This is not meant to be a complete reference on the difference between the two cultures, just as it refers to sewing and more particularly fit.
I will often refer my clients to the plethora of Oriental tailors in my city, but with one caveat - be careful of the fit. This isn't so much a fault or problem, once you understand the Oriental way of fitting. It is much closer to the body and with out the ease that the Occidental world is used to.
Enter this lovely lady:
While traveling to the East on Singapore Air, imagine my delight in seeing these lovely ladies in their beautiful uniforms - yes these are their work uniforms.
The first thing I noticed was the fit - very close to the body with hardly any ease. This is the standard Oriental way of fitting and although you may think this is very limiting, actually it's not - because it fits the girl, and fits her well. It's not skin tight, nor is it two sizes too small; it simply fits.
Understanding that in Asia as well as Europe, ladies first thought upon being invited to a special event is to seek out a tailor or dressmaker. This is the source for all fine garments - not RTW! Ready-to-wear is an American phenomenon, and even today, ladies throughout the world, except the US, prefer having their special garments made for them. With this in mind, the fitting on the lovely ladies of Singapore Air, seems totally logical.
But this dress is not only about fit. It's about the myriad of details in this lovely ensemble.
Not only is there the mitered corner of the applied border, but look at the darted curve of the neckline. This shows a ton of work in that the collar must be darted just exactly or the curve radius is too small or too large. But this is not surprising as these uniforms were designed by Pierre Cardin, so the detail is subtle, only noticeable to the experienced eye.
Having done this exact procedure, I know how tenuous that darting can be.
It's not as evident in this photo, however the applied border here ran around the back of the neckline and the only way for this to work was to curve or dart the straight border piece. It worked beautifully and my client loved it.
But that's not all - the skirt has its own design goodies
The uniform has to be functional and these gals have to reach up and down and stoop and so must have room to work as well as be beautiful. Toward that end the front has a slit that is pleated into the slit trim, and gathered which adds not only a great shape to the skirt but allows for her to walk and work easily in the ensemble.
What was just as much fun was all the while crossing the Pacific Ocean (well, not the entire crossing), every time they would pass in the beautifully made garments, I would relish in knowing that I had done something almost similar and know the hard work that goes into each one of these garments.
Still on my schedule - 2 down and 4 to go - on a roll.
But checking in with some of the blogs I follow and Kathleen had this over on her blog talked about a student she ran across who did some right nice plaid and pattern matching....let's not talk about the style of the pattern - the matching is enough to WOW you!
Here's a pic from Kathleen's blog: The dotted lines are the matched lines and the blue lines are the seam lines.
Holy Cow - from a plaid-matcher from way back when, I'm very impressed.
Then from the artist herself....her Flicker pictures (click here), are some other matching marvels.
I spent a lot of time on those pictures on Flicker just marveling at her matching ability.
This week is a week to pull a lot of my designs together...read:
OK - I'm in my studio and making stuff! Good for me, but I'm not sewing for myself or creating...well, that's not true - but that's another story.
For now, all I have is time to surf and just in time for some more juice from the couture front...
First something to tease us for the upcoming film on Anna Wintour. It's supposed to be very sympathetic. (I'm keeping my trap shut and I want that on the record!)
Next are some couture info that is actually something I might wear (or rather, I might actually get some ideas from!) From Christian Dior this stuff (aside from the Maidenform Bra look), is really some neat stuff.
Yeah - I know at first glance this looks pretty crazy, but after you look at it, they're really are a couple of things that look interesting.
My favorites were these - taking away the fact that these women haven't had a good meal in ages - boy are they missing out and peaches are in season (that means peach cobblers & REAL ice cream!)
The embroidery on this one looked fabulous, but I loved the clean design of the dress.
Love the classic look of this front.
Although this gal is way too think, I love the idea.
I had a client the other day who had ordered flowers from 5eizen on Etsy
Which were very cool and I'm thinking that some of these would look great on that sweater.
Aaaaaaaaaaah - it will be good to get back to sewing for myself!!!
I like to check out the "best dressed" lists as this is usually a way to check out styles and trends. So I was checking out my tweets and there was a best dressed list, so who was I to pass up this opportunity.
Most of these are pretty predictable
And I'm not offended by the girls modeling....they're a little thin, but at least they look like they have some sort of physical development - muscles, and they aren't skin and bones....
but it didn't last for long.... And although I have warped these a little it's obvious to see that the person in the above photo looks like this month's Rice Cake Queen.
This so infuriates me as I fight this everyday with my brides and debs and other clients.
The first thing they do is apologize for their measurements...even my students in my class apologized. I really don't care...only reason I'm interested is to see how to alter the pattern and make the garment fit the client or the student.
It's an old complaint - one that rears its head and so periodically I rail which will hopefully cause it will remain dormant till the next episode.
The first thing I say when my clients or students complain about their shape, is that they are where they are. For one reason or another, this is where they are. I really believe this - for one reason or another we are the size we are. In my life, I have fluctuated between high and low and having the benefit of hindsight, now seemed fully logical why my weight was up or down (since I've never been blessed with a child, this precludes that weight gain!)
So although all these models here are very thin,there is a distinct difference between healthy and trim and unhealthy and unnatural.
All of these women are not only smart, they are self-starters,
motivated, and they excel in their fields and all have
normal figures.
What a joy to see a trend of designers dressing these women
This is always fun because it's the more practical side of fashion. The movie stars got sick of wearing the weird stuff on the runway,and a couple of years ago started wearing pretty clothes, and this year it shows.
The one thing lacking is that without assistance, most stars are lost on what looks good and what doesn't. There are some who realize they don't know and get some professional help. This year there were two standouts....
First some old favorites: Versace - very "red carpet", very showy, but beautifully done and extremely couture....these are pleats in the dress with it pleated around. It's a beautiful dress and a great look for Marisa Tomei.
Being part of the New York Style that set fashion for young singles, this is a gorgeous dress with beautiful bustier embroidered. But enough with the push-up bra already. Jessica is too pretty she doesn't need this to look good.
OK - good effort here, but red-heads should never wear this cherry red -
See what happens when the color is just a little more on the yellow side...red heads do so much better with this color.
Now the other side of this argument is that red-heads may often wear something "clash-y" to purposely draw attention to themselves. This often happens in the editorial pages of fashion magazines, but even though they break the rule, for the rest of us, who really want to look nice, it's best for red-heads to stay on the warm side of the color palette.
Beyonce in her gold-embroidered dress. This is great for the runway - well, maybe a little much, even for the run way, but she wanted a show-stopper and that's what this does for her.But for the rest of us - no.
OMG....get out the cameras..... Penelope Cruz hit a home run...this is a vintage Balmain which she found a couple of years ago, and then went back and it was still there so she got it for this night.. This dress had intricate embroidery which had shirred organza over the skirt with a train. This is the height of couture and beautifully done and worn by Penelope.
All I can say is NO! Bow too big, where's the waist, skirt too small bow and sash too big. This just doesn't work
OK this is what I don't like the most about Hollywood. Remember that wonderful characteristic look of "Baby" in "Dirty Dancing" well here she is all "fixed up"....she's had so much plastic surgery that she's not recognizable any more. That quirky individualism is gone.
Children shouldn't dress themselves. But hopefully Miley Cyrus will get this out of her system and wear something prettier with less busy stuff going on.
Anne Hathaway in an Armani looks smashing here. This is the sort of thing that we love - great figure, beautiful clothes and beautifully fitting. Everything works here.
I love this - right color and another "regularly" figured gal who looks great. This makes my point I make to all my clients. Your shape doesn't matter - it's the fit that matters.
Nothing makes that point better than Kate: I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw this dress. In case you don't or didn't know Kate Winslet has a "normal" figure not bowing to the demands of her to become pencil thin. This means that she has clothes that fit her shapely yet very pretty body - what a novel concept.
Why do I like this so much?
Because this is exactly what I do for my clients Taking this apart - look at those beautiful seams up her bust line, right where she would be fitted the best. Not only is the bust line fit beautifully, but there is this over skirt of beaded chiffon/net, with the under layer of a drapey type charmeuse or liquid satin. Charmeuse is unforgiving - which means it shows every problem and misstep, so the execution on this was exquisite!!!
This was the star of the night and she won an Oscar so we got to see more of the dress.
OK - now that I've finished my rant....I feel so much better, don't you?.....here are some good points about fashion and what I do.
There are some good publications and sites out there - and Kenneth is also on point when he talks about the new trend of sewing is on the internet, not in books or magazines.
But for those of you are in-step.....
PatternReview.com - lots of reviews of patterns - almost overwhelming
Burdastyle.com - This creative crew takes a Burda pattern and does all sorts of creative things.
Burdamode.com or Burdafashion.com - (both names will get you to the same place)I know it's w/o seams - just some of them, but from a gal who draws up all her patterns anyway, this is no biggie.
Some individual sites & blogs
LindsayT sews again - what I like about this is that she is an enduring sewer and haunts the fabric district in NY and lets us all go along for the ride.
Kenneth King - OMG, don't get me started - this guy is so right-on, he IS the center of the target as far as I'm concerned....his techniques, books, understanding of the market & industry, are just all on point.
The most important thing to remember is to be true to your style, whether you are dressing for yourself or sewing for someone else, be true to your style.
What I try and do with my clients more than anything else is to dig into their life enough that I can tell what their life style is: do they travel extensively?....are they have a formal life style?....do they live in the country?...is this formal event a "once in a lifetime" or will they have a chance to wear this dress again? These are some basic queries that will let me know what sort of life style they have and how I can better design a dress for them.
Kenneth brings this home so clearly in the scope of his work and what he is doing today. He designs pretty dresses for women who want to look beautiful. His lines are gentle yet strong, feminine without saccharine, style within reason. What a refreshing voice.
OK - now that we've gotten the machine part taken care of....let's get to fashion.
One of the things that Kenneth has done, as opposed to the rest of the maddening crowd, he has kept his style and designs pretty and lovely. His designs are worn by women who are of a certain confidence level that they do not have to follow the folly of editorial writers such as Miranda Priestly or Polly Mellon, who someone should have muzzled early on into the "grunge period".
Polly's infamous comment, "Ugly is the new beautiful," was so totally out of it - almost like the Vogue $975 Sewing Kit (don't ask)! I wanted to scream at her: "No Polly, 'Ugly is ugly' - no matter how you gloss it up, and beautiful is beautiful no matter how you try to dress it down!"
Kenneth knew this and knows it today. I admire this cause to paddle against the trend is very hard, particularly in this business. I don't so much have a problem with it because my clients are a little more grounded than the fashionistas that circle in Kenneth's neighborhood.
In these videos on YouTube you can obviously tell he loves making beautiful clothes.
OK - as I was saying....started surfing the net looking for some of Kenneth's stuff - he is sooooo good.
So I go to on YouTube (one of the best inventions of the modern world) and here's the first thing I find. There's a series of of instructional and general videos starting here, I find one that strikes right at the heart of how I look at sewing, designing, art, creative artwear - however you want to put it. (See more about the video at the end of this post.)
Kenneth is right on target here.
What hits me the most is about this particular episode is that the companies who are making the machines and the people who are sewing are not in sync, and no one seems to be interested in marketing for those people.
This is one of my complaints as young sewers are dying to start, but when the beginning machine is thousands of dollars, forget that.
This is a little like the sewing Kit in the January issue of Vogue Magazine for $975 -
Who is this for?....Marie Antoinette? I promise I did NOT make this up go to the library (do not buy this magazine) and see for yourself on page 157!! At least in my issue - sometimes the newsstand issue is a little different.
But I digress....Kenneth is really on point. The companies that "target" the home sewer are so way off target. Like Kenneth I think there's a revolution brewing and it won't be long before you see far better machines that are not so gadget-oriented, thus more expensive, but rather simpler machines that are what more people can afford. Kenneth's work and I know my work, do not require these high-powered machines. I learned on the standard Bernina 930, which sewed front, back, zigzag and a few decorative stitches. That is all you really need - all the other stitches and gadgets are merely for show and a lot of extra money. I have never understood this penchant for more computerized geegaws when they aren't really needed and the target consumer isn't looking for them.
A company is going to come along and produce a good machine for a little money that lasts a long time, and take the market away from everyone else.
I started this as a simple one-post blog, but it's turned into much more, cause obviously Kenneth struck a nerve - - in a BIG WAY! So this is the first in a series - you know I love series! Don't want to get too carried away on one blog - this is NOT a Dostoevsky novel with subplots.
Monday nite (1/19) PatternReview.com had a wonderful chat with Kenneth on their site. I've always thought Kenneth was right-on with design and sewing and became the ultimate in what most people dream of when they take up sewing. He is truly gifted and it shows by how often and generously he shares his ideas. Almost always the truly gifted and creative are the most sharing, cause they have so many ideas, they are busy doing other things so they often share their techniques and tools to encourage and inspire others. Those that copy and have no ideas guard them like the vault @ Ft. Knox, and never really learn or are inspired to do their own thing!
That said, I got out my old book by Kenneth (I took a class from him sponsored by Vogue Fabrics, in Chicago) which was tons of fun and full of great techniques. I remember all the wonderful fun times with the class. What I learned more than anything was that I knew more than I thought I knew. I'm an island of couture creativity here in my market, so hearing someone who has "made it" and gleaning simple yet basic techniques, procedures, and policies from him, I realized that I had set up my business exactly the way that one is supposed to.
Kenneth now has a new book out, which (looking inside) has just as many wonderfully creative ideas and inspirations for the gal who wants to make her wardrobe more than that "happy hands from home" look.
Kenneth mentioned doing some online workshops with Threadbangers on the internet, which is a fabulous new way to teach and get people to get involved with sewing. This got me to thinking about all the avenues and resources available for we sewers on the internet....so naturally I started surfing....
As prompted by Lindsay T, here's my Sewing Back Story - or How In The World Did I End Up Sewing So Much!!! (obviously the former is a lot easier title!)
This is where I am today...
But it wasn't always that way...
I started like so many, with my Barbie doll. I still keep one around today in case I have to make up a special something for a little girl!
I saw those store dresses & they were so expensive, which really chapped me, particularly when I saw how cheaply they were made. And next door (I was from a small town) was the local 5 & dime which had wonderful remnants for 10¢!!! And it was just too much temptation from the start. And my Barbie had a Mrs. Thurston Howell, III taste so who was I to deny her!
So did up my first Barbie creation. The trick was making the pattern, which, not having any family member who was in the least bit familiar with sewing, I thought every seamstress knew how to draft patterns. When my babysitter took me to the 5 & dime and showed me the pattern book (which I thought was just a book of ideas for people who didn't have ideas), and then showed me a pattern, and I didn't have to draw up a pattern every time - - well, that did it! I was hooked.
I did my first shift dress when an aunt bought the newest and most decked-out Singer sewing machine, and it was fabulous. It also had a zipper, which I did a pretty good job on.
Skip a few years, and I'm in high school, where most Home Ec is teaching beginning sewing which is a bib. In my mental state, I was wondering what message this was sending to girls in high school - get married & have babies as soon as possible, so I questioned the curriculum, and was immediately sent to the principal's office. Needless to say, sewing took a back seat in my life.....
....except when it came to proms....OK after you have finished rolling on the floor laughing your heart out...this really was a very chic dress at the time, and although wasn't much on fit (part of what made it so easy to do) - just gathered around the waist, the whole ensemble was really terrif and very coordinated which was paramount at this time.
But I got better (OK no comments from the smart-aleck section, about having one way to go, thankyouvermuch!)
Much better - this was the following year, but I still had something to learn...redheads should NEVER wear pink - no matter what. This dress fit like a dream and I was on my way to being totally spoiled about fit!
Skip a few decades, I get married, and realize I can only clean a one-bedroom apartment so many times before I go nuts, so I enroll in a sewing class - as a last resort of something to do. I hit the mother load.
Finally a realization of my talents:
The teacher is a professional dressmaker trained at the Parsons School of Design in New York, and is not only knowledgeable about sewing and techniques, but she could get through my thick head, but then I was one of her shining students too.
I went from my first class with her where I learned how to insert collar into collar band, attach to blouse, set-in sleeves & "house-top" plackets on sleeves with cuffs. And upon wearing the blouse, was asked, "Where did you get that? I've been looking for something exactly like that." Finally after people got used to the idea that I could sew like a dream, I would give them this look like: "Where do you think I bought it - I MADE IT!!!" And most people would just grumble and walk off - - serves them right for asking!!
Pretty soon people just accepted that most everything I had on, I made which was probably pretty close to being true, except for some delicious bargains here and there.
Onto the real stuff:
OK - this will date me (like that pattern up there hasn't already), but I'm from an energy-producing state, and during the 80's we had a bust that would make the current economic crisis look like a small dip in the stock market....so I had to start doing something productive, and loved sewing - what a novel idea - to work at something you love.
For the first year, I just did whatever I could get, till I got my first debutante contract:
This was the era of the puffed sleeve, and this example on one of my first dresses was a very tame puffed sleeve, but as you can tell, I loved doing this.
In the meantime, I was doing some fun things for myself
Part of the fun of being my own designer was that I could take inexpensive things and have fun with them - this is something I would have never made on my own, but it was fun to do for a folly
This was it's major outing - at one of those mystery dinner parties (I was portraying the wealthy widow of mysterious background!!!). You will notice that the faces in the background have been blurred out to protect their innocence!!!
I had such a love of designing that I never seemed to have a lack of humor about it - but try to make it practical
This was just total fun - although it took a while (only to finish...once I had done the matching, it was a "done deal" and boring). See the whole thing here.
And then there was this:
I just adore Geoffrey Beene - OK I know he's dead, but I still think a lot of his designs and his basic design style, which was revolutionary. This jacket was an homage to Beene...those inserts are really neat for keeping the waist pretty and small, but they are also darts....with pockets...just the way Beene would have done it. He did wonderful playful inserts and what looked to be appliques, but they were also darts and fitting mechanisms which elusively made the garment look like it was flowing on the client's body - no wonder he was such a huge hit. Now the beef on Beene's clothes was that they were made for people who were stick thin. And that's probably so, but the same philosophy of fitting & design can work on just about any figure. BTW, I do NOT have a stick thin figure and do NOT believe in it....see here.
Today I'm loving designing little fun things for me and my diving excursions.
But I still love my "girls" and doing their fun dresses.
