Recycled Costumes

Just closed the last show I did costumes for. The Eco-Fashion exhibit I posted about earlier inspired me to show some of the costumes since they are all thrifted but two.
I also did a few refashions when I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. Here are photos of those:

This apron is my favorite of the refashions. I have made so many vintage style aprons I can't even count them anymore. This photo doesn't do it justice because of the lighting. It's actually a beautiful light aqua rayon. I made it from a baggy dress from the '90s. This is Barbara Tarbuck, by the way, from "General Hospital". Isn't she adorable?

This skirt is made from a jumper dress. I needed a Catholic School uniform skirt and couldn't find anything in her size.

There was another dress this character wore but apparently we don't have a picture of it. It had to look frumpy and also hide the school uniform underneath for a fast change. I made it from a maternity dress, cut the sleeves off to a jumper and velcroed the shoulders to make the change faster. Also added a couple of big black buttons to the front. The dress was a gray and black kind of herringbone knit.

My favorite costume piece in the show was this beautiful vintage smoking jacket I got at Playclothes vintage store in Burbank. It's from the '70s which is roughly when this play takes place. (The timeframe is vague because of the fable-like quality of the story and because it's set in a small town in Ireland which time has somewhat forgotten) The actor wearing the jacket is the lovely and talented Harry Hamlin.

It's Flipping Hot!!!

I wore about a pound of sunblock because it was a million degrees outside. But I got to wear my summer embroidery shirt so I guess it all worked out.

Vintage embroidered shirt-thrift

Abercrombie shorts-thrift

Sandals-Marshalls

Fashion Institute of Technology - Eco-Fashion: Going Green

This exhibit at FIT in NY looks amazing. I really want to go.
Fashion Institute of Technology - Eco-Fashion: Going Green
 It features not only clothes from the past that are eco-friendly, but also some of the worst offenders in the other direction. This is my favorite:

The color is called Poison Green and it's dyed with arsenic. What??? Here's a quote from the Los Angeles Times article:

"New synthetic dyes brought exciting colors to apparel, but there were health ramifications, as an 1865 two-piece "poison green" silk tulle dress dyed with arsenic attests. "We tried not to breathe in while we were handling it," Hill says."


Yikes!

According to the FIT article one of the best ways to wear eco-friendly clothing is to recycle. Yeah, we know. Pretty much everyone on my blogroll lives by that theory. Please go through the rest of your day knowing you are a hero and one day you may have a museum exhibit dedicated to your efforts. And try not to wear anything called "Poison Green".