DIY White Button Down Shirt: REMIX

As Lena Dunham so accurately describes in her show 'Girls,' the post college era is a mess. A real shit-show. It sucks for everyone. It is confusing, poor, full of bad decisions, peppered with low self-esteem, and generally not sober. Hopefully, in spite of that, or maybe because of that, it is also a time of great growth. 

I would like (hope) to think that I have officially passed the 'post-college' phase. I have a steady job, I'm killing it on the blog (yeah, I'm tooting my own horn - my stats are excellent), I have my own apartment that I actually really really like, I finally know how to cook a healthy meal and can manage to do the dishes afterwards, I like my friends, my furniture (kind of) looks intentional, I can afford a nice meal, I have a kitchen table and I use it, I belong to Equinox - most of the ingredients for functioning adulthood. SCORE.

I first realized what a changed bird I was a few weeks ago. A foreign friend came over for dinner. We had not had a hang-in since college. He was amazed at my life and kept asking how proud my parents were of who I have become. I was confused, because even though my parents are very loving and proud, they have not been exceedingly, extra proud since I last saw said foreign friend. In fact, they were probably more proud then because, ya know, I was graduating college and that's kind of a big deal. It was clear there had been much time and space since my amigo had last come around and he was in shock to see that I was no longer a dysfunctional college student. (Go me!)

Then again, right before I headed home for Thanksgiving. I was doing Fall Cleaning (Let's make that a thing instead of spring cleaning. I am so much more inclined to stay inside and scrub when it's cold than on a lovely spring day.) and found my sketchbook from freshman year. That thing was DARK. I don't at all recognize the person in those pages. Strange, because these days I wear a lot more black, much less glitter, and absolutely no peace signs. (Not even sorry.)

Speaking of, I also found some photos from my college days and another mammoth change has been my wardrobe. Granny-chic is not my thing anymore. Nor is hippy-dippy. Nor is desperate wannabe hipster. Also, I grew out my short granny hair and decided to stop wearing particularly baggy, shapeless dresses and intentionally ugly glasses. I used to look like a person who has many, mulitple cats, and was proud of it. I don't. I have one cat and that's enough. Maybe one day I'll share a photo of my college ID, because it is HILARIOUS. Today is not that day, though.
Too soon.
Sorry. 

As I filed through old photos I began to comprehend how much clothing I have purchased and soon after discarded over the years. Super wasteful. So, point of this very long, self-appraising story, happening now: I have pledged to try to 'upcycle' my clothes before committing them to the red cross.
(See how I used 'try'? Giving myself an out. Because my follow through is lackluster at best.)

I had previously purchased an over-sized white sheer button down from American Apparel back in my I-prefer-to-wear-clothes-that-look-like-bags days. I have been thinking about eradicating the thing for a while because I never wear it. Part of this has to do with the shape (or lack there of), but I think it mostly has to do with the shitty detailing. Let me clarify: AA is great for basics. However, anything beyond a t-shirt, leggings, or tights is usually poorly sewn and has crappy details. Case in point, the aforementioned shirt. Whoever chose the buttons on that shirt should leave the fashion industry. It's not for you. 

This is what the updated shirt looks like now:

This is the lame before version:

OK, it doesn't look THAT bad in this photo, but you have to remember, this is the BEST CASE SCENARIO for the shirt. It will never actually be this clean, or pressed, or on a model figure, or professionally photographed. Notice how the fabric pulls near the seams on my shirt but not on the model's. Just sayin' - IRL, it's a very different shirt. 

So I made it better with pretty buttons. Duh. 

Supplies:

1. White button down from American Apparel.

2. Buttons from a local Bed-Stuy fabric store. (Go local! Go small business!)

3. Thread from M&J.

4. Sewing Needles from my grandmother's sewing kit. 

Step 1:

Remove the crappy, ugly button. 

Step 2:

Sew on pretty, new button. Repeat for all buttons on the shirt. 

Viola. You fixed that shit up nice and good. Congrats on being a better person for bettering your shirt. 

Let's hang.