Straight Lines-Men's Shirt Refashion

Do you remember back in the early 2000s when men were wearing pink? It was a huge trend and only men that wore pink were men, or perceived to be, because they were man enough to wear it? The psychology of it is really circular and pointless...except for the fact that my husband had bought this beautiful button down from Banana Republic back in the day.

He hasn't wore this shirt for years, but I just can't part with beautiful menswear. So there it hung...



Then one night, as I was laying in bed not sleeping...not sleeping and staring at that shirt in the closet, I decided I was going to take my scissors to it. Obviously, I couldn't wait until morning as evidenced by the process photos below.

The final result reminded me of a Dawn Landes song, "Straight Lines." The song is essentially about nostalgia, which is acceptable considering it is a refashion and all. The colors and stripes were fun, and the pleated ruffle detail I added to the sleeve added a bit of whimsy, yet still felt sophisticated.

The inside of the cuff had a great coordinating fabric that I couldn't part with. I decided to remove it from the cuff and make some shoe clips! I cut petal shapes out of the fabric and backed them with white cotton since there wasn't very much of it. I sprayed each petal with spray starch to make them nice and crisp. Using a needle I sewed the bottoms of the petals together and then added some pearls to the center.



I'm really proud of this number. It is my first time hacking into something that was perfectly fine, and creating a result that is perfectly fine. I followed this tutorial until I felt brave enough to leave it and create my own modifications. I removed the collar, took out the back pleats on the shoulders and added some sleeves with a pleated ruffle.

I think this would look super cute paired with a red belt and matching cardigan even. There are so many ways you could refashion a large shirt...I think there will be more in the future.



And for your listening pleasure...