Recycled Fashion

Add your own style by replacing the buttons.
Cohdra/Morguefile.com

The concept of recycling items for fashion isn’t new. My grandmother told me about some of the things my great-grandmother did with potato and flour sacks to make them into various garments and accessories.

When I worked as a product information fashion writer for the Home Shopping Network, I saw a wide variety of lines. Most of it was nice but rather conventional. However, one of the designers caught my attention because it was so unusual at the time. They made handbags from colorful candy wrappers.

Since then, I’ve become more aware of taking something old and making it new again. As I get older, I realize that I need to be careful with this, or I might wind up looking like a bag lady. However, most teenagers and early twenty-somethings can get away with almost any recycled look.

Here are some ideas for recycling items for fashion:

• Replacing buttons on clothing with unique buttons from clothing found at thrift stores and garage sales.
• Turning the leg of an old pair of jeans into a handbag or tote.
• Cutting an old T-shirt into strips and making a fringed scarf.
• Refashioning a pillowcase into a skirt.
• Replacing an old watchband with ribbon.
• Designing sweater clips from old jewelry findings.
• Braiding strips of old T-shirts into headbands.