DIY Inspirations

My shopping drive goes in cycles. I'll be in a make-up kick for a few weeks, then I'll get really into looking for hair products or maybe accessories, other times I'll be really into clothes. Lately, I've been on more of a beauty-product kick, window-shopping at Sephora and researching hair products online.

Then today I went to Borders and looked through the latest People Style magazine. As I looked through all the upcoming trends for fall (many of them resurgences of last year's trends), I got inspired. All of a sudden I found myself making a shopping list-- cropped leggings (finally giving in), a skinny belt to wear high on the waist over longer tops, skinny jeans (just to be able to tuck into my boots), perhaps an oversized sweater?

Then I started thinking-- why waste money on trends that, although fun to indulge in, probably won't last another season? So I've gone DIY. Last winter I was totally into the opaque/textured/patterned tights trend. So as soon as I got home, I pulled out a pair of black opaque tights. Why spend money on leggings when I can "recycle" these? So I cut them off below the knee. I'm thinking of wearing them with a skirt, as shown at right (you can click on the pictures to see them bigger). I'm not totally crazy about it yet... but we'll see. (btw those shoes are the adorable little mary janes I spied at Payless recently... I just had to have them)



Now, to the skinny jeans.... I've been contemplating getting a pair of these for a while. Let me be clear-- I firmly believe that this style of pant is really suited best for ultra skinny gals with little to no curves, and most of the rest of us that actually have hips should probably stay away. However, I'm really liking the tuck-your-jeans-into-your-boots look, which is nearly impossible to achieve with bootcut or flared jeans. So, not crazy about the idea of spending money on a pair of pants that, again, will probably survive through this fall and winter and not much longer, I took a look into my own closet... and at a pair of grey Mossimo jeans that I got from Target years ago (at left). They fit me well, and have a nice flare to them, but I don't wear them very often... and I'm not sure why. But they seemed like the best candidates for this experiment.

I cut the seam open (on the inside of the leg) up to about the knee, then used safety pins to bring in the leg and make it more of a straight leg. I then used black thread to sew the leg back up, and afterwards turned the leg inside-out to cut the extra fabric off. I also cut them off above the ankle, to prevent them from bunching up there inside the boot. It's a pretty shoddy sewing job overall, seeing as I don't sew... But as long as you don't look at the inside seams very closely it's not very noticeable. And now I can wear my jeans with boots! (like my outfit at right) The shirt is a very cool cowl-neck top I got at Target today, for $13 (also available in black, purple, olive green, light brown, and maroon). The silver belt, which I am SO excited about, is actually a necklace, also purchased at Target today (for $12), that works absolutely fantabulously as a belt with this top. I have a party to go to this saturday and I am very much looking forward to wearing this outfit!

I may make another trip to Target on friday (when my weekly budget re-sets), to look for a skinny and/or wide belt to wear at my waist, and take a second look at some other cute tops I saw today.... ; )