This past Saturday was the Network for Wearable Art Meeting held at the Quilted Heart in Vacaville CA.  We were to bring holiday inspired wearables for our Sharing Session.   But what to wear to the meeting itself?  After dressing up in several selections, the winner was a 1940's Vintage Velvet dress by Toots Pierre, which I purchased for $10.00 at Community Projects Thrift Store in Napa CA, some years back.  The jacket I wore over the dress is from a McCall's Pattern #4072.  It's so old, that the number itself has been re-used by McCall's for home decitems.  (Sorry) Then it became an issue of the shoes —  what you see were purchased from a chain store, and these days, I wouldn't have bought them as they are Made in China.  Well, I have them, so it's better to use them, rather than throw away into our overflowing landfills.

To digress slightly, the inspirational Anthropologie catalog has hand made crocheted items, including embroidered shoes!  That was all it took.  I dug through some bins and found the little crocheted florets with pearl centers.  Voila` perfect for the color scheme.  The shoes were originally a silver satin fabric and I painted them with metallic copper paint.  Now adding embellishments, the product called FabriTac is a perfect glue to use.

The jacket is made from several types of silks, satins and a glitzy net.  The red stone ring was a gift from fellow artist, Leslie Gelber.  During Napa days, I went to the public library most every day — one of the women there knew I made wearables and gifted me with several beautiful vintage pins.  The clock pin is from her.  The green stone ring was one I purchased at Goodwill.

Moral of this wearable story — Recycle materials and renew what you have into something fun to wear!