Shopping for vintage clothes is a lot like treasure hunting (or life and a box of chocolates) – you never know what you’re going to get. One day you’ll fall in love with a piece, the next you’ll go home empty-handed.
The thrift shop is a paradise for vintage clothes lovers, DIY enthusiasts and those on a tight budget. Whether you get lucky and find the perfect piece or not, there are always patterns, textures and materials that spark your interest. The good news: You can make pretty much all vintage clothes your own, with only a few simple DIY tricks that can upgrade common thrift shop finds.
Choosing to buy vintage clothes from a thrift store is an economical and environmentally friendly decision. Billionsof textiles are thrown out every year, including clothing, shoes and towels.
Unfortunately, many people wouldn’t consider wearing pre-loved clothes, because they’re afraid to look out of style. The simple solution; altering common thrift shop finds to make them unique and trendy.
Easy and quick upgrades like a simple hem or adding a patch, can turn a common thrift shop item into a wardrobe staple.
Don’t know how to start? The first lesson to learn is by far the most important: Not every item is a winner. Bad fabric, for example, is hard to replace. You’ll want to look out for fabrics that will stand the test of time.
Always good choices are cotton, wool and silk. Besides choosing the correct fabric, you should also consider sizing. Sometimes the best items have a size you wouldn’t normally shop. No worries – common thrift shop finds that come in a bigger size than you normally wear can, in most cases, easily be altered. You can always take away fabric. What you can’t do, unfortunately, is magically make a dress larger.
When you’re hunting common thrift shop finds and are planning alterations, consider how much time you want to spend on them and if the tasks will mesh with your sewing abilities. You don’t need a lot of practice with needle and thread, but you should feel somewhat comfortable using them.
You’ll also see that it often doesn’t take much to turn common thrift shop finds upside-down and create a completely new piece. We’re here to help on that front!
Here are a few easy things you can do to upgrade vintage clothes!
5.) Boring Denim + Bleach = Beautiful Ombre
Thatcheapbitch.com
With four simple steps, you can make your very own ombre denim shirt. Simply get a $5 basic denim shirt, which you can find in almost any thrift shop. Besides the shirt, you’ll need a bucket, generic bleach and a little bit of patience.
This is how you do it
1. Fold the shirt in half and dip it into the bucket of bleach, prepared according to the instructions on the package. Dip the shirt in as far as you’d like the bleached part to reach. Halfway is a good start.
2. Very slowly pull the shirt out of the bleach to allow there to be a color difference between the fully bleached shirt and the original denim color. This is how you create an ombre effect.
3. Let the bottom of your shirt soak in the bleach for about three hours.
4. Then take it out and dry it in the bathtub to avoid dripping bleach all over your carpet. That’s it. Just like that, you’ve created an ombre look that would cost you $80 and more at any high-fashion store!
This is where we found the inspiration for this DIY project.
