shift dress patterns

Sometimes I wish I had a uniform.

These are days when I don't want to think about clothes and I just want to get on with my day.
I wish I had 5 colors of the same kind of outfit and I just wore them interchangeably.

In a way there are set outfits that I wear all the time that become somewhat like a uniform.
long cardigan, skinny jeans & flats or boots.

These days I want to introduce another type of uniform to my wardrobe:
Shift dress, tights and short boots.

I tried looking for simple shift dress patterns on burda, but I think that it's so simple that it's not there. Therefore, I bought some shift dress patterns that I like and will change the neckline for.
These are them:


Now all I have to do is post about the next step.... making them!

I got these at SelmaLee's store on etsy. I realized she has the best bang for the buck after searching for a pattern in my size. Some people charge $10 for when similar patterns go for $7 at other stores. I'm not gonna lie, it took me a while to find a pattern in my size that I liked.

they take shoe making classes in Japan too!

Wiksten posted about a Japanese store called cotton which has a blog.

Me being Japanese and all I was excited to see there was a blog to the clothing store.

Me trying to learn Japanese and all I've decided to read the blog even though that takes me like forever.

One of the posts was about a shoe making class.

Me writing on this blog and all about wanting to learn how to make shoes, I thought it was fate that this blog posted about making shoes.

Me spending so much time translating it and all I thought I'd give you a bit about what the post is all about: taking a shoe making class... and working hard on it.

Something about the snugness

Is he a girl or a boy?

I don't like the rest of his outfit, but the snug leather jacket is why I am posting this picture. There's something about how snug it is.

Found via The Sartorialist for men's fashion week. The link is a bit strange on my computer.

digital polaroid photos

Polaroid film may be gone, but there is always capturing the style digitally.

When I saw polaroids on blogs I thought it was some kind of setting on photoshop. Sally Jane Vintage uses it a lot. I think it's kitschy if you can do it digitally and not as cool as, say, using polaroids 7 years ago. That's right 7, because those were the days.

What would be cool is if they make some kind of application that makes pictures look HOLGA-like.

Now, I know through the froginette makes things blog post that it's a free application that you can download here.

I love it when I find out the secrets!

more leather jacket goodness

ALANIS leather jacket by Soia & Kyo, $390

Soia & Kyo has not exhorbantly priced leather jackets that are 100% leather.
not sure what eggplant looks like in real life.

why are they less than $400, I'm a little suspicious.

are they made well?

how will I ever know?

Found via door sixteen.

work in-progress

I have been making some progress with my sewing project. I think that a shirt in-progress sometimes looks a lot nicer than the actual shirt. You've got contrasting basting stitches, the rough edges and the possibility of perfection in something not yet complete. It'll probably be a while before I finish this project because things will start to get busy for me. Perhaps if there is a cold weekend in the near future where I can't do anything but sew. Until then, above is my work in progress.


I cut the seam allowance 1/4" because that is how the shirt was sewn. It's the first time I'm working with such a small amount of wiggle room. I usually have 1/2" or even 1". The seams are raw so I put some finishing tape to hide my open seams. I hope it won't itch later. I guess we'll see.

The Choosy Beggar

This guy (the choosy beggar) has good taste and goes to every sample sale imaginable. He has pictures to show for it. It makes me wish he was a girl with his impeccable taste in various brands. Or makes me wish I could wear menswear - or had a machine that made menswear fit me.

See, he actually goes to these things, which is so helpful.

Found via racked.com, another blog that follows sample sales. Racked quotes the choosy beggar all the time for updates about sales. I think Racked is a big machine while the choosy beggar is a solo operation.

Search for a leather jacket

John Varvatos for Converse, $695 at 80spurple.com

I've never owned a leather jacket.
I'm really not a leather jacket kind of girl.

I've also never had that much $$ to drop on something non-essential (as opposed to a winter jacket, those are essential).

BUT... this being a blog and all about the subtle wardrobe, just because I can't buy it doesn't mean I can't post about it.

I am going to try to collect different leather jackets out there in the market.
Let the leather jacket image collection begin!

I feel like I know what I want, it's just a matter of finding it out there.
It's a bit frustrating that I have to just wait until the one I want is designed, manufactured, marketed, and sold. And if there is the off chance that the leather jacket I imagine has materialized, there's a slim chance that it's in my price range for non-essential goods.

Designers control what I wear. wtf.

I love John Varvatos' mens collection, and am happy to see that he's designing for women through converse.

Two posters for the hopeless romantic

1. "We Are So Good Together" poster can be found at Reform School Rules.

It's kind of small, 11''x19''.

$36 is the inflated price (it used to be $30), for the reprints since so many people think this poster is so romantic.

2.

Okay, okay, so let me describe to you the second poster.
It's HUGE, PINK, with NEON RED lettering.

well, then think about it framed and up on your wall and it's somewhat endearing...

awwwe, right? somewhat poetic.

You can buy these at Village for $60
(the inflated price as well according to
this June 2007 post that says it's $30! - it kind of makes me feel used).
It's 25''x38'' huge.

Found via apartment therapy and poppy talk.

le bouton

I admire those who can make things by hand that can actually be sold.

Add a sick sense of style.

And you have Le bouton.

these are some of my favorites (yes, some include children's clothes):

<---- shows the power of textiles.



<----- if your kid wears this, she's more stylish than most adults



<------- back pleats










<------- nice use of stripes.

What a stylish family.


Found via les ani modernes, although I've seen the tape holding up clothes things before, so I think I've been to the le bouton site before.

Sew, you know?

They say they are going to revamp burda style so that you can post your projects that are in progress. I think they want to mimic Ravelry, which is a site for knitting. The burda people didn't say it outright, but one courageous commenter did.

Knitting takes a lot longer and people finish projects after months, so I can see why posting projects in progress through ravelry was a no brainer.

On the other hand the actual sewing part of sewing projects can be done in a day.

We don't intuitively think about the planning, fabric selection, cutting when we think about sewing. There is so much to prepare for the 2 hours of actual sewing. It took some time for burda to change, but I can't wait until I can post projects that are in progress.

No really, I can't wait, so in the mean time I am going to post some in-progress projects that I project I will make soon enough. My first project is a shirt that I used to wear all the time in the summer. It started to fall apart and a co-worker who knows how to make clothes told me to take the shirt apart and iron the pieces on to a stiff fusible interfacing. voila! pattern for my favorite shirt.


It's true, I had to make a hard decision about killing the shirt I loved for the prospect of creating others just like it. It made me wonder what love really is. haha.

ANYWAYS,

<---------here is my in progress shirt.
And here is the shirt I killed. -------->
This is the best picture I could find considering I didn't have this blog when I tore it apart and didn't know I'd need a before picture and an after one.

It looks simple, but in it, I didn't feel simple and what more can you ask for from a shirt.

wait, what are we talking about now?

Copy of Animation

Found a label that is inspiring.
Copy of Animation.

The concept tab on their website has drawings that show great fashion illustration.




I found this label from the blog Kingdom of Style.

Generic clothing brands

I don't mind generic groceries, but when it comes to my pants or shirts i don't know if I can trust them. Are they cut right? Are they made well? What have these stores got to lose if they make their own shirts? If their shirts don't sell, the brand names will and they stay in business either way.

A STORY OF MY GENERIC SHOE THAT GOT KILLED
I got Barney's brand loafers at a barneys co-op sale and the first time I wore it the heel broke off. Since I don't wear things I buy until months later (not always) I couldn't return them so I took them to a cobbler near my home. I will never trust cobblers because of him.

First of all he didn't have the shoes ready. When I went to pick them up I saw, in front of my eyes, just how he butchered them. He smeared dark brown shoe polish all over the leather that was purposefully made to look worn (it was the type that shows the scratches beautifully). Then, instead of matching the heel with the original design, he added a plastic one. Since the two were disparately different, he smeared shoe polish all over both the ugly shiny plastic heel and the original wooden heel. He killed my shoes. I have since appreciate what it means to have a good cobbler.


GENERIC GLOVES THAT MAKE UP FOR IT
On the other hand, I have had a good experience with gloves. I misplaced my gloves from last year making me have to get new ones. My go to glove is the generic glove at either bloomingdale's (can't find them online) or Lord and Taylor (clicking will take you there). A picture does not do the simple glove justice.
My grandfather in Japan has a pair that are kazillion years old and he looks so awesome when he wears them. They are so worn out, so subtly sophisticated.

Who would have thought that these house labels could produce gloves that are so classic.


Here they are being worn.


That's all for my generic brand story.

dreams to be a cobbler

SALES SALES SALES they say.

this time of year I find myself scouring for shoes on sale racks more than anything else.

For some reason I can't find what I want this year.
i have the image in my head, but i can't find it in the stores.
i know it exists. i've seen other people wear it around. where are you shoe?

this is when i wish i could just make my shoes. then i wouldn't waste all this time looking for "the ones".

it's so expensive to take classes though.

FOR EXAMPLE - PLACES TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE SHOES IN NEW YORK CITY

make workshop is something i found out from a friend.
they offer DIY classes for people who work and want to be crafty on their down time.
BUT
the class costs $575 +supplies.

and i don't see oxfords. i don't see closed toe shoes.

the examples of shoes link to magazine images.
what about what's really made at the workshop?

i'd rather buy my dream shoe for that price.

then... i wondered what FIT has to offer.
it's cheaper, but not by much.

as a resident it's $142 a credit x 3 credits = $426.
i imagine it's more serious than make workshop though.

but i think you have to be a student there because there are prerequisites.

here are the course descriptions to dream about.

i wish i could make mules & oxfords.
one day..... one day....

LD 133 — Footwear Design and Construction I
3 credits; 1 Lecture and 4 STUDIO hours per week
Co-requisite: LD 121
The basic concepts of footwear design are introduced and the history and types of footwear are discussed. Students develop skills for working with a last and learn patternmaking, sewing, construction, and finishing techniques for closed shoes.

LD 134 — Footwear Design and Construction II
3 credits; 1 Lecture and 4 STUDIO hours per week
Prerequisites: LD 111, LD 121 and LD 133
Students analyze last styles, leathers, and components in terms of functionality and design. They continue to develop patternmaking skills by designing and making mules and oxfords.

the twosome karl siegerson & miranda morrison of siegerson morrison graduated from FIT. I see their shoes everywhere.

there is only one store in NYC to buy the wooden form for the class. they have odd hours (like open only until 11am or somthing) and they are the only place to buy these molds that you NEED. they're mean and take advantage of their position. crazy right? a bird told me.

as for the dreamy part about being a cobbler......

when i think about being a cobbler i think of making shoes like these silver marc jacobs shoes from saks... that i'd make in black or navy.

yeah, i think i'd make most things in blue. we need more blue shoes in life.

Happy New Year and Happy Blogging

write how blogging makes you happy.
how you read this interview between a website called chic intuition and this blogger.
how she wrote that she was not inspired at work.
how there wasn't that much creativity in her life and that's why she began to blog.
how it became an outlet to express the things that make her excited in life.
i think.
how you think this is the same for you and hope that this year of blogging will show for it.

and post it.
btw happy new year.