Fashion must have been DIY to begin with. One wonders how an apsara would style herself with two fine, beautiful pieces of unstitched cloth.

Things changed since then. The fashion industry was invented and so were designer clothes. So were shopping malls and buying choices beyond count. So was boredom with what we wear, as more choices may only mean more conveyor-belt products.

But there are ways to do away with boredom. One way is going back to Do It Yourself.

Don’t dump your old clothes. Use your imagination and turn them into something else. Simply. The easiest and most versatile of clothes, for the purpose, other than the sari, is the T-shirt.

Here our stylist Pinky Kenworthy (picture above) gives the DIY treatment to the T-shirt, leggings and other garments. The costume jewellery is DIY too, designed by her.

A long T-shirt can be cut easily into two to make a cool Balenciaga-style cropped top and a mini wraparound skirt.

You can pair it with pants or even with a sari. You can wear it back to front, with the naughty knot on your back.

A close second to the T-shirt is a pair of old leggings/tights. Just snip off a bit, in a triangular or circular shape, from the seat of the pants. Voila! You have a neckline.

You can make it demure or wicked according to taste, but begin by cutting off a little bit, just to make sure the neckline does not become too wide or deep.  Then slip your arms into the legs.

Since some of these garments will require a bit of cutting and snipping, be absolutely certain that you will not miss them in their original form.

You don’t have to be perfect while cutting. The rough, uneven look will give an edge to your creation. Don’t even bother to stitch.

Models: Payel Sarkar, Debjani Basak and Munmun Roy

Make-up: Nabin Das

Photographs: Rashbehari Das