NICKY ANDERSON,

DIY FASHION CONNOISSEUR

march 21, 2019 by controversgurl, posted in controversgirlz

Nicky is a fellow journo student and good friend of mine. When it was brought to my attention that Nicky makes her own clothes for nights out, I knew I had to feature her on this!

Without further adieu, here is Nicky’s story on her ventures as a seamstress.

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My name is Nicky Anderson and I’m 20 years old and from Galway! My parents were never into fashion and always dressed us in bright colored hippy clothes, you could spot us from a mile away!

Growing up I used to watch my nana knitting and listen to my mum go on about how amazing it was that nana was able to make lace and embroidery – even though I didn’t know what that meant all I knew was that she was very talented. When I got older around 12, I got my first knitting kit and my nana helped me make my first bag. I was chuffed. From there I fell into love with the fact that I could take a few pieces of string or bits of material and with a bit of skill and patience turn it into something completely new and beautiful.

It was when I started going to discos in around third year and fourth year that I realised I could try and create the outfits I envisioned myself wearing a reality if I got the right materials and practiced enough. At first, in all honesty, I was embarrassed of my homemade designs. I would never admit they were homemade unless someone complimented me. I thought people wouldn’t understand the creative aspect and uniqueness about it and just focus on the fact that I got the material from charity shops – probably a lot did but I never really took any head. See being a broke TY student, what I did was I’d go into a charity shop, find the largest items of clothing in material I liked and used that to create my outfits instead of spending a small fortune on new material.

“While my friends were ordering off websites I was slaving away trying to make myself the perfect outfit out of recycled material – saving money while saving the environment”

The women in the charity shops used to always tell me how the size I was buying wouldn’t fit me and I’d always have to explain my plan on just using the material, they even got me to bring in a picture to show them once they thought it was so exciting. I used items of clothing that cost no more than €6 to create whole outfits. Not only did I make the outfits I wanted exactly but I made them exactly to my measurements.

While my friends were ordering off websites I was slaving away trying to make myself the perfect outfit out of recycled material – saving money while saving the environment. Since coming to college I haven’t as been as active making clothes but it is something i will always love and cherish.