The competition is coming to an end, voting came be found HERE.
Thanks a million!

So I have a confession to make, for every challenge I go a little on the crazy side and research everything.  I think it’s the teacher in me.  I look up definitions, histories, and scour Pinterest like there’s no tomorrow.  For some reason, everything I loved during my asymmetrical research, was a formal dress.  So I might have gone a little more crazy and made one for myself.  I’ve always wanted to, but never had a reason or the motivation until this competition.  And don’t you dare think I won’t find a reason to wear it, I’ve already thought of a few:

–An Oscar Party at my house (good excuse to throw a party)
–On formal night on cruise (also a good reason to go on a cruise, so win-win)
–As a formal dance dress for my younger sisters
–Halloween as a costume
–Around the house, you know, to feel extra special
–If I ever get invited to the White House
–If I want to get super fancy at a ballet or symphony

So basically, this dress is going to help me throw a party, go on a cruise, celebrate Halloween, clean my house, meet the president, and attend a cultural event.  Thank you, dress!

This refashion began with a tiny slip dress from the 1990s.  And I mean really tiny.  The tag says it’s a size 1.  Is that even a size? I thought all sizes were even.  Needless to say, the dress did not fit me.  I couldn’t zip 3/4s of the zipper.  You’ll see that I’m holding it, not wearing it in the before picture.  I got this for free at the same swap meet I got the robe from last week’s Boho Chic Refashion.

Now back to the research, according to the definition given by Google, asymmetrical means, “having parts that fail to correspond to one another in shape, size, or arrangement; lacking symmetry.”  I just assumed that it meant if you drew a line through the middle, the sides would not match.  To add more of an asymmetrical element, I decided to use another item for the bottom half of the dress. That way the material wouldn’t correspond. I found a petticoat at Savers and knew it would be perfect.  The only problem was that it was very white, and my dress was cream.  Because most of it was polyester, I knew from experience that dye wouldn’t work on it.  So I added one layer of gold tulle I had in my stash (this is okay to do according to Refashion Runway rules–I checked.)

The hardest part was sizing up the dress.  It took hours to retrofit the top so that I could actually zip it.  I ended up replacing the zipper with a longer one, adding a higher back, and cap sleeves.  I also cut the bottom of the dress in a diagonal to add to the asymmetry, and took it in for less of an a-line and more of a mermaid fit.  Here’s some of the alterations diagrammed below:

I also know from past experience that spray paint is actually very usable on clothing, it’s permanent, and you can even wash the item. I got a gorgeous black lace dress from Savers that was too big, it was priced very well because there was also a lot of damage to the lace. I realized the lace would need to be reenforced in order to last on the dress, I also didn’t want to have the stark contrast between white and black. That’s why I decided to spray paint it gold. That gave it the reenforcement while also lending it a beautiful antique gold color. I plan on using the rest of the gorgeous lace in another refashion later! It will not be wasted!

Lastly, I cut two of the flowers from the lace and placed some earrings through them to make matching earrings.

Special thanks to my sister, DeAnna, from DeAnna Adele Photography for taking my “after” pictures.  I’ve taken all of my own pictures for this competition and last week it took me 3 hours!  It was so nice to not have to use the tripod and remote, plus, she’s amazing.