Another great daily art project

I have written before about daily art projects, those in which somebody commits to do or make something every day for a while.  I recently happened upon another one that's worth checking out.

Marisa Lynch, a 30-year-old fashionista who lives in Los Angeles, decided to come up with a new outfit every day for a year for $1 apiece and blog about it.  She does this by recycling thrift-store garments.  Her two favorite tools: scissors and sewing machine, probably in that order.  Sometimes she doesn't bother putting up hems and leaves the cut edges fluttering in the breeze in the best deconstructed manner, and I get the feeling that when she turns back and sews a new neckline there's no facing or finishing inside, but she's also pretty slick at mending and alterations.

She started the project on November 27 and is almost through with her 365-day commitment, so there's a lot of archive to read through and I have only skimmed the surface.  But I have to applaud both her concept and her execution.  It's particularly nice to discover sewing skills in younger people; hanging out in my regular fiber art circles sometimes I think nobody under 40 or 50 knows what a needle is. 

I like her irreverent attitude toward temporary garment repair, such as turning up hems with duct tape or clear mailing tape (hint: replace the tape when you wash the garment).  If there's too much fabric, gather it up with a big brooch or a pony-tail elastic.  If the cuffs are weird, roll the sleeves up.  If you don't like the neckline, wear it backwards.  And toward permanent transformation: if you find a spot on your dress, cut it off; if the color is blah, dye it.

I have many unanswered questions about Marisa and her project, such as:  Where does she get all those fabulous, awful dresses for a buck apiece?  How long does it take her to perform her daily art?  Between sewing every day and a seriously busy social life, how does she make a living?  Would this project be impossible if she didn't wear strapless tops?  Who takes the pictures?  What is she going to do with all the shoulder pads removed from those 1980s dresses?

Here's a "before" picture -- honest, she turned it into something downright wearable!