The restyling or refashioning of garments is by no means a new concept,
severe clothing rations in the 40′s bought about the ‘make do and mend’
philosophy. Sewing patterns often included instructions on how to make a
blouse using a mans shirt in lieu of a piece of fabric and such like.
Going back a little further, in the mid 1930′s Margaret Mitchell had
Scarlett O’Hara wearing a stunning green velvet gown which had being
skillfully restyled from curtains.
Nowadays, we have an array of clothing available to us, an excessive
amount perhaps, that certainly goes well beyond our needs. Additionally,
clothing prices have, and continue to decrease, inevitably meaning the
value we put on them, and the quality we expect from them has diminished
as well.
restylistas is about embracing the ethos of giving your clothes another
jaunt down the runway, figuratively speaking, by restyling them into
something new.
It is about building a community of like-minded folk to share restyles
with, learn and seek inspiration from.
restylistas wants to get people thinking about how we can minimize
consumerism, waste and the size of the footprint we make on our planet.
It does not matter whether you refashion because of the environmental
benefits of not sending clothes to landfills unnecessarily, the
financial benefits of having a new outfit with little to no financial
out lay, or to truly challenge yourself (it is significantly more
complicated than just buying something, or even cut something out of a
solid piece of fabric don’t you agree?).
restylistas encourages you to restyle clothing already in your wardrobe,
bought at second-hand stores or given to you, and to sew using vintage
fabrics. We intend to provide what we hope to become an aesthetically
pleasing site where we can showcase the communities successes.
We welcome guest posts or tutorials, that's all part of the spirit of the community, so if you have something that you would like to share then please, drop us an email, send us a tweet, or write on our wall!
