Personal Style | Making It Work

Beauties,

Sometimes it's inevitable. You purchase a thrifted piece without trying it on and you guessed it, it's too small. I not only thrift in local stores, but I also thrift online and the risk you take with online thrifting is that despite your best efforts, you may end up with a piece that doesn't quite fit the way you imagined. When I saw this dress online, I loved it so I quickly made the purchase. When it arrived, I took it to the cleaners and after I picked it up, I definitely got a surprise.

Thrift Tip: When it comes to thrift clothing, the dry cleaners is the most thorough method in cleaning. The downfall is the dry cleaners uses a dryer to dry your clothing so your pieces have the potential of shrinking depending on the material.

When I picked up the dress from the dry cleaners, not only could I tell that it shrunk, I could no longer wear it as a dress. It was too short and too tight in the torso. However, just like with most things in life, there are ways to make it work. When it comes to dresses that are too small, if they can be zipped or buttoned closed, you can wear them over jeans or leggings. If they are unable to be zipped or buttoned, you may be able to style it like a jacket or kimono.

As my mom always says, "there's more than one way to skin a cat." In other words, there are several ways to make an item work. So next time this happens to you, think of a creative way you can style the piece rather than giving it away!