Eco-Fashionista: Make Your Clothes Work For You

As soon as the Holiday season is upon us, it is tradition, for me, to clean my closet. I bring out the trunks under my bed, stuffed with sweaters and winter gear, and I trade it with all my summer dresses and clothes. But during the process of trading places, I end up making several piles. The first one is straight up donation. This has been a ritual for me, and something I’m very proud of. The second is clothes I don’t wear anymore but I know friends will….hardly the appropriate Christmas gift, but in times like these, it’ll have to do. The last pile usually sits in the corner of my room for a while – it is the try on pile, mainly consisting of pants and jeans that I NEVER wear. I’m talking straight leg, boot cut, high waisted, wide leg, skinny jean…you name the style, and it is in my closet. Every Holiday season I say to myself “I might like it next season, I swear they’ll make a come-back”…only every season it secretly is: “I might fit into those again next season”. This year was as terrible as last. My jeans didn’t fit right. So again, I decide to go on the hunt for yet another pair of so called “perfect fit jeans”.

I also came to find out that they released for fall an exclusive series of styles, designed for a chosen organization, including Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (the pants that I happened to be trying on) and Earth Day Network. Each jean is stitched with that charity’s signature color.

Moral is: clean out your closet this Holiday season and donate to those less fortunate than you are. There are major coat drives and food drives going on all over the city. You can go to NY Cares To see where you can drop off old coats, or go to Food Bank NYC To see where you can drop of food to feed the hungry. NOW, for those of you that have extra cash to spend, and are looking for a great fitting jean, go to Aristocrat Denim to find the nearest location to you! They are located in stores all over Manhattan, and all over the world! But if you have a fondness for that certain pair that you simply can’t give up. Hold on to them. You just might want to transform them into this summer’s most essential item: the denim jumper. It’s easy, unique, upcycled, and definitely affordable!

1) Cut 15” from the top of the jeans and mark with a piece of chalk. Fold in half and cut straight across.

2) Take the bottom of the ants and cuff them twice.

3) Take the two legs that are left over and cut them in half. Use a ruler to draw a 1.5 inch line all the way down half the leg. Lay the two halves on top of each other and cut along the marking. These will be the suspenders.

4) Make sure you sew inside out and sew the straight end closed.

5) Try the shorts on to figure out how long you need the straps to be, then cross from the back and sew in place!

6) Et voila! A head of the curve, and if you’re going somewhere sunny this holiday season, you’ll be looking hot!