The Very Bad, Awful, Horrible, Terrible Denim Dress Makeover

Denim dresses are everywhere right now in stores for fall. They are very cool and can be worn well into the winter months using a cardigan, tights and boots. I love them. I love anything denim for that matter. But some of them, especially the cooler ones, can be a bit pricey.

Years and years ago, way, way back into the 90s, denim dresses were cool. I loved them then, I love them now. I will be 80 years old in the nursing home probably wearing my denim dress and boots. Hopefully they are Doc Marten boots. Then my grandchildren can proudly say, "My granny wears combat boots."

I knew I could renovate a denim dress if I had one to work with. Late on a Saturday afternoon, I ran off to one of my favorite thrift stores to search. Once I have an idea in my head, it is stuck. I threw open the door to the thrift store, knowing full well they had 20 minutes before closing time. I knew I only needed 5 minutes to find the perfect dress. Before I could even walk 10 paces, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the store employee who sternly told me they were closing early.

"But I only need 5 minutes and I have to find a dress!" I desperately pleaded.

"No dress for you!" said thrift store nazi. Ok, she didn't actually say that. But she did kick me out within two seconds. Sadness.....

I would like to state for the record that this stern, grumpy thrift store administrator was NOT my friend Amanda, who would have graciously let me in her store 20 minutes before closing. She gets people like me.

The next day I returned to grumpy thrift store happy to find that miss sunshine was not working. I then found the most horrible, awful, terrible monster of a denim dress.

It looked like something out of Breaking Amish. Ugh. Don't mess with a guy named Levi....

The dress was very large but the fabric was in great condition. The tag inside gave me the indication that it was from the mid 90s. At one time, this dress was cool. It had potential. It still had some coolness left in it. I'd like to say I am the fairy godmother of this dress. With a wave of my needle, I planned to make it cool again.

First thing I did was take in the sides of the dress. I took it in a good two and half inches on each side, thereby removing the pockets. I hate pockets in my dresses anyway. Like I need any extra padding on my hips. As if!!  I then cut the sleeves off and then very carefully removed the front pockets. Because the pockets were on the dress for so long, the fabric was darker underneath. Originally I had intended to leave the pockets off. I then added new sleeves and new pockets of white cotton lace. 

Once the sleeves were on and the new pockets, I made the dress a great deal shorter. Not too short where an old lady like myself would be shamelessly showing too much leg, but just enough for it to have the coolness factor.  Finally, I removed the blah buttons and added new white buttons that were similar looking to the lace. 

A new dress was born....

I added a brown belt and the dress was ready to go. I had enough denim left over from the bottom length that I cut off for another denim dress project. A girl can't have too many denim dresses, can she? Besides, I can save them and wear them in the day room of the nursing home!