As a costume designer in Hollywood, Alison Freer has made a career out of making very attractive people look even better. And she’s no stranger to solving high-stakes fashion emergencies. (Broken zippers! stains! VPL!)
In her new book, How to Get Dressed, she offers up industry secrets for making your clothes look and fit better… and for solving wardrobe malfunctions before they turn disastrous.
How do you deal with ill-fitting shoes and the pain they cause? Is not buying them the only solution? Nope. A piece of moleskin where the shoe badly fits will do the trick (and it can also help repair an underwire bra!). Moleskin, together with safety pins and topstick (double-sided tape), can solve pretty much any wardrobe malfunction you’ll ever experience.
From taming pokey underwire to eliminating VPL, here are eight of her most clever tricks.
1. Stop the Pop
Notice the pockets on your dress pants popping open when you sit or stand? Bring those puppies to a tailor and have the pockets sewn shut. (Who uses pants pockets anyway?)
2. Quell the Smell
We need to talk: Your cute little ballet flats smell like a middle-school locker room. To keep embarrassing odours at bay, fill a pair of old socks with baking soda, tie each one in a knot and stuff them into the stinky shoes in between wearings.
3. Down Boy
To keep a flapping belt end in place, secure it to itself with a tiny piece of Topstick tape.
4. Never Come Up Short
Hemming your denim is a beautiful thing, but to avoid over-hemming, be sure to wash and dry your jeans at least once before bringing them to the tailor. This gets all the shrinkage out of their system so you won’t end up going too short.
5. A Poke Is No Joke
Underwire sticking out of your favourite bra? Patch the protrusion with a bit of moleskin. It’ll hold the wire in place and keep it from poking you in the boobs.
6. Tight Squeeze with Ease
As a general rule, it’s best to buy shoes that fit. But if you must cram your feet into slightly too-small heels, take a cue from one of Freer’s celeb clients (she won’t say who) and spray your tootsies with cooking spray first. You heard us: cooking spray.
7. Skip the Line
If you ever need to fix a VPL stat, snip the seams of your underwear on the sides to release the pressure of the elastic digging into your flesh.
8. There Will Be Blood
The best stain fighter for blood? Your own saliva. Just lick and rub the fabric for an instant spot-remover. (Note: We’re talking about a little bit of blood. Not horror-movie quantities.)
Gurl Interrupted
A Girl Interrupted By Fashion, Beauty & Anything Pretty That Catches My Eye
