Necessity Is The Mother of Alteration

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had taken scissors to some old dresses. Here's one of the products of that experiment. Basically, I've collected about a dozen cheap dresses from various charity shops. Most of them are circa 1985 and fairly unflattering (mid-shin length... shudder). Because I'm going to be in hot, hot places all summer, I knew I'd be wanting some summer dresses. But because I'm pinching pennies for the actual traveling, I don't consider buying more clothing an option.

This dress was actually from my grandmother's rag bag (she's an avid quilter and collects tons of old clothing to harvest). I salvaged it and then forgot about it.

I chopped about 16 inches off of it, left it unhemmed, and sinched it with an old Army Surplus belt. I wore it with some gladiator sandals today and my roommate said that all I needed to complete the outfit was a trident.

The crazy people on the bus seemed to like it. So did the greasy pervert who asked me if I'd like to keep him company. If I'd taken my roommate's advice and carried a trident, I would've impaled him, in true gladiator form.
I have four more altered dresses, so I'll try to post pictures when I can get around to it.

In the mean time, I recommend taking scissors to any boring old dresses you may have collecting dust in your closet. Reuse and Recycle!