Every once in the while I like to roll the dice, just to remind myself that in games of chance I'm always a loser. A little while ago, ModCloth offered a deal called
A Stylish Surprise where for $15 (non-returnable) + shipping you would get a piece of clothing valued between $30-$300. I like a lot of ModCloth's stuff, and I thought maybe I would get lucky and get something super cute or
interesting at the very least, but what ended up on my doorstep was mostly meh.
It was one of those boho dresses that you can buy at craft fairs for $15. It is a knit t-shirt material that is really, really thin--you can see my underwear right through it. I will be surprised if it lasts a whole season. Still, it was very comfortable, and the fit was right on, so I thought maybe it had some potential. Unfortunately, it was also a really bland sand color with green-ish undertones that looked really awful against my skin. I put it on and took it off several times because I felt so washed out and sickly-looking in it.
So I decided to dye it and see if I could salvage it. The end result is better, but eeesh. What a mess!
So, first of all, I should say that I live in an apartment complex with shared laundry facilities. That made in-laundry dying impossible (or, at least impolite). Since the dress already had a sandy base color, I thought a raspberry would have a chance of turning out okay. I researched a few dyes, and read that Rit dyes (which are the most common kind that you can buy in the grocery store and stuff) didn't have great reviews for reds and colorfastness. I decided to go for
Jaquard Procion MX cold-water dye in Fuchsia since it had great reviews.
I haven't messed with dying clothes since doing tie-dye in middle school, so this was totally new to me. You have to mix dye powder with salt in warm tap water, and then add soda ash and stir it all up for a long time. It was really messy. And with the deep purpley red, it kind of looked like a Psycho scene in my shower stall. I don't know if I would be willing to do this again unless I was dying a LOT of clothes. I did end up tossing in an old t-shirt that was also an unflattering sand color and a gray skirt that had faded and had a little oil stain that never came out. Both of those came out great and will have new life in my wardrobe.
As for this dress, I think it looks a lot better now. The overall color is a dusty mauve and the embroidered details are a bright fuchsia. I may change out the buttons if I'm not lazy.
I was hoping the darker color would offer more coverage for the see-through material, but it is not much better in that department. Because of that, I think it is probably destined to be a beach cover-up dress. Or maybe I'll cut off the weird fairy-point hemline and turn it into a tank top since the embroidery along the top is pretty and provides more coverage. I mean, I don't mind being able to see my bra a little, but my pantywares are a different story. I briefly considered becoming a thong person, but at 35 I think I'm too much an old dog for that new trick.
Ultimately, I think that from now on I'll just spend the extra few bucks to buy something that looks good right off the bat.
#SONP2013 is coming
