College Times

Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy Fox

In the romantic comedy, "27 Dresses," Katherine Heigl plays Jane, a single woman who believes so completely in romance that she becomes the bridesmaid de facto for friends, family and even the most minor of acquaintances. She completes so many tours of duty, in fact, that she has an arsenal of canned responses to that cliched bridal claim, "Aren't these dresses great? Best thing is you can shorten them and wear them again."

Many - perhaps most - women can relate to Jane's predicament. Equally relatable is the predicament of what to do with the dress afterward. "It's really amazing. Almost every single woman's closet I've ever looked through has at least two or three bridesmaid dresses in it," says Susan Maxwell. "They don't want to get rid of them ... but they don't know what to do with them either."

Maxwell is the proprietor and lead designer of the interior design co-op Suz Maxwell LLC (suzmaxwell.com). She rifles through clients' closets to become familiar with their personal style. "We call it our Fashion Closet Consultation," Maxwell says. "It's partly about organization and wardrobe, but it also helps us to uncover the way a person lives on a daily basis, which then helps us choose the right colors, fabrics and floor plan for their home."

That sort of fashion-to-home translation is precisely what gave Maxwell the idea for what to do with those pesky, space-hogging bridesmaid dresses: Reinterpret them as home decor. "What a great way to keep close the memories of that day without having to hold on to the clunky, unwearable dress," she says.

Inspired by the movie, Maxwell shared with us 27 ideas for breathing new life into bridesmaid dresses.

Three of them she made for us to share with you - a pillow, table runner and coasters - and they're featured here.



1 Ugly Dress, 27 Solutions

1. Table runner. (See accompanying story for instructions.)

2. Throw pillow/pillow case.

3. Place mats. Standard place mats are 18 by 12 inches.

4. Curtains.

5. Patchwork quilt. Use a mix of fabrics and textures from several dresses.

6. Eye pillow. Cut desired size and shape; with right sides facing, sew three sides together. Turn in and fill with dried lavender; hand-sew the open end closed.

7. Shower curtain. Standard curtains measure about 72 by 70 inches, which definitely calls for multiple long dresses. Don't forget a plastic liner.

Continued...

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