Another hot day in paradise, another simple way to give a cotton dress a second life – by lifting the waistline and thereby shortening the skirt.

On the other side of the world, you wouldn’t be wearing an Indian cotton number on the streets of New York right now – and if you did there’s a chance photographer Bill Cunningham might capture the moment.

I was lucky last night to catch the documentary Bill Cunningham New York repeated on ABC1 and was struck by his authenticity and single-minded dedication to his craft with the New York Times.

Bill’s life has been an obsession with clothes yet he upcycles his plastic poncho by using black gaffer tape to repair tears and works in utilitarian blue shirts.

He describes fashion as the armour to survive everyday life, and dressing the body as an artform. Yet he says 90 per cent of the clothes Americans wear are made outside America – and I’m sure the same applies in Australia as well.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m on a mission to demonstrate that with a small investment of time and effort, you can re-make your clothes in your own home through creative upcycling.

Buying ready-to-wear clothing off-the-rack is quick and easy – when the styles suit your body shape, wallet and situation. But do we need new new? I’m all for recreating existing garments so the length and style is more individual and you will never run into anyone dressed the same way.

There are thousands, perhaps millions, of beautiful natural fibre garments stashed unused in our wardrobes, ops shops or discarded in landfill that can be rescued and refashioned. You just need to take a little time to look at them in a different way – as a natural resource worth reusing.

Today’s offering was a long cheesecloth cotton number with a shirred elastic waist, made in India and found in an op shop for $2. I chopped it off at the waist, lifted it up and attached straps made from the remnants of the top. It is much cooler now and so comfy without the gathered waist.