Skip to main content

Upcycling Your Wardrobe



Hello my friends, it is long overdue, but I finally managed to put away all of my jacket and coats, and pulled out those warmer pieces. Summer just started a few weeks ago, and it’s funny because with every new season, I somehow manage to trick my brain into thinking I have absolutely nothing to wear. Which is pretty ridiculous considering I am such an avid shopper; my closet is starting to get tired of my shenanigans :) . For this post, I’m challenging myself to work within my closet. This means instead of going out and buying more clothes, I am going to style pieces that I already own.

This idea was inspired by Emily Noel who started something similar on Youtube concerning makeup. I found her ideals regarding waste reduction and her mindset of focusing on the items you already own was inspirational. I hope this post inspires you, the same way Emily inspired me, to take a minute and reflect on that loaded clothing rack back at home. There are so many different ways to change up your look. So save your money, and let me show you two different outfits that I styled from pieces I’ve up-cycled from my very own wardrobe.

  Look #1  

Everyone seems to own a pair of denim jeans that doesn’t fit quiteeee right and has been collecting dust for some time. Well it’s time to finally pull them out of your closet because we are about to transform them into a brand new pair of shorts. Cutting your own shorts may seem a bit intimidating at first. It’s hard to get a clean cut, yet super easy to cut them too short.

The trick is in the shape of your cut. A lot of people tend to cut their shorts straight across, put them on, and realize that the pair reveals more in the back than expected. This is because the back of your shorts tend to rise up a lot higher than the front. To prevent this, I opt to cut my shorts diagonally, leaving the back about 1 inch- ½ inch longer than the front. I also try the pair of jeans on, mark it, and cut very sparingly during my first initial cut.

Here are how the look like on. I paired them with an off-the-shoulder crop top.


  Look #2:  

For this next outfit, I wanted to find a new use for this beautiful floral maxi dress. I’ve worn it a couple times on my page for photoshoots and quite frankly, I was getting tired of the same look. I folded the dress over and belted it at the waist to give the illusion of a skirt. I love midi skirts, but it’s really hard for someone as short as me to find one with the right length. This solves that problem because I can adjust the length by controlling how much of the dress I fold in.

I paired the skirt with a basic white tank and belted it at the waist with a brown belt.



  Look #3:  

Saving the best or last, I decided to DIY my own cropped denim jacket! I bought this white one over a year ago (alas, I fell victim to impulse) and have not touched it since. There wasn’t really anything wrong with it, I just didn’t like the way it sat on my body and it had a generally unflattering fit. I decided it was time for a change. I took a pair of scissors and cut straight across the jacket so that it could give me the cropped looked that I was looking for.

TIP! You have control over how cropped you want the jacket to sit but make sure to be aware of where the buttons are sitting on the jacket. To give it the most natural look, make your cut line directly above or below a button.

Here it is on: 


I think the overall fit, look, and feel of the jacket completely changed, and now I love how it looks on. If you would like to recreate this, you can pretty much do this to any of your denim jackets that you currently have at home, or go out and get one at your local thrift store.

That’s it for this post! I hope this gives you some ideas on different ways to recycle some of the pieces in your closet. When you have time, take a look at your wardrobe and find different ways to pair certain pieces together. You may be surprised by what you come up with.

Stay tuned!



- T.N

Popular Posts:

How to Rock Low-cut Tops/Dresses

How are you doing!! Welcome back to my blog. This week I had such an amazing time shooting at Bernal Heights in San Francisco. Let me tell you, the view from there is absolutely amazing. It is a grassy hill overlooking the city. It was breathtaking. Now lets jump right into my outfit. The staple of this look is this maroon slit dress from Forever21. I have never grabbed something off the rack so quick. It is a STUNNING wrap dress for a fraction of the price.  But...I took one look at the dress and knew there would be a problem. Look at the cut of the dress and see how low it goes down the chest. It was a v-line straight to my bellybutton! If you have the chest to fill this dress, wow am I jealous of you. Girls with smaller chest area (aka me) typically stray away from these type of low cut tops/dresses, as they are often perceived as unflattering on the figure.  However, I am here to tell you my tricks on how to make it work.  First step, be very cautious on

Wish-Is it Legit?

Hello everyone! I am finally back after a long break. Thank you so much for tuning in to this post. This week's topic is super interesting-at least to me..haha... and it involves the Wish app. I've seen it all over Facebook, ads on Youtube, ect. and to be completely honest, I was very skeptical at first. I'm all about budget buying, but whenever I see clothing apps or clothing ads on Facebook, I just never know if it will be a scam.  In case you didn't know, Wish is an app that sells suppppper cheap items, ranging from free to 10-16ish dollars. What I"m most interested in is their clothes. Whenever you find a new place to shop, especially if its online, you always should do your research; search up reviews online, go on Youtube, or check out videos. That's just how you will know for sure you will get your money's worth. Unfortunately this takes up a lot of time. Don't worry tho, a particular shopaholic (haha -> thats me) got you covered. I did al

Black and White Photo Meet

Hello everyone, how are you today. A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to organize a very special photography meet with a few of my friends in Davis. We wanted to keep it simple, a black and white theme in the Arboretum, and tried to find new unique ways to elevate the photos. Here is what we came up with.  Please ignore my awkward hand placement :D For my outfit, I wanted to look clean and chic. I found this distressed graphic tee on sale one day and knew I wanted to include it in one of my photo shoots. You can't really see it in the photo, but it is distressed on one side of the collar. Something very simple, but made the tee look very grunge and unique. I liked it. I layered underneath a black slip dress from Brandy Melville. You can belt the dress and tuck in the shirt, but here I decided to tied it into a simple knot. Just another way to re-wear your dresses and make it look different-now its a skirt! I'm always finding new ways to layer my clothes to ma

Night Out

Welcome back everyone.  Temperatures are slowly dropping as we charge headfirst into the frosty winter weather. Today I am more than excited to share with you my all time favorite night out look . Whether its grabbing a couple drinks with your girls, or a date night with your boo, th is look is sure to steal the show.   Mesh and glitter. How can you go wrong. My entire look was centered around this beautiful top. I was out shopping with my friends when I came across this piece. I have seen this top all over the internet over the past couple of months. This retails for a variety of prices ($9.99 at Forever21), but I got this for a STEAL of  a price. Guess where? Wish.com! Wish is a sited filled with incredibly high discounted items. I have seen so many hauls on Youtube, and decided to test it out for myself. I was surprised to find such a gem on this site. I purchased this top for $5 including shipping. Honestly, thats the price of a Starbucks drink right there. Althoug

One Top, Three Looks

Basically Basic: Tank Tops Hi friends! For a while now the majority of the clothes I buy tend to be trendy pieces that come and go. This meant hoarding off the shoulder or tube tops, sporting gingham or plaid, and buying the occasional pieces that I THINK I would wear all the time, but then end up sitting at the bottom of my closet. Today, I am going back to the basics.  The great thing about basics is that they never go out of style. This means you don't need to break the bank trying to keep up with the trend. They are a classic, a necessity in every closet. I am very excited to be starting a new series on this blog, "Basically Basic". From simple t-shirts to plain denim jeans, each blog will show you how universal these pieces truly are, and how to style simple pieces into outfits that are far from basic. This week's topic: one tank top, three looks. The first step is to get your hands on a tank top. Despite being "basic" there are so many diff

DIY Salon Perfect Nails - For Beginners!

Helloo, hope you all are doing well this week. Over the past couple of months, I have been super into doing my own nails.  A nice new set of nails just makes me feel so badass. Something about the uniformity and the shape once they're all done--oof! I love it. However, going out every couple of weeks for a new set or fill can get quite expensive. A lot of my friends have been asking me how exactly I manage to DIY this process. I answered exactly that below:   6 Simple Steps to Nails   1. The first step to this process is nail maintenance. Trim and shape your natural nails to a nice even length. Remove any excess residue from the nail bed with a cotton pad and mild acetone. Once this step is done, you are ready to begin. 2. In order for your fake nails to last, the top layer of your natural nails must be filed. This creates a rough surface that your glue can adhere to. Use any nail filing tool to "roughen up" your nail bed. I do this by filing away a v

Teddy Bear and Me

Shining, shining, shining. Wow is this statue spectacular.  This week I wanted to update you all on my visit to a newly built statue in Sacramento, Subtitled . All I can say that it is memorizing, unlike anything I have ever seen before. If you are ever in the area, stroll down the water front to find this amazing view. Metal plates reflects a mellow field, wide open land--and if you're lucky, you'll might witness a cute family of geese. This post features one of my new obsessions for winter, this teddy bear fur lined sweater that is the perfect combination of style and comfort. Whenever I wear this out, I feel as if I am still curled up bed, wrapped up in its warmth. A transportable blanket! And its so easy to style too. This muted pink shade pair well with just about any bottoms. Style with a black pair of leggings, or some dark washed jeans. Stunning. Let me know how you like this look! Is it this comfy look for you?  As always full outfit descripti

Social Media