Anyone whoโs shopped at a thrift store will know the excitement of finding a beautiful peace of clothing for an unbelievable price, and returning home with a smugness like youโve managed to con the item into your shopping bag.
Jillian Owens from South Carolina, on the other hand, doesnโt look for beautiful clothes in thrift stores. Instead, she looks for items of clothing that nobody wants โ the ones that are selling cheaper than cheap. She then refashions them into her own unique custom designs, and the results are astonishing.
Check out some of Jillianโs most impressive before-and-after shots of her fashion pieces in this slideshow.
1. From drab to fab
Jillian bought a shapeless white dress that doesnโt do much for her figure. She recognized that the top half of the dress had a beautiful, delicate design that simply didnโt reflect the shapeless skirt below. So she chopped off the skirt, dyed the top half of the dress and wore it as a chic button-up shirt. With a pair of skinny jeans and a matching purse, it looks much more flattering.
Source:
therefashionista
2. Floral fall
The dress that Jillian discovered here looks almost as if it has already been refashionedโฆ from someoneโs grandmaโs curtains. Jillian knew she had a challenge on her hands if she took this on, but she already had an idea in mind. She first got rid of the shoulder pads from the top of the dress, then severed it in two. After removing the now-pointless belt loops and fixing the hem, she was left with a beautiful v-neck floral shirt.
Source:
therefashionista
3. Cinched with a tie-waist
When buying from a thrift store, itโs often hard to find your actual size. Jillian found a dress that was too large around the waist, and was slightly too long on her body. She solved the issue by creating a tie using spare material dyed the same shade of the dress. She then added her own trim to the dressโ hem and buttons to the shoulders, making it look much more put-together.
Source:
thefashionista
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4. Shirt to halter dress
After volunteering at a bierkeller Octoberfest, Jillian had a huge shirt from the event that she decided to refashion. She chopped off the sleeves, then cut the shirt to the shape of a dress from her wardrobe that she liked the fit of. She then pinned and sewed everything together, finally adding a drawstring piece of fabric for the shoulder straps.
Source:
therefashionista
5. Frumpy coat to tailored blazer
It seems that one of Jillianโs specialities is to tailor frumpier pieces, and she nails it with this burgundy coat. The style and the length of the original coat didnโt suit Jillian at all. So she chopped the jacket to fall just beneath the pockets of her jeans, giving the hem pointed edges to add shape. It looks much more flattering after Jillianโs transformation.
Source:
therefashionista
6. Shirt to dress
Inspired by Kylie Jenner, Jillian decided to refashion an oversized menโs shirt into a denim style dress. The shirt cost just $1, and while Jillian had hoped to be able to wear the shirt as it was, it didnโt look great in its original form. So she chopped it down, removed the sleeves, and added extra material to the bottom to make it long enough to pass as a dress.
Source:
therefashionista
7. Old-fashioned to modern
Jillianโs vintage-style find on the before image needs a bit of modernization. The sleeves are puffy, and the whole thing looks a bit too โ90s bridesmaidโ to be acceptable casual summer attire. But when Jillian chopped off the sleeves and added a belt at the waist, the dress suddenly looked a lot less understated โ and much more modern. And who doesnโt love a skirt with pockets?
Source:
therefashionista
8. No-sew dress
When Jillian came across a shirt, skirt and sash ensemble at her local thrift store, she knew she had to have it. She hated the design, but loved the print (which is a bit of a running trend with Jillianโs finds). Rather than sew the outfit into something new, she simply pulled the skirt up under her arms, tucked the waistline in, cinched the waist with the sash, then added in a black maxi skirt underneath. Simple yet effective!
Source:
refashionista
9. Wizarding robes to chic dress
The dress in the before image looks a bit like the sort of wizard attire youโd find in Harry Potter, except with a Scottish twist. It seems impossible that Jillian could find a way to save this dressโฆ but she managed it as always. She cut the length to above her knee and runched up the sleeves to her elbows. She also added a thin tie belt made from the same tartan material as the dress, pulling it in at the waist.
Source:
therefashionista
10. XXL shirt to dress
Sometimes itโs nice to buy a shirt with a little extra room. But Jillian came across a shirt that was almost a dressโฆ so she did the logical thing and turned it into a dress. Without the extra long sleeves that gave the shirt a bedraggled air, the new dress looks much more flattering. Jillian replaced the sleeves with tighter versions, and it looks like she pulled the body of the shirt in too, giving it a slightly more styled appearance.
Source:
therefashionista
11. Complete outfit overhaul
Jillian decided that the only way to save this dress was to get rid of most of it, and we donโt blame her. The original piece was frumpy, boxy, and had oddly squared shoulders. But these square shoulders look great after Jillianโs transformation of the dress into a tailored jacket. She cut the sleeves to elbow-length and had the jacket finish at her waist. It looks great paired with her lbd.
Source:
therefashionista
12. Summer chic
Once again, Jillian took her scissors to a vintage piece to show the benefits of less material and more skin. She cut off this frumpy dressโ wide shoulders and transformed them into fashionable straps, and chopped some of the length to finish the cut just above the knee. She also added a brown belt to accessorize. This dress hadnโt lost its distinctive appeal, but itโs much more flattering now.
Source:
therefashionista
13. One dress, three ways
Sometimes Jillianโs repurposed looks donโt involve a sewing needle, which gives her the versatility to transform one thrift store piece into multiple different garments. After finding a shirt dress, she first wore it as a cardigan, then as a maxi dress, before finally chopping off the bottom and wearing it as a shorter version of the original. Which look do you prefer?
Source:
therefashionista
14. Nightwear to daywear
The dress in the before photo here looks like a Victorian night garment. As if the unflattering length wasnโt bad enough, the abnormally large white collar ruins the whole thing. Itโs no wonder that Jillian chopped it off during her transformation of the piece. She also shortened the length to her knees and added a tie belt at the waist. Itโs now a perfectly acceptable piece of daywear.
Source:
therefashionista
15. Sweater vestโฆ sweater
Old-fashioned sweater vests are essentially just a thing of the past nowadays. You might see your granddad wearing one over a shirt on Christmas eve, but nobody โ especially not young women โ wears them casually anymore. So when Jillian found an old sweater vest at her local thrift store, she made it wearableโฆ by adding sleeves and turning it into a standard sweater. Instead of trying to color match the sleeves and the vest, she added white sleeves and a white trim for a quirky take on the style.
Source:
therefashionista
16. Color change
Some of Jillianโs more creative pieces involve her dying a fabric a different color. This dress that Jillian discovered was a shade of bright pink that simply didnโt suit its style. She dyed it an understated pale beige and chopped the sleeves off for good measure. She also got rid of the bizarre underskirt at the bottom of the dress and trimmed the skirt to fall just above her knee. It makes for perfect Christmas party attire.
Source:
therefashionista
17. Sweater turned dress
Jillianโs dress collection must consist of hundreds of garments, as even her thrift store finds that arenโt originally dresses usually end up that way. Though she admitted to liking the cardigan sweater in its original form, she was still keen to make it a little more interesting. She simply pinned together the front of the sweater, then sewed it together and removed the button. After adding a broach and popping on a matching beret, she was good to go.
Source:
therefashionista
18. From old to young
The dress on the left just doesnโt suit a woman of Jillianโs age. Itโs a little frumpy, and it doesnโt fit her properly. Jillian managed to pull the dress in at the waist, and removed the top half of the blouse. In its place, she sewed material to form a tie-neck strap. Again, this look is still very vintage, but doesnโt look like something a granny should wear anymore.
Source:
therefashionista
19. Boho dyed 90s dress
Jillian admitted on her blog that she never wears white, thanks to her clumsiness that leads to spillages of all sorts staining the material (we can relate). She also knows that white washes out her pale skin, which is why she usually dyes her white thrift store finds to a color more suited to her. She dyed this 90s dress a beautiful nude color that brings out the beading along the top.
Source:
therefashionista
20. Beautiful material, questionable design
Jillianโs find in this image actually has quite beautiful material. Itโs a shame, therefore, that the dress itself is such an unflattering design. Luckily, Jillian saw its potential and took it home. She managed to transform it into a much shorter piece, and pulled it in at the waist. Once the length was cut, it didnโt actually need much doing to it. The long sleeves and the neckline look much nicer on a short dress.
Source:
therefashionista
21. Button-up shirt to skirt
Not many of Jillianโs thrift store finds are transformed into clothes for the bottom half, but she pulled it off effortlessly with this button-up shirt skirt. This job doesnโt need any sewing at all, so even those of us who arenโt skilled with a needle can give it a go. You just need to think carefully about your shirt of choice โ Jillian opted for a shirt with dark and muted colors to prevent it from looking too obviously shirt-like.
Source:
therefashionista
22. Dye job
The dress on the left looks a little bit like the lace curtains found in bathrooms in the 90s. Luckily, it only took a bit of work from Jillian to turn it into something much more current and fashionable. She dyed it from white to turquoise, then cut it to knee length. The scoop-neck design and sleeves were cute enough to leave as they were, so really, this dress didnโt need a whole lot of work.
Source:
therefashionista
23. Dress to tie-back top
Tie-back tops are a little different from the norm without being too in-your-face. For this reason, theyโve proved popular for a number of years now โ and theyโre really easy to make from a refashioned dress. Jillian proved this herself when she chopped a thrift store dress to waist length, which she then carefully cut at the back to create a back split, tying it at the bottom.
Source:
therefashionista
24. Circus smock to minidress
How Jillian even managed to find the dress on the left in the first place is a mystery to us. Has anyone ever wore it before sending it to the thrift store? Hopefully not. Jillian made it marginally better by removing the sleeves and the frilly white nightgown lace from around the neck. She also cut it shorter and cinched it at the waist. The red pocket still looks like an abnormal blotch to us, though.
Source:
therefashionista
25. Sweater magic
The original sweater that Jillian found at a thrift store was a little plain. It might have been comfy, but it was slightly too long and a fairly boring shade of nothingness. Jillian first cut the hem slightly shorter, giving it more of a cropped look. She then carefully dyed the whole piece, giving it a cool, somehow understated tie dye effect that instantly makes it more glam.
Source:
therefashionista
26. Buttoned up
Thereโs nothing to terrible about this particular thrift store find, though it does look a little formal with its boxy shoulders and double-button design. Jillian removed one set of buttons and transformed the dress into a coat. She shortened the material, adding a tie around the waist for shape. It looks great with leggings and a funky pair of shoes.
Source:
therefashionista
27. Dress and mask
We knew it wouldnโt be long until we spotted a photo of Jillian showing off a matching dress and face mask, and itโs finally here. She used leftover material that sheโd cut off from her thrift store dress when sheโd made it shorter. There was enough material left for her to make both herself and her partner a unique face mask each. Cute!
Source:
therefashionista
28. Shoulder detail
The shoulders on this dress are what really sell it. In its before state, there was nothing else too interesting to it. Mid-length with an unflattering fit, it needed Jillianโs work to blossom into something beautiful. After cutting the length to below the knee and chopping the sleeves shorter, all that was left to do was pull the waist in with a belt. Weโre glad she left the striking shoulder design as it was.
Source:
therefashionista
29. From dress to top
Weโve learned by now that some dresses just werenโt made to be dresses. In the instances when theyโd do better as tops, no one does a better job at transforming them than Jillian. With this long red number, which was giving us overwhelming air hostess vibes, she got rid of the skirt entirely and left only the top half, which was fitted enough to leave as it was. The oversized belt makes for a great feature of the shirt, and you probably wouldnโt find it on something that hadnโt originally been a dress.
Source:
therefashionista
30. Color change
There are some colors that just donโt look flattering in any light, and the earwax yellow of this dress is one of them. Jillian still saw its potential, though, and decided to buy it and transform into something much more beautiful. She dyed the yellow into a beautiful orangey-pink, then cut the sleeves back to show off more of her upper arms. With a slightly shorter hemline, the dress now looks completely different.
Source:
therefashionista
31. The same dress?
The majority of Jillianโs transformations are impressive, but still obviously the same item in the after pic. In this case, though, Jillianโs refashioned dress is completely different to the original. Perhaps she realized there was no saving the ugly pale flower print and decided the best thing was simply to dye the whole thing purple and cut it short. We definitely prefer the end result.
Source:
therefashionista
32. Toga chic
A dress with a pull-tie at the waist always has potential, even if it starts off looking as ugly as this one. Jillian got rid of the terrible sleeves and took off the buttons down the middle that made the outfit more โcostume partyโ than โcasual dressโ. She then pulled in the waist using the ties and cut the bottom shorter. While the faded beige color isnโt too beautiful, perhaps the material isnโt dye-friendly.
Source:
therefashionista
33. DIY utility dress
Utility dresses are all the range at the moment, and theyโre much more likely to cost more than $4 if you came across one in a popular clothing store. But thatโs exactly how much Jillian spent on buying her thrift store find and transforming it into an Anthropologie-inspired fashion statement. Itโs interesting that she sometimes uses other designs as a reference when creating her own pieces.
Source:
therefashionista
34. Ruffled smock
Itโs hard to make silk look fitting, especially if thereโs lots of excess skirt material, like the case with this turquoise number. The color of this dress and its top portion are pretty nice, but it definitely didnโt fit Jillian properly when she bought it. After cutting the dress short and sewing ruffles into the skirt, it becomes one of our favorites of all her designs. It looks much more expensive than it started out.
Source:
therefashionista
35. From plain to purple
Once more, Jillian shows off her dye skills when she transforms a simple white dress into a dazzling purple number. She apparently fully submerges her pieces into a bucket of dye to help the material absorb the color well. Although she decided to leave the dress in its original style, it looks completely different with a repurposed color alone.
Source:
refashionista
36. Back to front
This dress makes for one of Jillianโs simpler designs, proving that all of us could have a go at refashioning outfits if we wanted to. It was looking frumpy and overly long when she first bought it, and with just a few tricks, she had it looking much better. After switching the dress back to front, she removed the collar from the back and shortened the hem. Kudos to her for finding a pair of sunglasses that complement the outfit perfectly.
Source:
therefashionista
37. Old lady top to tube top
No wonder Jillian looked so perplexed in the first picture โ sheโs wearing a top that looks like itโs for someone three times her age. Unsurprisingly, she decides to get rid of the granny collar; and, in fact, says goodbye to the top half of the sweater completely. All she leaves is the main body of the piece, which she turns into a simple tube top. This is another one that any of us could try out ourselves.
Source:
refashionista
38. Out-of-date to in date
Sometimes thereโs no saving a long dress, and this was one of those times. Instead of bothering to reshape the endless lengths of material beneath the dressโ scalloped midsection, Jillian simply removed it entirely. What was left in its place was a slightly large, unusual shirt. Somehow, she managed to make the neck ruffles work by chopping off the baggy sleeves. The result is a modern, flattering summer top.
Source:
therefashionista
39. Romper overhaul
Rompers can sometimes be hit-and-miss in fit, but this thrift store find is particularly, er, unique. We donโt blame Jillian for deciding it was best to completely get rid of the unusual waistcoat-like top half and replace it with a white vest. The gingham shorts are very in fashion, but combined with the bizarre floral number on top, they were just too much. They look much better after Jillianโs refashion job.
Source:
therefashionista
40. Pretty playsuit
If weโre being really honest here, we were a fan of the original dress that Jillian managed to scoop up for a bargain price. It was a nice length and fit โ but Jillian saw greater potential. In one of her most creative designs so far, she transformed the dress into a funky playsuit. She chopped the length, turning the skirt into shorts, and added a tie-waist. To finish off the cute look, she cut the high neckline into a much more flattering v-neck.
Source:
therefashionista
41. Smock on
We know by now that Jillian loves transforming a large smock into a much smaller dress, and this fashion refurb is no different. The original dress was a beautiful shade of midnight blue, but that was about all it had going for it. It was frumpy and long, but all Jillian had to do was cut it shorter and add a thick belt. Paired with some matching retro sunglasses, the outfit is fun and perfect for the summer.
Source:
therefashionista
42. Collar reduction
Weโre still flabbergasted at just how many dresses Jillian has managed to find with ginormous collars. Maybe she has a soft spot for them โ or for removing them, at least. In this case, Jillian didnโt remove the collar entirely, but cut it into a much more bearable size. After removing the buttons and pulling the waist in with some spare material as a tie, she removed the sleeves and she was good to go. This was one of the few dresses that she chose to keep floor-length, and we think she made the right decision.
Source:
therefashionista
43. Purple wonder
Jillian is at it again with the big collared dresses, and once more, she decided to get rid of this one entirely. Itโs astounding what a difference a lack of a collar can make to some of her designs โ which makes us wonder why anyone would affix such a large collar to a dress in the first place. In this case, Jillian cut the length ever so slightly and removed the giant buttons from the center of the dress. She then added a purple silk undershirt for a sleek, smart outfit.
Source:
therefashionista
44. Bad to good fitting
The dress on the left has a really bizarre shape. The seam that looks as if it should fit around the waist actually falls just beneath the hips, giving the dress a completely shapeless look. Unsurprisingly, Jillian wasted no time in getting rid of that excess material below the knee and give the dress the chop. Instead of the tiny waist tie that original came with the dress, Jillian used a thicker, more flattering strip of material. She also added a little extra to the sleeves.
Source:
therefashionista
45. Fab flapper
Judging by Jillianโs expression on the before picture of this white and gold ensemble, she wasnโt a fan of how wide it was on her body. Despite her obvious distaste for the original dress, it didnโt take much for her to transform it into something she was more keen on. She simply cut off the sleeves and added a cute gold broach to the strap on the left. The finished result looks almost flapper style.
Source:
therefashionista
46. Denim delight
Denim is a notoriously difficult material to work with, as it has a tendency to sit in its original shape no matter what. But when Jillian discovered a ginormous denim dress with a large, unflattering skirt, she knew she had to save it. All it took was a quick snip at the material at the bottom of the skirt, and the dress now looked deliberately oversized, rather than engulfing. She teamed it with boots, socks and a simple tee for a casual everyday look.
Source:
therefashionista
47. Completely chopped
Jillian saw that one of the biggest things going for this bright blue dress was its belt design. She didnโt like much else of it, though โ not the neckline, nor the sleeves or the skirt, judging by the end result. She transformed the dress into a sleeveless top, leaving the belt to form a funky hem around her waist. Paired with a bandanna and some blue denim jeans, sheโs kept the look nice and simple.
Source:
therefashionista
48. Cheeky
Though Jillian liked the look of her white beaded find, there was a clear problem: it was just a little too revealing. To enable herself to wear the dress in public without having to cover up her chest, Jillian solved the issue by adding a patterned material to the holes that complements the dress perfectly. After dying it turquoise and cutting it shorter, the end result is much more appealing.
Source:
therefashionista
49. Unwasted sleeves
What to do when your dressโ sleeves are too ugly to leave attached to the arms? Wear them as a belt, of course! Jillian probably knew that this look would receive a mixed response from her audience, but she was clearly feeling confident in her creation. After chopping the skirt to an above-knee length, she only needed to pull the waist in with her unique sleeve tie belt. The cute collar thankfully got to stay.
Source:
therefashionista
50. Emperor sass
There are definite emperor vibes emanating from the original dress in the before shot. Though the style is a little unusual, and probably not for everyone, Jillian decided it was something she could work with. She chopped off the wide sleeves, leaving only the purple neck collar, which gave the dress an interesting and surprisingly flattering design. She used leftover material from the sleeves as a waist tie, and called it a day with this one. She even matched her nails and jewelry to her dress.
Source:
therefashionista
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