Thrifty Transformations To Revamp Your Closet

Source: Courtesy of Bunnie Benton / Courtesy of Bunnie Benton

Since the beginning of time, Black women have learned to make do with very little, and the same can be said of fashion!

When Bunnie Benton isn’t curating her own pieces as a fashion designer and CEO of Veljrè, her clothing brand dedicated to Black women, she practices the adage that “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” Her thrifty transformations involve upcycling clothes that she’s either ruined or bored with or even those that she finds during a thrift store run.

“I started upcycling the way I feel a lot of Black women start upcycling, which is when we are younger, when money was tight and when you wanted something, you had to find a way to get it,” Benton recalled to MadameNoire. “I started with little things like that. Then it transformed to just seeing something that someone was about to throw something in the trash and asking if I could take it. I don’t know what I will do with it, but I will find do something with it.”

Source: Courtesy of Bunnie Benton / Courtesy of Bunnie Benton

Benton became inspired by the idea of turning what others would consider scraps into fashion masterpieces. Something as simple as turning pieces of sturdy plastic into buttons is the type of thrifty transformations that gets her going. Nothing is off the cards for this fashionista!

As someone who is a sucker for a good DIY project, Benton challenges herself to create from scratch when what she’s looking for cannot be found via a tutorial.

“I love taking something and giving it a new life because people will throw stuff out, especially clothes,” said Benton. “People will be like, ‘I don’t fit this anymore, Imma toss it.’ Or, ‘It has a hole, I’ma toss it.’ And I’m like, it has one solitary hole right there; you can cover that. Come on, that’s still a really good jacket; don’t throw it out.”

She adds, “It’s funny because sometimes I make things and give them a new life with no intention of me necessarily needing to wear it; I have plenty of clothes, so now I just post about it, and some people are like, ‘I’ll take it?’ I’m like, yeah, sure… go for it!”

For Benton, two of the easiest ways to a thrifty transformation include making fabric dye your best friend and getting creative with how you style your pieces.

“Get fabric dye. I can take a white shirt that has stains that won’t come out, and now I can dye this, and it’ll be a hot pink and black shirt,” Benton explained. Once a white shirt gets dirty, that’s exactly what I do. Now, it’s not an old, raggedy shirt anymore; it’s a vibrant, nice, new shirt.”

She continued, “It’s not what you wear; it’s how you wear it. So you could have a simple shirt, bottoms, and shoes and just walk out. Or, you could put on some color tights, a cute stack of belts, some necklaces, stackable rings and now you’ve got flavor.”

Here, Benton walks us through one of her favorite thrifty transformations – upcycling a jacket.

1. Find a jacket that fits you.

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