Before I was fully immersed in dressing like Fran Drescher’s Character, Fran Fine, from the 90’s sitcom The Nanny, I remembered the character and did an internet deep dive to recall what it was about her attire that crossed my mind two decades later.

My internet free fall that ultimately culminated with me purchasing The Nanny’s Emmy-award-winning costume designer’s fashion guidebook first led me to an interview article with said costume designer.

In the article, Cooper reminisced over how much altering the team would do to an off-the-rack article of clothing. They would go so far as to tailor in bathrobes at the waist and insert shoulder pads, so even when she was undone, Fran was never frumpy. This was a real a-ha moment for me. The reason why Fran made whacky dressing so sexy is because each garment was tailored to form-fit her [svelte] body. In other words, the difference between Miss Frizzle and Fran Fine was as simple as tailoring tight around the torso and bringing the hemline high above the knee. Got it.

Before I could even get next-day shipping for Brenda Cooper’s dressing guide, I found myself at Goodwill face to face with a real treasure.

I’ve only sewn Halloween costumes in the last fifteen years and I had completely forgotten that there was a time when I was my oldest son’s age and I would use tutorials from a “T-Shirt Surgery” message board to create different styles of shirts or skirts from things I had thrifted.

The sweater was already hideously tacky, so I had nothing to lose in my attempt to make it suit me.

And I did it!

I LOVE it, and I felt like I had been bitten, I couldn’t wait to do some more. When my friend at the grocery store told me I looked like I was dressed like Dolly Parton, I KNEW I was on the right track.

This weekend I did a simpler mend: I made a thrifted Banana Republic skirt (with pockets!) into a mini skirt:

More Mending to Come!

Like I said, I’ve been bitten. I’ve hemmed a couple pairs of pants, too, but that’s not so fun or post-worthy. The plan is, with Consistency over Intensity as the focus this year, I’ll share more of my clothes alterations on upcoming Mondays. I’ve got a whole pile of clothes looking forward to more form fitting futures!