While Janice at The Vivienne Files is a genius with coordinated wardrobe planning, my personal style is more "urban fairytale" than classic or corporate. Over on Stitcher's Guild, Lisa started a thread about taking a year to follow along with the 12 Month, 12 Outfits For each month, Janice chooses a seasonal grouping of clothing and accessories that coordinates with a Hermes scarf that she picked at the beginning of the year. By doing that, she has a built-in color scheme, and overall look for each wardrobe.
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Well, I already have a chosen limited color palette for my wardrobe, that contains an assortment of neutral colors and accents, all of which work well together. Participating in the Stitcher's Guild thread will allow me to enjoy the camaraderie while substituting garments that fill the same niches. So, lets see what the October concept looks like... basically: shirt, pants, sweater, tote, and necklace.
shirt - I've a piece of flannel, a black/brown print (allover tiny stars), or some brown oxford cloth, both of which would coordinate with all of my pinafores. A simple way to start on a woven top would be to use the bodice of my everyday dress, with a peplum instead of the skirt. Did that once, and while it isn't a favorite look by itself, under a pinafore it works quite well, and allows using smaller lengths of fabric than a whole dress requires. It also would be possible to add in a front button band, and maybe a flat collar, to make it more like a shirt/blouse.
pants - don't wear them, so will substitute one of my already made pinafores. I've two different indigo denim ones, a chocolate brown, and several different ones in black.
sweater - will use one of the cardigans I already have
tote - I'd like to make a new tote bag, as mine is years old, and while still serviceable, is getting rather worn. Perhaps a convertible tote/backpack, like the Knitter's Backpack...
necklace - hmmmm... probably enough jewelry here already, so no need to add another project to the already full remainder of the month
I also enjoy Janice's posts and always wish I had had some direction like that back when I was in the corporate world with lots of travel and social events requiring an expansive classic wardrobe. But now it's fun to use her ideas as inspiration for what might fit my current lifestyle, just as you do.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of the shirt with peplum, ie dress with shortened skirt. This could potentially circumvent all kinds of fitting problems with the waist and hips. I may give this a try.
My plan for the first go round with the "peplum blouse" is to avoid the mojo crushing effect of trying to fit a new bodice pattern. I know that the dress pattern is TNT, and the only two reasons I don't just use it for all woven tops is that the front bodice is cut on the bias, which works for solids and stripes, but looks weird if used for directional prints, and that the neckline is a low scoop neck, and with woven shirts and blouses for cooler weather, I want the option of various collar styles.
DeleteI first made a blouse with a peplum when I was sewing for a friend of mine who has a significant difference between her waist and her hips, and the peplum option gave a much smoother line than darts...