TV - Inspired look

I've been watching a lot of old 'Community' lately, and I was a little too excited to see Annie wearing a dress that I own. Her style is not too different from mine (when I wear a dress or skirt, that is!) but I figured it would be fun to recreate her look.

Inspiration:

Unfortunately, there were no full length shots of her in this outfit, but I think it's safe to assume the bottom half was black tights and flats.

Aside from the obvious differences in photography and scenery, can you tell us apart?

Dress: Forever 21 (Goodwill outlet)

Cardigan: BP (Goodwill Outlet)
Flats: BP (Value Village, $4)

Hemming advice?

I found this dress in the bins at the outlet, and came home to find it was a perfect fit. The material is silk, with lace detailing at the top/ bodice area. While it does have a small tag listing the fabric content and cleaning instructions, it doesn't have size or label tags, which leads me to believe it might have been a custom bridesmaid dress.

I love everything about this dress, but the mid-calf length is overwhelming on my 5'3" frame, and even with the super tall heels I am wearing in the photos, I still think the length isn't ideal.

I am debating whether to keep the length as is (for convenience), or hem it to a more suitable knee length. And if the latter, I'm not sure whether I should do this myself or pay a little for a professional.
I'd like to wear this dress to my office holiday party this upcoming weekend and while I'd prefer it hemmed to knee length, I'm also afraid of being too hasty/ unfamiliar with silk if I were to do it myself. Note that though it's a work party and it'll be a dressy event, my office/team is very laid back and there wouldn't be any concerns about appropriate length/ skin showing.


These first photos are of the dress at its original/current length:

For comparison, In the next photos I have the skirt tucked/ am holding it up to simulate how it may look with a higher hemline (length in first two photos is shorter than ideal) :

Has anyone ever self-hemmed a dress? Or cut/sewn silk?

Ikat and a cat

This dress is one of my favorite finds - although I really have so many favorites.
It's a regular cotton Forever 21 dress, but I found it for just $2 during one of Goodwill's half price colored tag days. On top of this, its lovely previous owner did me the favor of taking in the sides of the top a little, which makes for a better fit! (I am a pear shape and don't fill out tops enough)

The dress is pretty short, but with opaque tights it passes as work-appropriate. But then I can get away with quite a lot in my office, so the tights may not necessarily be required!


Dress: F21 | Goodwill | $2
Cardigan: 3-7-9 | Goodwill by the Pound
Tights: Marshalls (I think?)
Flats: Dexter | Goodwill | ~$3.50

My cat Chester (pictured bottom right) is very affectionate and always wants to get in on whatever I'm doing. He sits on the bathroom sink while I'm brushing my teeth, climbs into my dresser drawers, sticks his nose in the fridge, etc. So he pretty much appears in every other outfit photo I take. Sometimes I even trip on him when I'm doing the self-timer backstep. :(