Whether you shop your own closet or find a coat at the thrift store, it pays to take a second look at something old.
"We found several coats at the Family Thrift Outlet for $1.75 that were in need of some updating but mostly in pretty good shape," said Pippa Williams with TooCheapBlondes.com.
We found a plum colored full length wool coat.
A 1950 jacket may not be salvageable but the fur collar looks great. And a tweed coat by LL Bean with heavy shoulder pads was probably purchased in the 80s but the material is still in fantastic condition. A plain wool coat doesn't need any work but could use a pop of pizazz.
"So I was thinking, can we cut it and make it fingertip length?" we asked a tailor.
For custom tailoring and alterations, we turned to the experts at Vees Tailors and Alterations.
"We can cut it and make it a little bit smaller," said Tam Nguyen with Vee Tailors.
Our plum coat will be cut to a 3/4 length. With the extra fabric, Tam says she can create a belt to update the look. On our black coat that doesn't need much work; Tam will remove the fur from the vintage jacket and sew it on to our plain coat.
"I did many of these," said Tam.
"You do a lot of these," we asked.
"Yes a lot," she replied.
For the tweed jacket...
"Let me see -- you can cut the length right here," she said.
Tam says it would be expensive to re-work the tweed jacket to bring it back in the 21st century, so instead, she suggested we create a pencil skirt with the extra material.
A few days later, we returned to the tailors and the full length coat has been shortened so it's more practical for our Houston climate. Plus, Nguyen created a belt for a more modern silhouette. The price is $40.
Next, our plain black coat got a face lift. The vintage piece of fur from the old jacket is now sewn on to create a custom collar for $25. And the old school tweed coat is now a classic pencil skirt for $40.
If you have a coat but it doesn't need any work, here is one of the hottest trends, you can cut the sleeves off the way some celebrities have been shown sporting this look like Victoria Beckham. That will run about $20 to $25 at your tailor.
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