How I Updated My Twenty Year Old Suit

9 Nov

It was 2000 – 2001-ish and I was looking for something to wear to one of the Spring Carnival race days.

On my lunch break one day, I spotted this suit in Bettina Liano. While I rarely wear pink it was actually the beautiful color that caught my eye – but, at around $1000, it was way beyond my budget at the time. Nevertheless, I went back and tried it on and looked at it 3 times until I finally decided I had to give up on it. I just couldn’t afford it…

Then a few weeks later I was shopping with my sister and we stumbled on a Bettina Liano outlet store…..and there was the suit – for $50. I couldn’t believe my luck. We both bought one. Some things are meant to be…

I got heaps of wear out of it. To the races, to Christmas parties, weddings, etc – and then I retired it. I think I got a bit tired of it, but also then it felt slightly dated and it became too snug…

Recently I pulled it out – it hasn’t seen the light of day in about a decade – tried it on and had a good look at it. It was too firm across the back (could hardly button it up) and tight on my bum. (I could stand but not sit) It looked silly. Like I was squeezing into it. So I took it to Jose to see whether he thought he could do anything to it. (We worked together. I told him how I wanted the suit to look and what I thought needed to be done and then he looked at it and told me honestly, whether he thought that was possible.) He wasn’t sure how much there was available to work with at the seams, but he’d give it a go. When I went to pick it up, it was spot on. He has let it out in exactly the right amount of places, (in the right places) so that it wasn’t too much, or not enough.

Then next up I replaced the old buttons to update and modernise the look. (The original wooden buttons had been broken at the dry cleaners many years ago and new ones were put on that I was never really happy with) . *I just found these ones at Lincraft.

…and yesterday I wore it again to Oaks Day. It’s looking a bit disheveled here. I got wet on my way home. If you scroll down you can see what I wore on my head, etc. (The headpiece was bought at the same time as the suit. My sister and I went halves. She’d wear it when she wore her suit and I’d wear it when I wore my suit…