This whole 30 for 30 Challenge has got me thinking about clothes like crazy. Making clothes, wearing clothes, swapping clothes, reusing old clothes in new ways, and giving away clothes I don’t wear anymore. When I started the challenge, I boxed up a huge amount of my clothes and sent them away with a close friend of mine who volunteers at a house for women and children who have lost their homes- helping them to get back on their feet. It’s nice to think about my clothes being enjoyed by those folks.
I have an outrageously cool girl-cousin who lives in Brooklyn. When we were kids, she would bring me huge boxes of her clothes when she would come visit in the summer. I got to pick through them and keep whatever I wanted. We didn’t have a shopping-mall closer than three hours from our house, so this was the closest I ever got to a shopping spree, and it made my little-girl heart skip a happy beat.
Aren’t second-hand clothes great? Whether you get them handed down to you, or you like to shop at thrift-stores, the thrill of acquiring something really cool for really cheap is a wonderful feeling.
My favorite secret spot to shop for second-hand clothes is Mike’s side of the closet. Shhhh! Don’t tell him! Ok actually he already knows about this habit of mine…I repeatedly get in trouble for wearing his flannel shirts and wool socks, and even sometimes his tighty-whites, which are huge on me and I have to fold them over like five times. He knew what he was getting into when he married me, though. I have a history of wearing boy clothes.
The tragedy here is that I never had a sister. I never had anyone to share clothes with growing up. My best friends were {and still are} three sisters, all with names starting with “C”. I would see the Three C’s sharing clothes with each other all the time, and it made me enormously jealous. The fact that they had each others’ closets to go searching in for something fun to wear when their own clothes seemed blah……but all I had was my little brother.
Photo credit: tomboystyle.blogspot.com
{Sorry brother, you know I love you. And I’m pretty sure you know the next part of this story…}
So what did I do? I took clothes from my little brother’s closet. He would catch me wearing an entire outfit comprised from his closet, and it drove him absolutely crazy. I told him fair’s fair and that he could wear my clothes if he wanted to….but he never wanted to….Oh, what the boys in my life have to put up with! But that’s the story of how I developed my tomboy-ish style.
One of my most favorite blogs, Tomboy Style, has a new series called Q&A in which real-life tomboys are interviewed. I love the questions and the answers. These are wildly independent and unique women to look up to and admire. In a world where it seems like all the worst human qualities are glorified and deemed as “cool”, it’s wonderful to see real, intelligent, brave women lifted up. They make me proud to be a woman. Also a great place to get outfit inspiration. Check it out!
Sometimes second-hand clothes need a little freshening up, though. I love this post with some really easy ways to alter clothes and make them fresh again. For example, this gingham blouse used to be red and white before a good dye-job. Much prettier now, and any stains from its previous life were covered up.
Check out the full post for more tips like this. And I thought of one on my own, too. Screen-printing! You could make a boring old shirt look awesome by screen-printing an original design on it. This is a pretty ambitious project if you don’t already have a screen, but there are several good videos online, like this one showing how to make a screen, and this one talking about the right ink to use, this one showing how to cut out your design, and this one showing how to actually get your design onto the shirt.
I did a lot of screen-printing in college, and it was really, really fun. There is something so rewarding about seeing your artwork on your own clothing. Once you get the hang of it, you will be hooked, and you will probably want to screen-print everything in your house- pillows, towels, clothing, table linens…
An old tea-towel is given new life by Etsy seller ohlittlerabbit
If you like J Crew as much as I do, you already know that the cool thing right now is screen-printed shirts. They have whole tables of screen-printed shirts in their stores. But you can have way more fun and spend way less money and end up with something way more unique and special by doing it yourself. And if you start with second-hand clothing, you’re reusing instead of buying something new. Win-win-win!
Please do a little homework before starting this project, and try to find inks that are eco-friendly. This article is very helpful in that regard. Save leftover ink in mason jars when you’re done- they keep for a long time- and wash your screen thoroughly so you can use it to screen again and again. Happy screening!
