Yep, I went there. Another Peter Frampton song reference in two weeks (the first being In Your Eyes, here). This one is also in a movie, one that was iconic in the 90s, however -- Reality Bites. Oh yes it does. Which kind of, sort of, brings us to the topic of this post, which is a brand that most of us discovered in the 90s: bebe. I was a young high-school lass, and always walked past the stores in trepidation, both in fear of the tiny, body-conscious dresses that I always dreamed I'd wear when I was all growed up, and in shame from the inevitably size two sales assistants who I imagined would sneer at my rather more, er, "voluptous" proportions.

Looking back, I have no idea what I was afraid of. I'm growed up past the age at which it's appropriate to show off all your bodily goodies at once, and their website shows their clothing collection is not actually very interesting. I tabbed some cute designs, before realizing that everything I had selected could be DIY-ed or tailored easily from existing closet investments.


I haven't decided whether I love the dress or just the trashy, Tinsley-Mortimer-takes-Miami model that's wearing it, but you have you admit it's a nice and economical take on the voluminous skirt and skintight bustier pairings that have become so de rigueur these days. But if you're up for a good sewing project, then I'd take an ombre scarf (I have loads of these, for no particular reason. i got them all as gifts.). slice it into panels, and sew right on. It's not rocket science, but it will take a bit of patience, or a sewing machine.


This YSL-inspired design is kind of a no-brainer. Take it to the tailor to cut a V in the front of your strapless black cocktail dress (or do it yourself, if you're confident), attach a length of black ribbon, permanently or impermanently, and you're done.


Do you girls know how easy it is to do a puckered skirt like this? I didn't either until I saw a DIY tutorial somewhere else online. This is perfect for any knee-length swing skirts you collected but don't wear anymore. Simply put your skirt on, take a box of pins, and pick up random areas and attach to random other areas. Turn it inside out, (take it off first, duh) and sew pinned areas into place. If that makes any sense. You can even use the photo up there as a pattern to follow.


I don't know if Wang did a chained dress, but his chained shorts are all over the place, and I kinda dig 'em. Maladrino also has a great chained-up dress, but the metal is at the neckline. Get thee to a craft shop and pick up some chains, out in Sham Shui Po you can get them for as little as HK$4 a metre I think, retail. Pin to a dress and stitch in matching thread. It's so easy, it's killing me.


Another Wang impression? You can keep your strapless LBD intact for this one, yay! But you'll have to kill a sheer black underthingie -- those are pretty cheap, anyway. Take the sleeve off and you're ready to go.

If you're too lazy for all of this, then I suppose you could head over to bebe.com and buy something. They ship international, by the way.