How to Makeover an Outfit

In this blog I will be talking about how you can give an outfit a makeover! I did it just this past week, so i figured i would write a blog about it. I am going to a gala this weekend and everyone attending was told that we would have to dress up... so after hearing this I began a tedious search through my ever-expanding closet to try to find a dress that I could wear. Luckily, I found one that I had bought at Charlotte Russe about a year or two ago.
Unfortunately, I noticed that one of the jewels on the straps was missing. The straps each have 3 goldish-orange gems, so the missing one was fairly noticeable. Normally i would just go out and try to buy a new dress, but being a time and cash-strapped college kid, I decided to make do with it instead. To fix my dilemma i decided to make a trip to Wal Mart to try to find a replacement gem. I found one that was so close to the original that it was almost identical, but it was still different enough to bug me. What i decided to do was rip out the original gem on the opposite side parallel to the missing one and replace both gems to even out the garment. Plus I now have an extra original gem and an extra new gem, just in case any fall out again.
So now that I have shared my story of how I madeover my own garment, I am going to give my readers some tips so you too can alter, or completely transform an outfit.

Rip your own jeans:
We've all seen the ripped jeans trend. Some may hate it, and some may love it. I am going to explain how to do it so you can avoid spending $70 on strategically ripped jeans, and instead do it yourself on a less expensive pair.
1)First, find a pair of jeans that you don't mind ripping... maybe they have a small stain that you just can't get out or they are starting to get worn out.
2)Next, using scissors make a small horizontal cut in the jeans wherever you want the rip to be. (Make sure you try them on beforehand and mark with chalk where you want the rips). If your jeans had a stain, you could make the hole wherever the stain is so that you will be cutting the stain out.
3)Then, slowly pull the two sides of the rip apart so it widens as much as you want it to.
4) After that, make a vertical cut at the end of the first cut so it makes a right angle. Repeat step 3.
5) Repeat step 4 on the other end of the first cut so that you have 3 ends of a box.
6)Finally,finish off the hole by making a small horizontal slit and using it to tear off the flap of the jeans that you just created. You should end with a box-shaped hole. You can continue the distressed look of the hole by gently pulling out threads on the sides, top, and bottom of the hole to make it frayed and washing it to help it fray. You're all done. Now you add more holes, wear the jeans, or try wearing them over a pair of colored leggings so the leggings peep through.

Make your own boatneck top:
I've seen this trend a lot recently-the boatneck top with a different colored tank layered under it. This is how you can try it.
1) First you need a t-shirt. It can be either tight fitting or loose, whatever you prefer.
2) Using scissors, make a small horizontal cut at the top of the shirt about one inch from the neck opening. (While it may seem that the cut should be further from the neckline than an inch, keep it an inch for starters because the opening will get a lot bigger once it is ripped and if it still isn't big enough for your taste, you can always make it bigger).
3) Then, very slowly rip the collar of the shirt off, trying to keep the rip fairly symmetrical on both sides so the hole doesn't get too big or lopsided. It is very important that you rip the shirt, and don't cut it because cutting will not give the desired effect.
4) You're finished! Layer your new boatneck shirt over a spaghetti-strapped shirt or a tank top to complete your look.

Transform a shirt with rips:
We all have shirts that we don't wear. Instead of throwing it out or leaving it in your closet to collect dust, give it a makeover!
1) First you will need a shirt. It can be any shape or size. If it is a t-shirt, I would start by making it into a boatneck shirt (see above for directions on how to do that).
2) Next, put on the shirt and decide what you want to do to it. Mark where you want the rips to be on the shirt with chalk (this is best done while wearing the shirt).
3) Next, use scissors to make small horizontal slits wherever you want the rips to be. Remember that you will only be able to make horizontal rips, not vertical ones because of the way the material of shirts is made.
4) Slowly pull the rip apart until it is as small or big as you want it to be. You could try making a sort of pyramid effect by making a parallel row of rips with each a tiny bit bigger than the last. Another idea is to put random rips around the shirt or make a rip right above the chest so you can layer a cute patterned or lace edged tank top under it and let the lace peek through.