Restoration and Restyling Unconsciously

Growing up on Whidbey Island, I was definitely inspired to a certain extent by the hippy fashions of my neighbors here in the Pacific Northwest. There were some incredible handmade accessories and clothing I admired, but there was also much I didn't quite understand. When I was younger, I vowed I would never be one of those fugly-hippy-type granolas wearing obviously Salvation Army thrift store fashions, maybe taken in a size or two. I was gonna follow Harpers Baazar and Vogue even if it killed my parents bank accounts!

Unfortunately for me, my parents didn't have that kind of money, and being of the sensible pre-baby boomer generation I would never be allowed to buy a pair of $900 shoes to wear for one season, (And they were serious!). So I subscribed to the then W newspaper and began sewing my own creations. My junior year of high school I joined the newspaper and kept the girls of OHHS abreast of the latest and hippest fashions.

Unfortunately for me, I did live on an island, and while we did have a bridge on the north end, it still took a while to get off the island for anything, let alone the right fabric or pattern for a project. So I began to use what I had, or could find in my mothers stash of fabrics, our local thrift store, or any available closet. I thought I was being creative, turns out I was "Upcycling"!

It was also the early '90's and this funny little Seattle fashion called "grunge" was rocking' the runways! I was most definitely in fashion heaven! Not only were the high-fashions straight off the backs of my Western Washington neighbors, I had all the materials I needed to be extremely fashionable at my fingertips.