ECO-EXPRESS YOURSELF : ROSE GOLD, FAUX LEATHER JACKET ALTERATION​

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ECO-EXPRESS YOURSELF

DIY ROSE GOLD, FAUX LEATHER JACKET

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​Please enjoy the DIY part, of the "Eco-Express Yourself" series.
In short, same girl, ill fitted clothes, new style.
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This post is about how I fixed my faux leather jacket, online shopping mistake. 
​If you haven't read any of the previous post's explaining the purpose of the "Eco-Express yourself, Recycle fashion" series, click right here, or scroll down for a quick repeat after the photos. 
​In this part of the series, I will go into the value of salvaging clothes and breathe new life into them.

When you're very particular about what you like and know what you need, going to your local mall might not cut it. If you're searching for a very specific look, your best bet is online shopping (often from abroad), with all those complications that entail, such as return, tax, and toll costs. So, when the inevitable shopping mistake occur (as product photos can be deceiving) and it doesn't pay of to return it, alterations and DIY skills can come in real handy.

What I'm wearing.
Home altered rose gold, faux leather jacket. See below for before photo and information about the process.
​The black Dr.Martens boots are about 4 years old.
The black cat eye sunglasses are about 3 years old.
The color of the jacket is a bit stronger in real life than what it appear to be in the photos. The light is just reflecting of the metallic material, to make it appear lighter.

I thought I ordered a rose gold, faux leather, biker jacket, and when it arrived it was metallic pink with a silver shine instead. Icy cold colors look really bad on me, so I couldn't use it. However, it would cost almost as much as I paid for the jacket to return it, since I ordered it from another country. I don't want to be wasteful (economically and environmentally), so I decided that I was going to have to fix this.

​First I found some leftover gold leather spray-paint (from a previous project) and a sponge. Then I sprayed the whole jacket with the gold paint and used the sponge to smudge the gold into a thin layer, so that the pink color and metallic quality of the original jacket would still come through. The result was as you can see, a rose gold metallic jacket. It blended really well, except for a few gold freckles here and there. The photo makes it look a little patchy because the reflection highlight the areas where the color is less evenly spread, but in real life the color comes of as all over rose gold.

This warm shade is so much better for my skin tone and I'm so excited to use it now, as a metallic jacket has been on my shopping list for several years.

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Before

As you can tell, in this photo from the seller, it was originally quite pink. It did look a bit rose gold in the product photo (photo to the left), so I added an altered version of it to illustrate the actual color of the item I received. It looks as if the warm light in the photo is the source of the confusion. The actual color in daylight was metallic, ice-pink, with a silver shine. Not a big deal if icy pink is your color, but for me it was too light, soft, and cold at the same time.
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I considered keeping it and just wearing lots of makeup with it, as it was still cool. However, I knew that this would result in me not using it nearly enough, and that I would still be wanting a gold or a rose gold jacket. So, it would just be a waste. As it would not pay of to return it because of the shipping cost over seas, the only solution was to turn this jacket into the jacket I thought I bought. Thank heaven for leather paint, which I am now low key obsessed with, and keep looking for leather-like things in my closet to fix up or alter/better.   

After

Above: The rose gold, faux leather jacket, finished results. As you can tell in this photo, it looks very light in daylight and a lot darker in indoor lighting. 

Below to the left: The gold leather spray paint I used to turn this jacket from metallic pink to rose-gold. I sprayed it as delicately and evenly as I could to avoid a patchy look, as I wanted the gold color to blend with the already metallic pink material for a rose gold outcome. I also went over with a sponge, to try and spread the color more evently on places where the color became too patchy.
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Below to the right: A close up on the material and color of the rose gold jacket, finished results.

2/3 of the clothes produced each year, end up in landfills within the end of that same year. The fact that clothing production has doubled only in the last 10 years, makes that an even bigger environmental problem. So, If you have the option to DIY fix your outdated or broken clothes (or silly shopping mistakes, like mine), it would do a lot towards helping the environment.​​

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WANT MORE TIPS ON HOW TO GET YOUR WARDROBE IN ORDER, CLICK HERE.

FOR MORE FASHION ADVICE FROM IDEALIST STYLE, CLICK HERE.

​THE GOLDEN WARDROBE RULES
The trick is to think of your closet as a collection, and only shop for what's missing. Never just buy something because it's pretty or cool. Take notice of what you really need when roaming through your clothes getting ready, and make a list. This is a good way of preventing that impulse shopping, based on your feelings for that random shiny dress you just got a fleeting crush on (that you'll never get to wear). The key is to build a wardrobe where you can find an outfit for any occasion, without having to go shopping. Even if it's for work, a birthday party, camping, or a wedding. Too many of us have the "I have a hundred party tops, and yet I have nothing to wear" kind of closets. Or, the "I only have work clothes, and nothing fancy". It's all about finding that right balance. 
Instead, spare the environment the pollution, and save money on buying long lasting quality items. This way, you can rather spend your money on replacing basics (Also, more left for the occasional splurge on fashion fabs).

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(Source: The photos are mine, except the before photo of the jacket in the before photos. That came from the seller. Information about the environment is from "The True Cost Movie" and you can see more at https://truecostmovie.com/learn-more/environmental-impact/.)