Stylish remakes Upcycle your old T's, sweats and flannels into trendy street fashion pieces

The offspring of two flannel shirts is a swingy dress or an A-line skirt, if the latest Japanese-style trendy fashion upcycling book is to be believed. Japanese fashion company Violette Room here takes typical thrift-shop finds, such as vintage T-shirts, scarves, sweatshirts, and trench coats, and transforms them into something entirely new (and often more than a bit quirky). As with most upcycled fashion books, there are hits, there are misses, and there are combinations that will make you wonder what would possess someone to sew two college sweatshirts together into an oversized tunic that seems to read "Michigrginia." But that's fashion-not everyone will understand the edgy stuff. Sewists who are familiar with Japanese-style sewing guides will find a familiar format-fashion-magazine style photos in the front, patterns and instructions in the back. Basic garment sewing knowledge is assumed. VERDICT Fashion upcycling books play to a younger audience; teens may be able to pull off the unconventional styles, but those of us in the over-25 crowd would get some odd looks if we wore these pieces in public. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.