When it comes to fashion, it’s safe to say that it’s an expensive business, unless you know how to make it work for you. Even without a bottomless wallet, you can craft yourself a couture that is as timeless and fashionable as a good pair of shoes.

Extremes

As you go through your closet to find those items you don’t wear anymore, look for more of the extreme items that can only be worn at very specific events or situations. Chances are you have at least a few bottoms, tops and dresses that saw use once before being relegated to the closet. These are your targets for recycling because, though fashion does repeat, the most extreme parts of it don’t, meaning you run less of a risk of destroying something you could have used again.

Timelessness

Throughout all of fashion history, there is one rule to follow—make sure whatever you’re wearing fits your body. Fashion isn’t fashionable unless it hugs your frame. With this in mind, your more extreme outfits can be cut and tailored into anything you could imagine so long as the final product hangs off of your frame in a pleasing manner. Tight, loose, long or short, never settle for less than perfection.

Subtlety

Whether you yourself resew the old fashion or have a seamstress do so, don’t try to butcher the garments. Instead, look to tone down the most extreme parts. Maybe there’s a bit too much frill or maybe it hangs too much like a drape. By muting sections that belong to a very specific fashion period, you can alter anything into a special look that hearkens back to the good old days while giving you a unique style no one else can recreate.