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The Digital Ambassadors Upcycle Challenge Winner Is . . .

You’ve voted for your favorite men’s suit transformation, and now it’s time for us to reveal the Threads Digital Ambassadors Upcycle Challenge winner. The winning entry is a classic: It’s the 1940s women’s suit created by Digital Ambassador Peter Lappin.

Stylish winning transformation

Peter turned a men’s size 44 Regular wool flannel men’s suit into the elegant two-piece suit.

Women's dark gray pinstripe suit on dress form
Peter Lappin turned a pre-owned men’s wool flannel suit into a 1940s women suit.
Women's suit on dress form, jacket opened to reveal colorful lining
He used a large-scale print charmeuse to line the jacket and skirt.

He started with a vintage Advance pattern and made multiple design changes to the jacket and skirt, in part to work around the fabric limitations. He had serious competition from fellow Threads Digital Ambassadors Becky Fulgoni and Pamela Howard.

“It was terrific fun,” Peter says of the challenge. “When I’m competing against others, it propels me to push a little harder. It was truly a privilege to compete with Becky and Pam. They did a wonderful job.”

Top-notch competitors

Becky turned her pre-owned men’s suit into business overalls and complementary dolman-sleeve short jacket. She designed and sewed her upcycled outfit using a learned free-form approach she refers to as “do the part you know.”

Pamela bumped the challenge up a notch for herself when she chose to make a four-piece mix-and-match ensemble, with a sleeveless jacket and skirt as the foundation. She created the jacket and skirt from a more-than-ample men’s suit consisting of a size 56 jacket and size 54 trousers.

Besides winning bragging rights, Peter gets to bask in the glow of compliments. “You have made something that would have been gorgeous on a Hollywood star of the ’40s—or on my mom,” one fan commented. “Elegant, flattering, and timeless.”

The challenge winner shares his thought process, method, and even a few lessons he learned during the suit construction in his post, “Men’s Suit Repurposing Project: Creating a 1940s Women’s Suit.”

You can see how Becky went about the project here.

Women's dark pantsuit on dress form
Becky Fulgoni made dressy overalls to be worn alone or under a short jacket, which was constructed mainly from a complementary fabric she uncovered in her stash. The jacket’s interesting hardware closure matches the buckles she used on the overalls.

And read Pamela’s detailed account of how she repurposed her suit here.

Sleeveless women's suit with paisley blouse on dress form
Pamela Howard turned a large men’s suit into a sleeveless jacket featuring a side-front closure and a skirt with back walking slit. Then she made two tops to complement the ensemble.

Giveaway prize

Threads audience members who voted for their favorite transformation were entered into a drawing for a prize package valued at more than $500 from Threads and the challenge sponsors:

The drawing winner has been notified.


Photos of transformed suits by Mike Yamin.

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  1. user-3251948 | | #1

    A worthy winner!

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