80s to 20s Upcycling Project

One of my goals made during Fashion Revolution week was to give more ugly 80s and 90s thrift store items new life.  Since many of them are hideous, it requires creative upcycling in order for them to avoid the landfill.  "Upcycling" doesn't mean just "reused;" it means making an item more valuable than it was before.  I think this definitely applies to this project!

It all started with a search for shoulder pads.  When bought new, they are about $8 in my local sewing store, and that is ridiculous to me!  Why on earth would I pay $8 for new shoulder pads when there are millions of hideous 80s, shoulder-padded dresses in thrift stores for pennies?!  I went to the cheapest charity shop in town and found this "Golden Girls"-worthy beauty:

Not only does it have shoulder pads (which I promptly ripped out for use in 1940s projects coming up), but it also came with a bunch of buttons on it that I can save for later.  Never throw out notions!

I originally planned to make a dropped-waist 1940s style dress that utilized the pleated part of the skirt (huzzah for modern chemically-set pleats that don't need to be re-ironed!).  However, when I got the dress home I realized that while it is sort of a two piece dress.... the lining is attached at the neckline to the outer fabric, and the pleated fabric doesn't go up very far on the bottom layer.  So.... it wouldn't be long enough for a 40s skirt.  New plan!

I decided to go for a "cusper" type of dress that can be styled to look either 20s or 30s depending on how it's accessorized.   I brought in the sides to make a more fitted silhouette along the hips and a tiny bit at the waist.  I added a deadstock 1960s collar that is wide enough to balance out my hips as far as proportions go.  I also put on some buttons at the neckline to help simulate a v-neck line that is more flattering for my round face without having to rework the neckline of the dress.  Lastly, I removed the sleeves and used the sleeve heads as ties for a bow under the collar.  It took me about a day and a half to complete and I used items from my stash.

The dress has a step-in zipper at the back, but the collar opens at the front.  Therefore, wanting to avoid reworking the collar and zipper altogether, I tacked the collar down to the dress on one half, then the other half detaches to allow the neckline to open at the zipper in the back.  The collar is snapped back on with a couple snaps behind the bow on the bodice.  It worked out pretty well!

Obviously, it isn't a perfect reproduction of a 1920s dress.  The 20s didn't use mile-long nylon step-in zippers, polyester shiny materials, or serged seams.  However, for $4... I think I've captured the vibe pretty well, so I'm happy!

Today I styled it for the 20s, but I'll show you a more 30s aesthetic in a future post.  To get the 20s look, I rolled with the baggier silhouette and threw on a cloche and some dolly lips.  It's a super easy outfit and I'm proud to say it's the first 20s-style dress I've made that I actually like! I always have problems trying to balance out my hips and create a longer-looking silhouette, but I think this one works!

I wore it to a local museum's textile exhibit and drooled at all the historical clothes.  You have to get very close to see stitches... but I'm not actually touching them, so it's okay, haha!

Outfit details
cloche: made by me
dress: made by me, upcycled
shoes: Modcloth
ring: thrifted
lipstick: Kat Von D "Outlaw" lip stain