Bridesmaid Renovation

Kristen Johnson's fashion students have done what former bridesmaids everywhere would be envious of: they transformed old bridesmaid dresses into fashionable, everyday wear.

Johnson's morning and afternoon classes each held a fashion show on Friday to show off their work. Second-year students took the outdated dresses and transformed them info modern, fashionable outfits, including cocktail dresses and dressy ensembles of vests and long shorts. First-year students modeled the garments in the morning show; second-year students modeled each other's designs in the afternoon show.

"Many women who have been in weddings have bridesmaid dresses that have been sitting in their closet for ages," Johnson said.The project gave students an opportunity to showcase how they can breathe new life into an outdated garment.

Here are what the dresses in the morning class looked like before the students got their hands on them:

And here they are now, modeled by first-year fashion students:

This is what the afternoon students' dresses looked like back then:

And now: