March 4, 2016

Marisa Lynch

Remake: Black & Pink Floral Dress

March 4, 2016

Marisa Lynch

Hi friends! It's MARCH and the site is almost ready to be revealed!! Eeeeee!!! Thank you SO much for all your patience. Seriously. You guys are the best and I'm lucky to have so many of you cheering me on. To celebrate, we're going to kick it off BIG, so stay tuned!!

This post will be the LAST one you'll see with the site looking like it does and then it's on to somethin' new. Change is good, right?

Today's piece, a dress with a pattern to fall in love with! You had me at BIG. PINK. FLOWERS. (Seriously, j'adore.) But, there was a little extra hanging out there. Yep, looks like that lining was trying to get away!

And, on top of the "lining pretending to be trim" there was another maj issue. HOLES.

Not just one or two.

But more than I could count. They were everywhere on the bottom of the dress!

So there's some work to be done!!

Other work that needs to be done is the cleansing/purging of tons of old clothes that I've been holding onto for WAY too long. I moved into my new place close to a year ago and there are still boxes of stuff where I work on my dresses! It was time to make a move. Instead of a trip to Goodwill this go, I'm sending my gear to Schoola, an online thrift shop that donates 40% of proceeds to school arts, science, music, and phys ed programs. That is just the coolest.

I love that they send postage-paid bags and you can pick the school you'd like for the proceeds to go to (perfect if you've got kids/family currently in schools!)

I even scored a dress and a blazer that you'll see repurposed into a new piece shortly!

With a batch of clothes out the door, now my space is ready for more dresses! Now back to mending those holes!

I thought the holes were bad until I saw the not-so-pretty tarnished lining.

Once I saw how filthy it was I was ready to take the leap. I was taking all the lining out.

I started with the bottom portion...

...and then cut it out of the top of the dress as well. Lining, we don't need no stinkin' lining! (Especially on this already thick knit dress that isn't sheer at all.)

Next comes those holes. The easiest way to get rid of 'em??

CUT THEM OFF.

I cut off the bottom portion of the dress that contained all the holes and then made my way to the sleeves because I wasn't feeling the length.

With so much trimming, it was time to pin and prep for sewing.

I threaded my machine and got stitching!

After all that work, this is what my new dress looks like!

I love it - it's mod and feels super 60s which is my fave.

I paired my dress with over the knee Calvin Klein boots to finish the look.

I love the pop of grey in the boots bringing out the grey in the center of the dress!

I don't know, this print just makes me happy.

Throw pink flowers on anything and I'm going to smile!

From tattered and tainted to terrific!

This dress has become something that will be in my rotation for a long time to come!

January 24, 2016

Marisa Lynch

Outfit Remakes

Remake: Metallic Brocade Dress

January 24, 2016

Marisa Lynch

Outfit Remakes

Hey friends! It's been a VERY long time since my last post and I apologize profusely for the delay. I've been hard at work on a brand new site that will be launching in about two weeks! Eeeeeeee!!!! I couldn't be more excited to share it with you. It's been many months in the making and it's almost ready to reveal. There's going to be a lot of what you've seen on NDAD since 2009, however there's going to be lots of new stuff too. It's a new year and time for a bit of a refresh, you know?

I'll share more about everything as we get closer...lots of amazing little treats are in store for you in less than a month. Wooooooooo!!

Today's remake is one of my most FAVORITE pieces I've worked on in a while. It involves metallics... *mic drop.

Check this lovely out...

A neighbor of mine has an incredible vintage collection and has been having sales to downsize her racks of goodies. I hopped on this dress as soon as I tried it on.

It was $10, so the beaded neck, heavy brocade, and metallic threads came home with me.

So did those robot moves which shockingly must have come with the dress!!

I had a segment on GMA to plan for and I thought this piece would be the perfect on-camera look! There was a LOT of work to be done, however...

When I first tried the dress on, it was so much heavier than I expected. I thought, how could someone actually wear this all night as a dress? It didn't seem feasible in my mind. So that thought really helped solidify what I was going to make.

I began with that zipper down the back and started to remove it.

I won't need it to keep the dress together anymore because I'm turning it into a coat! Flipping the puppy around and wearing that back as the front!

Once the zipper was removed, I continued to open the center seam down the back of the jacket until I hit the hem. This seam was located directly under the zipper, right around the hip area.

Once the back was completely open, I tried the jacket on to see progress. I was actually envisioning keeping it as a long coat, however it felt way too dramatic, like the metallic version of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat! I know I was going to be shooting my segment on Broadway, but this was a bit too literal. 😂😂😂

I decided to go a bit shorter with the length - something that would hit around the knees.

I did a little post-cut/post-pin check in to see how the jacket was coming along. Once I saw the new length, I was totally sold and ready to move on and complete it. (PS, this was all going down in the hotel room across the street from the studio! You can see my opened suitcase and mess in the background.)

I spent the next few hours working some magic on the coat including a whole lot of hand stitching before heading to set at 5am.

It was showtime, and my jacket was totally ready to go!

NY wasn't as cold when this was shot as it is now, so the jacket was the perfect thing to wear without any crazy layers or scarf action.

If you want to see the whole segment on winter hacks, click here!

I was a bit hesitant to return the mic because I had such a great time. Hey GMA, need another correspondent??

This piece totally screams winter - winter whites and metallic are my fave - and the perfect seasonal piece for me here on the West Coast.

I'm tank toppin' it because it's in the 60s right now, otherwise I'd be in a turtleneck sweater, for SURE!

I must say, every time I look at the embellished neck close up, I get super excited. That was one of the first things that drew me to the piece. The beadwork and rhinestones were in perfect condition.

It's like I got a free necklace with this frock!

The more I wear the jacket, the more I've been finding out that it doesn't matter what I'm wearing underneath!! Old T shirts, workout gear...I can basically wear anything and the only thing that's focused on is the jacket.

That's a total score in my book!

December 3, 2015

admin

Outfit Remakes

Remake: Pink Striped Dress

December 3, 2015

admin

Outfit Remakes

Hello friends! I've got another remake for you today :) Apologies for the delays - a bigger post is to come to discuss, but thanks for all your emails and patience! There's a brand new site coming your way as well, with a fun little project to boot, all which will be shared shortly! LA can be 80 degrees one day and 62 another - this dress was worn on one of those warm wintery days here! ❄️☀️

I just loved this striped mix of colors!

It was a bit too big...

...but those pleats made me SO happy!

I knew there was room to make this outfit work!

First off, I LOVE that the brand is secretly printed on this dress! It was something that I didn't even notice until I started working on it. Subliminal messaging at its finest, La moda Goji.

I began with removing the sleeves and the shoulder pads. Because of the cool pleats at the shoulder, taking off the sleeve gave the piece a cool cap-style look.

The other sleeve came off next...

...and it was time to stitch the edges up.

With the top of the dress pretty much good to go, it was now getting the rest of it to fit! I toyed with the idea of taking it in, but after playing around with belt options, it was easier just to cinch!

A little vintage navy belt action saves the day!

The pleats feel super Marilyn Monroe to me.

After walking in my hood, I found some flowers that matched my look!

Nothing like bright reddish/pinks to make it feel like summer in December!

It's a fun date night look...

...that was perfect to wear to a cooking class!! I just removed those heels though...brought my Toms with me, as closed toe shoes make the most sense in a kitchen environment filled with sharp knives and tasting spoons holding hot curry sauce.

I love this transformation. Super sleek and simple, but a piece I'd wear to anything!

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