Iron maiden

Anything looks better with some studding or chains. And worn with a vintage bowler hat. Via Fashion Canvas.

Sweat Shop fun

Oh you guys crack me up with these! Banana bum bags?! Wow. :D DIY should never be taken too seriously. It is more fun that way. Photos via Sweat Shop Paris blog.

Ingrid Vlasov

Ingrid Vlasov is a designer you might want to know. Gaga wears her dresses, among other notable fashion personalities. This red jacket is from her Summer 2011 collection. Looks like zippers, yes?! If it is I must say it is the first piece of fashion that I´ve seen made from plastic zips and still looking good. Most so far have used only metallic zippers. Or just plain trashion gone horribly wrong. One of the key features in this design is that all the zippers used are in same color and size.

Photo via Noir Facade.
Title: The Gold Rush
Magazine: Harper's Bazaar China January 2011
Model: Mathilde Frachon
Photographer: Photos by: Benjamin Kanarek © 2010
Stylist: Laurent Dombrowicz

Safety pin shoe cuffs

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design fashion design students collaborate with fashion communication students each year to put on a full-scale runway show. This year it was called White Snow. Shini snagged a photo of one of the models wearing ankle cuff made from safety pins. Very similar technique to the safety pins bracelets we´ve all seen and made but a complitely new way to wear them!

Photo via Park & Cube.

Marching

DIY marching band styled vest. Crop your canvas jacket to a good height and cut the sleeves out. Pin and sew decorative ribbon to the front pieces, hem sleeve openings and collar. Sew feather ribbon to the shoulders. If feathe trim is too expensive for your budget, you can also buy a bag of individual feathers and place and sew them on one by one. Replace old buttons with even older bronze ones. Via Fashion Gone Rogue.

Patches

Via Honestly WTF.

TEDTalks Dan Phillips: Creative houses from reclaimed stuff

Dan Phillips talks about creative houses design from reclaimed stuff. He builds homes, I make trashion fashion. Same design and reuse principles.

Hoodhottie

Oh yes, he is quite gorgeous... When you´re done drooling after the hottie staring straight at the camera (called Florian btw) pay attention to the hood-like-knit-thingie he has on. Sweater refashion potential I tell'ya.

Florian Pessenteiner by John Burke. Via Homotography.

Lace necklace tutorial

Tutorial @ Ruffles And Stuff.

DIY punk trench

Lily Donaldson, photographed by Terry Richardson, wearing a spiked trench coat. Don't buy, DIY. Via Fashion Gone Rogue.

Garter tee

Garters are the new bodysuits. Take your extralong t-shirt or top, cut four arches to the hem, finish the hem and sew on garter clips or suspender clips. Via Ben Trovato. Photo by David Larson.

The Give + Take Swap Boutique

Give + Take Swap Boutique must have the most genious clothing recycling concept I´ve heard of so far! You can read more about their point swapping system below. Maybe Humana (UFF) and other similar textile recycling organizations should give this a serious thought and set up similar boutique styled shops in central locations. Via Ecouterre.

"You know that fabulous pair of jeans that you’re holding onto even though they’re a little too tight? Imagine being able to swap them for another equally amazing pair without coughing up cent. That’s the concept behind the Los Angeles-based Give + Take Swap Boutique, a first-of-its-kind clothing store that allows you to swap your designer duds with anything on its racks—gratis. All you have to do is pay a monthly fee of $25 and you can exchange as many clothes, accessories, and shoes as your heart desires. In other words, give up that adorable dress that you never wear and you could snag a great bag of equal or lesser value in return.

Dora Copperthite stated Give + Take as an alternative to conventional consignment boutiques, where she was tired of getting back half of the cash she spent on her gently worn designer items. “I was looking for an easy, fun, and financially smart way to clean out my closet and get something in return,” she says.

Clothing is assigned a number of points depending on its retail price, its condition, and desirability.

Give + Take’s swapping strategy works on a point system. Clothing is assigned a number of points depending on its retail price, its condition, and desirability. For instance, a dress that’s worth $150 will get you 150 points to shop with. Hunting down an item that falls within your “budget” is easy, as well. The store’s 1,500-plus pieces, which cover everything from masstige to couture, are divided into three rooms according to price. For ladies looking to look good for almost nothing in L.A., Give + Take is a great way to keep clothes out of the landfill while dressing to impress."

Mickey & Coco

DIY outfit idea of today. Via Lookbook.nu.

OutsaPop Trashion DIY tutorial - spiked vinyl hat

You´ll need:
secondhand hat
spikes
scissors

The spikes are surprisingly heavy so the hat you choose for this project, should be sturdy enough to handle the weight. If it becomes too heavy, pin an elastic band around the back of your head. It helps to hold the hat better on. Attach it to the hat with safety pins.

Slit to fit - Sharon Wauchob Fall 2010

I luv the boxy leather dresses by Sharon Wauchob. Slit to fit. Her whole Fall 2010 collection was full of slit detailing, both in leather and silk. This technique is very similar to what Gareth Pugh used in his Summer 2010 collection. Watch the video here to see how they are done so you can have a go at one of your jersey or leather fashions. My version would be t-shirts first pinned together to form a bulgy dress and then the pieces cut to slits (not all of them). Sew together and wear.

Photos, model Georgia Frost photographed by Jenny Hands for Karen Magazine "Raven" editorial and Vogue.com.

Dreamland

Modern native

Secondhand leather skirt with the hem slit to fringes. Add metal or wooden beads. Modern look with native american influences. Via Cartoon Styles.

It´s hip to be square - iPhone Square

Tara from Study NY tipped me to a new device that could help boost sales for many crafters and small time DIYers all over the world. Introducing the iPhone Square! Anyone who´s ever done sample sales, fleamarkets, trade shows, craft fairs immediately sees the potential. I´ve been there too. So many times people come up to the events with no cash and then you lose the sale cause there are no ATM's around. Also the credit card systems designed for shops are way too expensive for small time business. Square allows merchants to use their iPhones or iPads to process credit card payments on the spot. Unlike most credit card processing services, Square requires no merchant account, no contract, no monthly fees, no monthly minimums, and no expensive equipment or setup fees. The only fee is a per transaction rate which is still cheaper than most credit card processing services. The fee is 2.75% + $0.15 for swiped cards (card present) and 3.5% + $0.15 for keyed-in or (card-not-present) transactions. The only thing I´m not too keen about is the verification system.. By on-screen signature? Com'on.. I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Finland we use PIN-numbers for card purchase verification. I think it is much safer than signatures. It still remains to be seen how secure and usable this software is, but I´m definately intrigued about this new little box and will continue following up on it. Let me know if you have personal experiences on Square and how it works for you!

Study NYC zipper cuffs

I was very delighted to see Tara St. James from Study NY made it to OAK NYC with her hand sewn zipper cuffs. I met her in New York last September and we had a lovely evening with her friends talking fashion and just having a laugh. Fashion needs more designers like her.

Bigfoot

Tutorial by P.S. I Made This....

Swallowtail

Make a t-shirt a bit more festive with tailcoat or dress coat styled "swallowtail" flaps sewn to hem in the back. Via KnightCat.

VOGUE Taiwan November 2010

Refashion ideas:

• Army coat made longer with and additional piece sewn to hem. Fabric from an old jacket with similar fabric.
• (Denim) shirt collar refashion. Take out the old collar and pleat a new one using fabric from another shirt. Sew into place.

VOGUE Taiwan November 2010
Photographed by Naomi Yang
Model: Mathilde Frachon
Stylist: Marine Braunschvig
Hair: Jean-Luc
Makeup: Helene Vashien

DIY tutorial - Compai’s T-Shirt Scarf

Think of Justina and Faith Blakeney as the Serena and Venus Williams of T-shirt surgery. The sisters are not only the founders of Compai Design Studio, a Los Angeles-based creative consultancy, but they’re also the authors of several do-it-yourself primers, including 99 Ways to Cut, Sew, Trim, and Tie Your T-Shirt into Something Special. Here, the sisters Blakeney demonstrate how easy it is to make your own necklace-scarf hybrid from a T-shirt that’s lost its luster. The no-sew method takes a mere four steps—and the fourth step is completely optional.

Via Ecouterre.

It´s a scarf.. or it can be a bag!

The husband-wife team behind Symmetry Goods, which launched this fall, has found a way to give scarves the structure they typically lack: They’ve added hardware, which can be attached to grommets any way you’d like—or left off completely. You can use both straps at once and turn this scarf into a bag. The originals retail for $225.00... Or way less if you DIY it! Take one of your old big wool scarfs and punch grommets to each corner on a large scarf and a purse strap or chain. And you have a chunky and warm scarf that doubles also as a bag!

Via One Of a Kind.