I take pretty good care of my clothes, steaming and sending items for dry cleaning regularly. So when pieces no longer fit right or get too big/small for me, I have a hard time simply donating them to Goodwill. As they are usually quality, expensive items which have often only been worn once!
In the past, I’d store them in Rubbermaid containers taking up valuable real estate in my storage unit. Occasionally I’d swap a few pieces with a gf or two who, like me, go up-and-down in weight regularly. Last summer, I discovered a fantastic first-time-event called BigDealToronto where various plus sized bloggers join forces and throw a pop-up sale where we get to shop their closets! But since I wasn’t a blogger nor in-the-know about these things, I simply shopped their racks and picked me up a few new-to-me gems for crazy low prices!
Then later that year I attended an event called Consign Your Curves, similar idea where 22 plus size fashionistas, including blogger/model Karyn aka KillerKurves and fashion designer Jessica Biffi rented clothing racks in a warehouse to sell their gently used or never been worn plus size clothing. This time I could actually participate and sell my items! This was a huge undertaking as I ended up pricing, tagging and carting 6 containers full of fab barely worn clothes for an entire afternoon resulting in a total sales of upwards of $200! Pretty damn good return on a Saturday spent in Guelph…considering these clothes were going to new homes to be loved, rather than just sitting taking up space in my storage unit.
This year, I’m trying to keep a promise I made to myself – repurpose and refresh as much as I can from my current closet without buying more stuff. So I began with taking inventory of my closet, pulling out the pieces in the back that I haven’t seen in a while and I noticed that much of what was back there was either too long, needed repair (loose buttons, torn seam, fallen hem, etc.) and to my delight, too big!
There were a number of pieces that upon second look, I’d like to have altered/fixed/adjusted and reintroduce them into my wardrobe. Here’s a list of the items (sadly, it only occurred to me to take ‘before’ pics now, so I do not have any to share for all the items on my Fix-it List below):
- 2 dresses I picked up from ConsignYourCurves event – one needs a seam re-stichted, the other needs the arms & neckline taken in which means a whole new zipper moved
- 1 long dress from Reitmans I swapped a gf for many moons ago – it’s kinda of frumpy on me with its current length, so I’m shortening it significantly….dun dun dunnn
- 1 lace-illusion skirt from Lane Bryant – this needs to be taken in nearly 4 inches (yay!)
- 1 hi-low new-ish dresses from Forever21+… but being petite the entire hi-lo needs to begin higher.
- And lastly…the below Groovy Polka Dot dress, also from Forever21+
This is what its suppose to look like…stopping mid-thigh. Isn’t it cute? 
And here’s what it looks like on me: The front is wayyyy too long. The back is super cute with the cutouts…buuut not so easy to wear a bra. I love-love-loved this dress! So much that I have already worn it to the office a few times with the lenght as is, wearing a long open sweater cardi with it. But it def needs adjustments.
Since moving to Queen West, I’m yet to find new VIPs I need in my life: a Vet, a Dog Groomer, a Nail Salon , a Dry Cleaner and a Tailor/Seamstress. I’ve recently found a combination Dry Cleaner/Alterations spot on Duffrin @ King West Sts. They’ve promised to work their magic and have all my above items ready for pick-up by Monday.
Stay tuned for the results and for my review of their shop & sewing skills friends. Fingers crossed they make me love these pieces again! 🙂
PPMeow! 