Collabrative photoshoot shoot with Naomi Rosenthal.
This look was made from three different pairs of carefully curated khaki pants and a skirted base, enveloped by zippers.
Back in February, I picked up an XXXL-sized pair of khakis folded on my desk and put my arms through the pant legs.
I was thinking about how I could give this khaki monstrosity some meaning. I bought this pair of pants from the thrift months ago, seeing its worth, not in the style, but in the fabric and the potential this blank canvas holds to be remade.
I then pulled at the inside-out pockets and resewed the ends to the interior of the front panels of this “jacket”.
This then would make up the front panel and where the zippers would conjoin. I sewed on a 36-inch sand-colored zipper that best matched the beige drab-colored pants. I could have cut off the extra zipper, but I liked how the abnormally long zipper matched with the abnormally long sleeves.
This unconventional jacket piece serves as a great statement piece that could be easily dressed up or down.
It could be styled with khaki pants or a khaki skirt for a more monotonous look.
The most difficult part about making the skirt was finding khaki pants in the same exact shade as the pants used for the top.
After several trips back and forth to the salvation army over the course of two days, I was left with 4 pairs of khakis, all different shades. I was looking for pants that had the same grain, shade, and thickness as the pants used for the top. Between the 4 pairs of khakis that made their way into my life, two pairs with the same grain stitching emerged as the cream de la crop. Of these two pairs, the colors were slightly off. I wanted to use both since one pant was slightly lighter and the other was slightly darker than the hue of the top.
I cut rectangles out of the pants with no exact measurements and layered them, slightly unevenly, to create a pleated look.
I wanted the skirt to incorporate the messy touch of the frayed sleeves, so I left the raw edges of khaki rectangles alone and sewed them onto the base of the skirt.
I then hand-sewed various scraps of zippers I’ve accumulated along the waistband. I will admit it was pretty time-consuming sewing each zipper on individually but I did not want to have to go through the trouble of rethreading my machine for the different color threads. Now that I think about it, I could have pinned the zippers first and then just changed the thread for the different zippers once they were all secure. Nonetheless, it was time well spent because well now, I just came to the realization that I most certainly did learn from my past actions.
Ideally, I wanted each thread to correspond to the colored zipper.
This top had just been relaxing in my room for months. You could see my failed attempts of ironing out all the wrinkles before the shoot.
Although to be fair, I do not own an ironing board and have been using an old textbook for my flattening needs. The slightly wrinkled creases may represent this theme of being rushed as you’re getting ready to leave for a busy workday at the office.
I had envisioned an office workplace setting for this shoot although the dreary weather and caulking sidewalks of Brooklyn captured the emotions that the setting of my initial vision could not.
The overcast weather perfectly aligned with the emotions that makes the energy of this look relatable in a way: an organized chaos of frayed threads representing the fraying souls of those imprisoned in an undesired workplace.
The Xu
Making clothes out of clothes that you have already is one of the greatest ways to reduce waste. It is also a less intimidating way to get into making and designing your own wardrobe. See what styles you can piece together or what type of fashion you can develop from clothes you already have. Upcycling clothing can also be sentimental. If you have a piece you love but maybe outgrew, challenge yourself to see what new life you can give it.
I knew Naomi would be the perfect model for this look because her own unique style coincides with the transformative theme of the Avant-garde Esque sleeves and zipper waistband portray.
Naomi says that she just acts on whatever ideas pop into her head.
“I cut shirts right before wearing them for an outfit, i use lots of tank tops as skirts etc… I go with what I feel drawn towards”
Naomi’s sense of style comes from within. As we all accept more and more of ourselves and the world around us, we allow a creative flow to come naturally to our initial thought processes.
Thank you for taking the time to read! You can find more content related to my posts on my Instagram @whenthexufits!
Naomi Rosenthal
Veronica McNally