EDBE 8Y08 Post No. 3 // Formal Wear to Street Wear
Hi there!
If you're new around here, click the link below to follow along with the rest of my Genius Hour journey!
Click me! https://mrsderksensblog.blogspot.com/
If you've been here before, I'm sure you know the drill by now... Welcome back!
This past week marks the actual beginning of starting my GH project. Prior to this, I was working on a bunch of preliminary assignments relevant to Genius Hour, but not as exciting as getting to start the hands-on portion of this assignment. With that being said, I won't bore you with anymore introductory components.
So, let's get to it!
I believe we left off on a *huge* cliff hanger in last week's post:
"will I find the perfect item thrifting for my GH project? Or will I go home empty handed?"
Something like that, right?
Well, the wait is over. It's finally the moment we've all been waiting for...
The big reveal...
Did I find the perfect old/used item to make new again? YES! I did!
* the room filled with sighs of relief *
After a failed thrifting trip in Toronto, I decided to make one more, last ditch attempt to find the perfect item. However this time, I simply went to a Value Village in my city, Hamilton. Walking in I was hesitant as this option seemed a lot more unlikely because it wasn't in a ritzy part of town like Toronto's Value Village was. BUT, after about five minutes in the store I was happily surprised as my arms were filling with a multitude of different options I could transform through styling and DIY's.
After a trip to the change room it was down to two items:
1. a skirt that wasn't relevant to the project, I just wanted it, and
2. a dress that only needed to be transformed through styling, no DIY component was necessary.
Although this would usually be considered a successful trip to the thrift store, I couldn't help but feel a little defeated. The dress I found could work for my GH project, but it wasn't as exciting or impressive to just style a tired article of clothing. I wanted something that needed a little bit of DIY help, and a pinch of styling help.
With that, I marched back to the clothing section, likely with a clear sense of determination and desperateness on my face. Maybe there was a pair of jeans I missed in the women's section? So I flipped through all the jeans and - nothing. Maybe I missed a pair of jeans in the mens section? So I flipped through all the jeans and - again, nothing. Maybe in the sweater, t-shirt, or blouse sections? Zero, zilch, nada, n-o-t-h-i-n-g.
My future was not looking too bright. Just as I was about to accept my defeat, I found it.
There, in the women's blazer section that I had already looked in twice before, I found the perfect item.
A blazer. If you didn't see that one coming you need to pay more attention!
As I pulled the blazer off the rack I was filled with excitement. This could work! As long as this jacket meets the requirements of my self-made thrifters checklist, all systems are a go!
1. Does the item fit? Perfectly, check.
2. Is the item relatively clean? Besides the dog hair, check.
3. Is the item a reputable brand? Daniel Hechter, check.
4. Is the item reasonably priced? Yes, big check.
Story Time!
One of the deal breakers for this item was the fact that my Husband manages a store that sells a bunch of Daniel Hechter clothing items. If it weren't for my husband talking about this brand, I wouldn't have known how reputable the label actually is! Daniel Hechter is considered a premium product in my Husband's store, as he is a french designer that sells top of the line formal wear for men. And if that's not a sign, I don't know what is. It all felt so meant to be!
Which brings me to my next 'meant to be' point: Daniel Hechter is a men's formal wear brand (or so I thought). Meaning that the jacket I now own was once worn by a man, but somehow it ended up in the women's section of value village, and somehow it fits me perfectly...
Now, this can only mean two of three things:
1. The previous male owner of this jacket was oddly small,
2. I have oddly broad shoulders, or
3. This jacket is totally meant to be
But for the purpose of my dignity, we are going to 'confidently' assume that option one and three are the correct answers.
Anyways, back to the important stuff!
I checked out my items at the cash and drove home bright eyed and bushy tailed over all the potential my thrifting finds had.
Oh! I almost forgot to mention that the jacket was only $14.99! After some digging around on the internet, I established that, on average, Daniel Hechter jackets, new, can sell anywhere from around $200.00 to upwards of $600.00! Based on the quality of my jacket, I saved approximately $585.01 - now that's a deal! After some more digging around on the internet I came to one of the most reassuring discoveries of my life: Daniel Hechter sold women's clothing too! Hooray! I no longer have to wonder if I have oddly broad shoulders!
About a week later I finally got around to starting the transformation of this jacket. I began with taking some before pictures, so viewers would be able to spot the differences once the DIY's were complete. I knew that this DIY would be rather subtle, so before and after pictures seemed like a good idea to me.
Here are some of the before pictures. As you can see, my shoulders look very broad because of the shoulder pads, giving the jacket an overall bulky, masculine look. Which, for the record, is not the look I was going for.
To combat this issue, I decided to attempt to remove the shoulder pads from the jacket. I didn't have any experience doing this, so I wasn't too sure what to expect from the experience. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself done the modification in under ten minutes - it was super easy! I simply found the seam that was closest to where the shoulder pad was located, snipped the thread, and opened the seam. I then determined where and how the shoulder pads were attached. Turns out, they were sewn in too, so I just repeated the same steps I did before!
After the shoulder pads were successfully out, I slipped the jacket back on and the difference was amazing! The jacket seemed so much more feminine! By removing the bulk from the shoulders, the entire jacked seemed to become more fitted, taking away the initial masculine vibes.
The next step was to style the jacket. I wanted to make it into something I would actually wear on a daily basis. If you recall, in my first post I mentioned that my personal style can range from street, to girly, to business casual - sometimes all in one day. Initially, I was drawn to styling this jacket with formal wear, simply because of the nature of the piece. The jacket itself came from a formal wear store, so why wouldn't I style it in a business casual manner? After five minutes in my closet I had an outfit I loved, but something felt off. Five minutes seemed too easy, and the outfit seemed too predictable. I wanted to challenge myself a little bit more, so I decided to try and style the jacket into a streetwear outfit. This decision didn't come short of any obstacles, but I eventually found an outfit that I would be happy to wear out and about...
As pictured below, I paired the jacket with a pair of light-wash Levi's jeans, an oversized striped tee that I knotted, some minimalistic gold jewelry, white Nike sneakers, and high white socks.
The only remaining step was to find an appropriate background to photograph the outfit. Living in Hamilton, this was easy! We (as in my personal photographer Husband and I) found parking at the top of the mountain, walked to a clearing in the trees, and had a quick 20 minute photoshoot overlooking the city - a perfect end to a successful day!
Go on, have a little scroll...
Check out how I styled the jacket, and catch a glimpse of this mini Friday afternoon photoshoot!
Before we go, I have to give a huge shout out to my Husband Andreas, who helped me with the photo portion of this project. Without you I would have nothing to show my blog friends. So, thank you Andreas!!!
Well, that's all for now.
Until next time,
See ya!
- JD
If you're new around here, click the link below to follow along with the rest of my Genius Hour journey!
Click me! https://mrsderksensblog.blogspot.com/
If you've been here before, I'm sure you know the drill by now... Welcome back!
This past week marks the actual beginning of starting my GH project. Prior to this, I was working on a bunch of preliminary assignments relevant to Genius Hour, but not as exciting as getting to start the hands-on portion of this assignment. With that being said, I won't bore you with anymore introductory components.
So, let's get to it!
I believe we left off on a *huge* cliff hanger in last week's post:
"will I find the perfect item thrifting for my GH project? Or will I go home empty handed?"
Something like that, right?
Well, the wait is over. It's finally the moment we've all been waiting for...
The big reveal...
Did I find the perfect old/used item to make new again? YES! I did!
* the room filled with sighs of relief *
After a failed thrifting trip in Toronto, I decided to make one more, last ditch attempt to find the perfect item. However this time, I simply went to a Value Village in my city, Hamilton. Walking in I was hesitant as this option seemed a lot more unlikely because it wasn't in a ritzy part of town like Toronto's Value Village was. BUT, after about five minutes in the store I was happily surprised as my arms were filling with a multitude of different options I could transform through styling and DIY's.
After a trip to the change room it was down to two items:
1. a skirt that wasn't relevant to the project, I just wanted it, and
2. a dress that only needed to be transformed through styling, no DIY component was necessary.
Although this would usually be considered a successful trip to the thrift store, I couldn't help but feel a little defeated. The dress I found could work for my GH project, but it wasn't as exciting or impressive to just style a tired article of clothing. I wanted something that needed a little bit of DIY help, and a pinch of styling help.
With that, I marched back to the clothing section, likely with a clear sense of determination and desperateness on my face. Maybe there was a pair of jeans I missed in the women's section? So I flipped through all the jeans and - nothing. Maybe I missed a pair of jeans in the mens section? So I flipped through all the jeans and - again, nothing. Maybe in the sweater, t-shirt, or blouse sections? Zero, zilch, nada, n-o-t-h-i-n-g.
My future was not looking too bright. Just as I was about to accept my defeat, I found it.
There, in the women's blazer section that I had already looked in twice before, I found the perfect item.
A blazer. If you didn't see that one coming you need to pay more attention!
As I pulled the blazer off the rack I was filled with excitement. This could work! As long as this jacket meets the requirements of my self-made thrifters checklist, all systems are a go!
1. Does the item fit? Perfectly, check.
2. Is the item relatively clean? Besides the dog hair, check.
3. Is the item a reputable brand? Daniel Hechter, check.
4. Is the item reasonably priced? Yes, big check.
Story Time!
One of the deal breakers for this item was the fact that my Husband manages a store that sells a bunch of Daniel Hechter clothing items. If it weren't for my husband talking about this brand, I wouldn't have known how reputable the label actually is! Daniel Hechter is considered a premium product in my Husband's store, as he is a french designer that sells top of the line formal wear for men. And if that's not a sign, I don't know what is. It all felt so meant to be!
Which brings me to my next 'meant to be' point: Daniel Hechter is a men's formal wear brand (or so I thought). Meaning that the jacket I now own was once worn by a man, but somehow it ended up in the women's section of value village, and somehow it fits me perfectly...
Now, this can only mean two of three things:
1. The previous male owner of this jacket was oddly small,
2. I have oddly broad shoulders, or
3. This jacket is totally meant to be
But for the purpose of my dignity, we are going to 'confidently' assume that option one and three are the correct answers.
Anyways, back to the important stuff!
I checked out my items at the cash and drove home bright eyed and bushy tailed over all the potential my thrifting finds had.
About a week later I finally got around to starting the transformation of this jacket. I began with taking some before pictures, so viewers would be able to spot the differences once the DIY's were complete. I knew that this DIY would be rather subtle, so before and after pictures seemed like a good idea to me.
Here are some of the before pictures. As you can see, my shoulders look very broad because of the shoulder pads, giving the jacket an overall bulky, masculine look. Which, for the record, is not the look I was going for.
 |
| A before photo of the jacket. |
 |
| A before and after photo of the shoulder pads being removed. |
The next step was to style the jacket. I wanted to make it into something I would actually wear on a daily basis. If you recall, in my first post I mentioned that my personal style can range from street, to girly, to business casual - sometimes all in one day. Initially, I was drawn to styling this jacket with formal wear, simply because of the nature of the piece. The jacket itself came from a formal wear store, so why wouldn't I style it in a business casual manner? After five minutes in my closet I had an outfit I loved, but something felt off. Five minutes seemed too easy, and the outfit seemed too predictable. I wanted to challenge myself a little bit more, so I decided to try and style the jacket into a streetwear outfit. This decision didn't come short of any obstacles, but I eventually found an outfit that I would be happy to wear out and about...
As pictured below, I paired the jacket with a pair of light-wash Levi's jeans, an oversized striped tee that I knotted, some minimalistic gold jewelry, white Nike sneakers, and high white socks.
The only remaining step was to find an appropriate background to photograph the outfit. Living in Hamilton, this was easy! We (as in my personal photographer Husband and I) found parking at the top of the mountain, walked to a clearing in the trees, and had a quick 20 minute photoshoot overlooking the city - a perfect end to a successful day!
Go on, have a little scroll...
Check out how I styled the jacket, and catch a glimpse of this mini Friday afternoon photoshoot!
 |
| The thrifted Daniel Hechter jacket styled into streetwear. |
 |
| A closer look. Note the colour scheme and minimal jewelry! |
 |
| A view from behind. Note how the jacket no longer looks like formal wear! |
 |
| A side view. Note the socks! |
 |
| A view of the view. Note the view! |
 |
| Yet another view. Note how I am walking away... |
Did you note how I was walking away? That signifies me walking away from this blog post. Yup! It's that time already - I know, time flies when you're having fun! I hope you enjoyed this week's post about taking something old and making it new again through thrifting and DIY's! I had so much fun!
Keep your eyes peeled for next week's post when I take on another challenge trying to find the perfect thrift store item to turn into home decor!
WAIT!
Before we go, I have to give a huge shout out to my Husband Andreas, who helped me with the photo portion of this project. Without you I would have nothing to show my blog friends. So, thank you Andreas!!!Well, that's all for now.
Until next time,
See ya!
- JD
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