Upcycled Party Dresses for New Year's Eve and Beyond

If you’re stuck in a wardrobe rut with the clock counting down to New Year’s Eve, there’s still time to upcycle yourself a fresh, fun look.

Take a plain skirt or dress and give it an upgrade with glittery embellishments. Fancy, one-off event dresses (think wedding or bridesmaid) can be downscaled into festive party attire you’ll actually want to wear.

Upcycling your wardrobe with a new twist is a fun, crafty way to save money while embracing your inner creative DIY goddess. The best part? You don’t have to be Project Runway contestant-worthy to riff on the inspiration we have culled together for you. Some projects are as simple as squeezing a tube of glue! And if you’re staying in on December 31, these ideas will carry you into the new year.

If it’s good enough for Keira Knightley and her infamous upcycled Chanel wedding dress, it’s good enough for us.  Knightly repurposed her wedding dress and stepped out with it more than once after she tied the knot.

Photo via X17online.com / Getty Images / Stuart C. Wilson

Photo via Ecouterre

Even our First Lady Michelle Obama knows how to rock a recycled redux, as seen here in this side to side comparison on Hollywood Life. No stranger to recycling outfits, she’s been spotted attending church wearing the same dress she wore on Oprah back in 2009. The FLOTUS took her Prabal Gurung dress (below) through three different incarnations and in doing so makes a bold eco-statement. The more we buy, the more waste we make.

Photos via Hollywood Life 

Livia Firth, Creative Director of Eco Age Ltd, wrote about her choice to wear an upcycled dress to the Oscars for The Huffington Post.  Firth’s brand consultancy is the driving force behind the Green Carpet Challenge "a dynamic project, pairing glamour and ethics." Her mission is to "persuade anyone who’ll listen that sustainable fashion can give us all the chance to be active citizens through our wardrobes."

Photo via Ecouterre/Jason Olive

If that’s not enough to convince you to try the trend, check out Kate Middleton’s contributions to the trend. The Duchess of Cambridge has a reputation for repurposing her old looks, perhaps to show that even royals can be thrifty from time to time.

So let’s get cracking!

Along Abbey Road shows us the steps to turn this blah tube skirt into a little glittery stunner with sequins and glue.

Photo via Along Abbey Road

Virgine Peny shows us how she turned a party dress into a disco-worthy paneled skirt.

Photo via Virgine Peny

Tauni, host of the competitive craft blog, So You Think You’re Crafty challenged readers to create a party frock out of a thrift store shift dress. Below is the winner, Naomi, of Fifty Two Create.

Photos via So You Think Your Crafty

If you really want to up your refashioning game in 2015, check out The DIY Fashionista, from blogger Geneva Vanderzeil of A Pair & A Spare. Vanderzeil curated her favorite recycled fashion projects in her book but if you need a quick tutorial to make your New Year’s Eve statement piece out of an old frock now, jump over to the DIY dresses section of her blog.

There you’ll find saucy numbers perfect for New Year’s Eve like this little black lace dress.

Photos via A Pair & A Spare

The dress re-invention below transforms this piece from boring to backless beauty.

Photo via A Pair & A Spare

BAM!

Feeling in a bright white and gold mood? What about this beauty! Just adding a collar of gold sequin paillettes turns this white column into a dressy stunner.

Photo via A Pair & A Spare