STILL On My Radar...

And now on my body! You'll see...

First, sorry I'm late. We are WELL into Friday, and I apologize for not getting here sooner.
ANYWAY.

Remember about two weeks ago when I mentioned harnesses? In conjunction with some other DIY stuff? Well guess what I did with the last couple days! Let me start by saying I knew I HAD to do it when I found this while looking up ideas:

Oh, really, Yahoo Shine? Oh please, God, YES.

What's wrong with people in Ohio taking fashion risks? Why do New York and LA get to have all the fun? We here at Swap*Toledo are strong advocates of this sentiment. Moving on...

I started with these two belts from Walmart. I decided to get them from the boys section since I knew a) they'd be cheaper and b) I needed something smaller in order for it to fit around my waist. Just when I thought I was going to have to buy extra "leather" fabric, I sighted this old bag in my closet. (I love this bag, but it survived a house fire and the studs got a little weathered in the processs.)

I gathered up my trusty scissors, thread, and the TRUSTIEST of tools, the seam ripper. By using a seam ripper, I was able to carefully deconstruct my purse while keeping all the raw edges tucked into their original seams. It's a beautiful thing. Eventually the bag's straps became the straps to my harness and I used one of the D-rings (also from the purse) to make the back. Other smaller pieces came from the strips attached to the bag's zipper. (This is probably boring information, but am I clever or am I clever?) Then I sewed it all back together!

Exhibits A, B, and C

And it all culminated in this:

As you can see, I paired it with some opaque black tights (it's still cold out!) and some chunky mary-janes. I think the trick to this look is letting the harness be the "edgy" statement piece and keeping everything else on the soft side. 

I'm so excited to try this with other things like jackets, hoodies, button-down shirts...everything, ever. 

So there you have it! If you're wondering, the harness itself cost a total of $16, which was just the cost of the belts since I already had the bag. And if you were wondering about anything else: the dress and shoes were Forever 21 clearance items ($7 and $10, respectively), and the tights are, well, just reg'luh ol' tights.

What do you say, Toledo and/or Ohio? Can we make harnesses a thing and tell Yahoo to suck a lemon? Please let me know!

...but I'm still gonna keep rockin' this thing.

Good weekends to you all!
Renee