Revamped x3

 From this J. Crew halter-neck dress that I've had for years and never wore (it was too low to wear without a shirt underneath, but the shirt always bunched up, plus halter necks are uncomfortable):

To this high-waisted circle skirt that will be much more wearable:

I removed the bodice pieces, then folded the waistband in, bringing it down to 1 1/2" from 3". The fabric is a lightweight seersucker that needed some reinforcement in the waistband anyway. I stupidly and accidentally pulled the zipper pull off the invisible zipper, which meant I had to replace it. That turned into a series of mishaps, but it's now wearable, so all's well that ends well, right? I also took the halter ties and sewed them about 1" back from the side seams on the waistband (so that I didn't add any bulk to my waistline as viewed from the front) to be able to cinch it up a bit. It was a little too loose, otherwise. I might move the ties back to 2", but we'll see. I'm thinking this would be a nice way to make a skirt slightly adjustable.

You've seen the tired black shoes to perky purple shoes:

And now here's the matching bag:
It was a shiny black thing that I got at a thrift shop for $1 (it has a V!ctoria's Secret label, and was undoubtedly a promotional item--I saw this exact bag at another thrift store the same day I bought this one).

But now it is PURPLE. Very PURPLE.

I assure you, the purple of the shoes and the bag are the same. It's just that the lighting for the pictures was not. :) (Also, the paint wasn't completely cured in the above photo, so it looks slightly streaky.)

It was astonishing to me that this little bottle of acrylic paint that cost less than $2 made the shoes and bag look so good. You really cannot tell that they've been painted. I did two coats on the shoes, and four on the bag. It took overnight for the bag to lose all of its tackiness (well, besides the color--I meant a tactile tacky ;) ) and be comfortable to handle (in other words, don't do this a few hours before you need to use something, give it a day to be sure). The shoes held up well. I kept glancing down at the dance floor at the wedding, expecting to see purple streaks on it, but there weren't. They still look purple all over, and the bag looks like it was made that way.

The paint washes off of hands easily, which was good, because I got it all over mine. If anyone is going to try this (perhaps in a less bright color?), I would say to have at it. This was so easy to do. Cutting in the edges I think was a good step, but other than that, just  go on in an orderly way, keeping your paint strokes going the same direction. :)

And here's the dress that needed purple accessories:

There was another lady at the wedding wearing the EXACT same dress. I admit, I was a bit embarrassed. That has never happened to me before (well, except for being a bridesmaid, but that doesn't count). She accessorized with pink, though, so of course I pulled it off better. (joking!) (The dress is a bit shorter than I usually wear, but I wore leggings underneath in case of unfortunate gusts of wind.)