We’re back this month with Cassidy Burel for Stitched Up: Goodwill Alterations! Cassidy is a fabulously talented Fashion Designer, and Owner of CassB By Design. She is our inspiration and our guide to exploring what can be done with some selective alterations of thrifted finds! She starts with a concept, shops our stores, and creates beautifully crafted fashion masterpieces. This month she has brought us a gorgeous, whimsical, metallic look just in time for Spring!
Can you describe your process for selecting Goodwill items for this piece?
My stylist Eutasha scoured high and low for a silver metallic color palette for our look and preferably, something strapless for a very soft and whimsical aesthetic. She always takes photos and sends me the options of what she’s found and after discussing the options, we decided on a piece that we were excited about.
What was your process for altering this piece?
The strapless cocktail dress we acquired for our look was about two sizes too big. Depending on what you’re altering, two sizes too big is about as large as you can alter down without changing the fundamental design elements of the piece. Essentially, that is as much change you can do to the size without noticing you did anything. The goal of course for a seamstress when altering a piece to fit, is to make all the changes necessary, have it fit better, and make it look like you didn’t do anything at all.
For this cocktail dress, I opened up the inside, popped the tacks at the waist line attaching the liner to the fashion fabric and turned it completely wrong-side-out so I could get to the seams I needed to take in. After trying it on, it needed to be taken in about 1 ½” on both side seams. I seam ripped at the neckline edge under the arm, the waistline seams, and the waistband seam. I marked the amount to take in, stitched that amount, trimmed the excess fabric, and pressed open the seams. After which, I stitched all the original seams and pressed it all back down leaving the gown two sizes smaller and ready for our photoshoot. Finally, I cut a long tulle rectangle and gathered it in three places and added elastic for a gray puff sleeve that added just the right amount of flare.
What was your inspiration for the finished piece?
We were really inspired by the rainy season. If you’ve ever shot on a rainy day you have a calming haze that shows up in the photos. We wanted to showcase a look that would seemingly be opposite to the weather but would still complement the aesthetic in a delicate way.
“Cut it up in pieces, get it to fit like a glove, and make it look like you didn’t.” -CassB
Credits:
Photographer: Lamont Thompson (@codyportraits)
Creative director/stylist: Eutasha Harewood (@eutashastylesharewood)
Designer: Cassidy Burel (@cassb_by_design)
Model: Cassidy Burel (@cassidy.burel)