Goodwill Alterations with Chanté Gibbs
Chanté is a local thrift blogger and sustainable designer. She is our inspiration and guide to exploring what can be done with some creative alterations and updates of thrifted finds. Each month she starts with a concept, shops our stores, and reworks her thrift finds into high-fashion pieces. She takes us on a thrift journey from start to finish, and it’s a great ride every month!
After doing some research on Halloween costumes, I decided to recreate Lydia Deetz’s dress from the wedding scene towards the end of the new Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice movie.
Her wedding dress and veil were all dark red in different fabrics like tulle and lace. My main goal was to find a dress or skirt that I could use to make the base of the costume and the fabric for my veil. Before even reaching the dress section, I came across a cute burgundy tulle skirt. The skirt was not in my size, but I knew I could upcycle it since it had an elastic waistband.
I couldn’t find a long-tiered dress in my size, but I eventually found a burgundy Shein dress with old fashioned detailing and tulle sleeves. The dress went to my knees and didn’t have a lot of volume, but I knew it would look great with the tulle skirt I had found earlier. Lastly, I looked through the blankets section and found a pretty lace tablecloth with flower detailing. I loved how it matched perfectly with both the burgundy dress and skirt and knew I had to buy it for this DIY project.
How do I make it?
1. First, I tried on the dress to see how it fits on me. I noticed the top of the dress was tighter than expected.
2. Then I put on the tulle skirt to see where I wanted it to lay and how much excess fabric there would be. The skirt was heavier than the Shein dress, so I decided to pin the skirt to fit me above my waist instead of sewing it to the dress.
3. There wasn’t too much excess, so I gathered the extra fabric to one side of the skirt. I folded it down at the side seam and used one of my big safety pins to secure it in place.
4. Time to Cut: Next, I placed the lace tablecloth on my table and marked horizontal notches on each end. I used my shears to cut across the cloth.
5. I put on the dress and layered the tulle skirt over it.
6. Lastly, I draped the piece of the lace cloth I had just cut on top of my head and used bobby pins to hold it down.
What was your inspiration?
I absolutely love the Halloween season! I was so happy when the sequel to Beetlejuice came out this fall. I grew up watching the cartoon and movie, so it seemed right to base this month’s Stitched up on this iconic movie.
Shopping Tips: About 35 million costumes end up in a landfill each year. Here are some sustainable tips for this Halloween season:
- Visit your local thrift store. Places like Goodwill have a designated section just for Halloween!
- Shop on secondhand apps like eBay, Depop, Poshmark, etc.
- You can’t go wrong with wearing what you already have in your closet
