What do you do when you get a fast-fashion piece of clothing and you just aren’t feeling it? Most of the time, I bet you return it. But sometimes, it actually can cost more to return the item than just to keep it. That’s where this bespoke dress comes in. Bespoke means one-of-a-kind, if you didn’t know. Since I created a dress I love with one simple change, I thought it would be worth writing a blog post about how to think differently about the fast fashion pieces you buy. Sure, you can return it and get a refund, or you can take a critical look at the item and think about why it doesn’t work. If the piece would work with a simple fix (like cutting off 12 inches like I did), then it might be worth keeping.

If you haven’t heard the term fast fashion before, I mean items of clothing you get from retailers with low price points. The articles of clothing aren’t meant to last very long and the quality might not be that amazing. Of course, price doesn’t always signal quality, but it often does. A lot of the items I have from stores like H&M, Shein and Forever 21 would fall into the category I call fast fashion.

I received this black dress from Shein a few months ago. I loved the gold belt against the bold black. Plus, the high neckline was a fun touch. But what I didn’t love – the length. I’m tall at 5’9″ but I was swimming in the length of this dress. Since it was made out of scuba material, the hem was unfinished anyway. Thus, I knew this would be a great bespoke dress because it wouldn’t require any sewing at all. 

@poshinprogressDress transformation. Wait for it! 🖤 ##upcycle ##shein ##plussizefashion ##plussize ##plussizemodel ##plussizequeen♬ Stunnin’ (feat. Harm Franklin) – Curtis Waters

To create my custom dress, I simply laid the dress flat, used chalk and a measuring tape to mark out the amount I wanted to cut, and then I used fabric scissors to cut all the way around. This dress has a circle hem shape, so I just made sure to measure all the way around and mark with the chalk. It’s as simple as that!

I think the new length is so much more flattering than the original length. This is one of my current favorite black dresses in my closet, and I absolutely adore the gold belt. 

It doesn’t just have to be a bespoke dress either. You can turn almost any clothing into custom pieces just by changing some things you don’t love about it. I recently got this denim jacket. Although I love the vibe of the jacket, I thought the denim was a bit too stiff and boring. I am in the process of distressing it and adding a bit more visual interest to the denim itself. There is no reason you have to live with clothes the way it comes to you. Why not change it up and make it your own?

Looking for other black dresses? Here are a few other posts to check out.