Thursday, August 09, 2012

Fall Fashion Combos in Red and More

After running across this yesterday on Pinterest I was inspired. I especially like the vest in the first photo.
I'm jealous that she has her own photo booth set up to document all her outfits. The only new purchase in her project was the red jeans. The rest of the pieces came out of her existing collection. With a few accessories she could make double this amount of looks easily.  So as the saying goes, shop your own closets first. With school coming up, now is the time to fix lost buttons, replace a broken zipper, or dye white pieces to mask stains and such. Get all your ducks in a row before school starts and you'll be able to dress for weeks as you adjust to your new homework load. And then you can spend your money on textbooks and art supplies, not on more clothing. Have pity on your budget.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Vintage Pattern and Bad Memories

When I was in 5th of 6th grade (11 or 12 years old) I went to the local drugstore and bought a sewing pattern I just adored.  It was like one of those 50's dresses with the nipped in waist and a full skirt. I wasn't quite skilled enough to handle sewing it by myself and my aunt was going to sew a dress for me.  Well, she took one look at my dream pattern, decided I was too chubby, and coerced me into settling for another pattern.  I think I picked the fabric (kelly green with some sort of flowers) and she made the dress.  I loathed it.  It was stiff and tent-like. Imagine my surprise when I saw a pattern pop up on my facebook stream that jogged my memory.  It was a vintage pattern from 1969.  I would have been 11 when it came out and I remembered the pattern.  I didn't think I was capable of sewing dresses at that time.  Then I remembered!  That was the dress my aunt made for me. The dreaded tent dress. I think I wore it once and it haunted my closet for years.

Nowadays most fashion experts tell you that even chubby girls need a waist with a belt or something to define it. My aunt used to call me chubby checkers which was very hurtful. To get stuck with that stigma as a child definitely changed the person I was. I am still self-conscious.


Update: As fate would have it my daughter just bought a vintage dress in the style I wanted my aunt to make for me when I was a kid.  So you can see exactly the type of dress I was talking about if you couldn't picture it before.  Her's has a side zipper.