Claire Kennedy Design

To fashion or not to fashion

Steph over at 3 Hours Past the End of the World, has had a interesting blog on fashion and in particular how a youthful rebel comes to terms with working (and dressing) in the real world.  This may not make it easier, but as we grow older, the need to rebel seems less important as much as it does to be respected and taken seriously in our world - whether that's business, motherhood, volunteer or any other field.

I found this interview on Wall Street Journal very interesting talking about how mothers addressing certain fashion trends and decisions of their daughters.

  

And while this may not solve the eternal dilemma - to rebel or not to rebel - it at least tries to address it even if it's just to talk about the subject a little.

For me and my clients, albeit it's always on the formal side of life, it's all about looking pretty, and although I'm sensitive to each girl's desire to be different if not rebel, I'm as sensitive to the mom's desire to remain appropriate for a formal and usually conservative event.  This always seems to be on the side of gaining the maximum amount of attention by being pretty rather than rebeling.

As an unspoken rule from me, I will always veer from the Emperor and his new clothes - fashion for the sake of fashion has never been my style and the wonderful classic style that brought Vera Wang all her attention and fame.  That style is still grand today - Audrey Hepburn, Coco Chanel, Vera Wang, all had that classic style.

Today, when I dress for my day it usually has to do with what is on my calendar. 

• If I have to talk to professionals and conduct business, I'm in a suit with my high heels and totally knocked out.  I don't want to have to repeat myself or get nasty in the meeting and walking in dressed like Alexis Carrington does all of that for me. 
• If I'm haunting country flea markets look for vintage this or that, I'm dressed just this side of the vagabond  - well kept, but very low key. 
• If I'm dressing for jury duty downtown, I'm dressed to the nines and ready for business - I treat our local law enforcement and judicial system with the respect they deserve. 
• If I'm on my way to Home Depot to look for this thingamajig that I could have sworn I got enough but didn't and not sure where it is, I'll dress up a little - I get better service. 
• If I want to browse Home Depot, I'll be low-key so I'll be left alone!

It works every time.  If I'm dressed up - I get all the service I want, if not, I'm left alone.  When I got to a large metro area store to scoop out clothing, I'm nicely dressed, but not knocked-out and I'm left alone. 

We can sit around and rail against it, complain about it, rebel against, it, but the truth is: dress up and get attention one way, and dress down, and get it another.  We may not like it, but it is the way of the world.

So clothes do make the man(woman), naked people have little or no influence on society.

Oriental vs Occidental

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.

Week's Schedule

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. 

My eyes will uncross here soon!

Crunch Week

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!!!

An old pet peeve

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