Tie One On

You don’t know anyone who wears silk scarves anymore – well, except that ancient former officemate, who thought she was spicing up her drab old gray and navy pantsuits.

While her vintage scarves still live with their original owner, many other forgotten, donated or cast-off silk scarves have found new life as one-of-a-kind dresses designed by Katie Bodnyk for her line HI State of Mind.

Bodnyk, a 2005 UH fashion grad, has been collecting scarves and turning them into feminine, flowing dresses and halter tops for a little more than a year. Each one is completely different from any other, with its shape, silhouette, color and pattern all determined by the scarves Bodnyk’s found and how they fit together. Some long dresses take 10 scarves to make, flirty tops can sometimes be made with just one. She pipes the edges with silk ribbon, and adds her own touches, like a handkerchief hem or ruched ruffles on a tiered dress. Each top or dress becomes a work of fabric art, completely unique, and only available in the size allowed by the scarves themselves – if the one you love is too big or too small, Bodnyk can tailor it for your body.

Until this week, the only way to buy one was to catch Katie showing her dresses and tops at events around town, or by heading to Kaua‘i to get one of the few sold at Oskar’s boutique in Kilauea. Which, by the way, is what Jada Pinkett Smith did – she recently bought an open-back handkerchief halter top there.

But for O‘ahu dwellers, a whole collection of HI State of Mind’s boho chic dresses hit the racks Monday at Marqet boutique in Waikiki.

Looks like some old things can be new again.

HI State of Mind dresses are available at Marqet boutique, 315 Royal Hawaiian Avenue (across from DFS Galleria), Waikiki, 808.922.4776, www.marquet.net. View the whole collection online at www.histateofmind.com.