.

5. Kayla
   July 27th, 2009 @ 7:17 pm

   I’m new to altering but lately seem to be mending, altering and sewing to improve my clothes all the time. I’m tall, much like you so I find a lot of great dresses and skirt that are cute on the hanger and yet leave me with odd proportions. It’s always useful to now how to sew or have a friend who can:)

6. Sal
   July 28th, 2009 @ 5:17 am

   I saw that exact dress and was also drawn to the lovely, rich color – which looks gorgeous on you, BTW. But I think you chose wisely to hack it off. Maxis are just plain tough.

7. Little Red
   July 28th, 2009 @ 6:17 am

   The tank and the dress look lovely paired together! Great look!

8. evanadine
   July 28th, 2009 @ 7:29 am

   if you can have something altered inexpensively (or can do it yourself for free!) i would purchase a piece, so long as i was *sure* that the piece was alter-able. if i have to pay to have it done (which i would, since i cant sew) i include that cost into the “total cost” of the piece + decide if the piece is worth that much before i buy it. if its a super-inexpensive piece, its totally worth it to have something unique that fits you to a T!

9. Diana
   July 28th, 2009 @ 8:32 am

   I do occasionally purchase items that I know I will have to alter. If it’s a simple hem that I know will only take me five minutes, and everything else fits fine, then I will snap it up. But if the alterations are more complicated than that, then it depends on the price and how much I love the item. If it’s thrift store cheap, I’ll buy it. If it’s something I absolutely love but needs a little work, I’ll buy it. Otherwise, it goes back on the rack.

   Anyways, I absolutely love this shade of blue on you, and think you definitely made the right choice when you bought this.

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