Thrifted dress makeover

Every summer I bring my flowy cotton and linen dresses out of storage with full intention of making the most of my least favorite season and wearing something pretty. By the time real summer (90-100°) rolls around in August I'm planning my fall wardrobe on pinterest and drawing all the drapes with a new intention of simply not existing until fall. All the pretty summer dresses leave me too exposed to the sun and besides, I can't toss them in the washer and dryer after a particularly sweaty day, they'd need to hang dry and be ironed or steamed. So I fall back on activewear and really I've found I only like activewear for active times.

A couple weeks ago I found this dress at a thrift store and miraculously it was 100% cotton. One reason I prefer finding things at thrift stores is because I see potential in everything, not context. A pretty store like anthropologie makes everything look appealing, or a lackluster shop might deter me from a really good garment. Looking up this dress by Who What Wear, I would've never chosen it in their context, but on it's own it gave me somewhat Jane Austen/Elizabeth Swann vibes.

It seemed almost perfect, slightly longer sleeves to shield from the sun, a flowy skirt, comfortable wrap style, and I could toss it in the washer and dryer and if it's a little wrinkled it fits the style. I wasn't really into the bright blue of the stripes, so I got some color remover to see if I could lighten it to a nice faded antique blue.

Here's the dress originally, bright blue and with a modesty snap at the chest, I removed that and the tags at the neck.

After color remover the stripes turned orange! Would've been a really cute 18th century witch look with some black accessories but not my goal.

Let it soak in diluted chlorine bleach and it all lightened to a crisp gray/blue, it was almost too crisp for me so I did a coffee and tea soak as well.

The final result is exactly what I had pictured, a soft faded version of the original colors.