Day of the Dead Party Skirt

I am not a big fan of wandering crowed shopping malls, looking in store windows at cheaply made, over priced clothing. Over the years I have grown tired of coming home, empty-handed, after hours of grumbling over the decline in western fashion. This is one of the reasons why for the last 30 years I have done the majority of my shopping out of second-hand stores.

I was given this skirt last year and it has sat in the back of a closet every since. It is covered in a delicate floral pattern.

This skirt came from a thrift shop

This short velvet skirt is also from a thrift shop

I loved this festive skull image, but the shirt it came off of was a 3X and did not fit me.

I cut the elastic band from the long black skirt, serged the raw edge, put in gathers and fitted it inside the skirt with the flowers.

The floral skirt has decorative cutouts with an underskirt that peeks through. The cotton lining had been washed so much that it had shrunk. I cut the underskirt out.

I cut the skull image out of the tee-shirt and appliquéd it onto a panel I had cut from the short black skirt. I attached the decorative panel onto the front of the other two skirts.

With the leftovers I made ties and attached them to the back of the skirt(s) .

Women’s aprons of the 1940’s are often covered in flowers, sweet little song birds and geometric designs. This skirt pays homage to the apron with a modern, slightly morbid flare.