Pinning Inspiration

The whole reason my thought train is going down this path is because of Sarai's post about the insidious nature of "stuff" on Pinterest. And I totally get what she is saying, the wanting of pretty things can get under your skin.  Seeing all the beautifully decorated houses can make you feel like the worst house cleaner in the world (at least it does me, but a friend who cleans for a living assures me its not as bad as I think it is).

But Pinterest can be a pretty useful tool for inspiration. A while back I said that my moodboard was a song. A song called "The Land of Green Ginger".  And taking a non-literal route for clothing inspiration I've created this mood board and here are some of my favorite images from it. Some of them even inspired specific outfits out of my stash. I'll post more of those as the month progresses.  OH, and one last thing.  I finally start a day shift next week for the first time since Mom passed away. 

Source: Uploaded by user via Lady on Pinterest

Color in the winter, muted pastels against the snow is what this makes me think of.

Source: rustandrain.tumblr.com via Lady on Pinter

Source: thefancy.com via Lady on Pinterest

Otherworldly structure imposed on nature.

Source: tumblr.com via Lady on Pinterest

Nature has beautiful brown earth tones, makes me think of trousers.

Source: ilyke.net via Lady on Pinterest

Honestly, this one just speaks for itself.

Source: weheartit.com via Lady on Pinterest

Turquoise. That's all.

Source: richardverdegaalfotografie.nl via Lady on Pinterest

Pink and black, fast becoming one of my favorite combinations.

Source: flickr.com via Lady on Pinterest

Gates. Man-made structures surrounded by the soon-to-take-over greenery of a garden, like barely contained chaos.

Wow, I had no idea that was going to be so hard to decide on. I challenge y'all to make a mood board with non-literal inspiration and share it in the comments below, or on your blog.

Ralph Lauren Spring 2013

Oh, how I love thee, let me count the ways! Seriously, one day I shall have enough money to buy one of these beauties, but until then I will lust from afar and gain inspiration.

For my day look, how about a flirty skirt in Ultrasuede, red and blue. YES PLEASE!

This drop waist makes me think of Mrs. Isis

You have to see this move to appreciate it!

I would wear this outfit. The whole thing. In fact, I've been looking desperately for a crochet skirt.

He even gave us some maxi stripes, just for miss Oona. I'll take the jacket, she can have the dress.

SO MUCH DRAMA! In this look... again, I'll take the whole thing, and I don't even like white on me.

Speaking of drama, how about this? Red and Black together, my two favorite things!

I don't know about you, but I'm in love.

(All photos from style.com)

Finding Inspiration

So after my last failure I've felt a bit melancholy. Then I got my shiny new Colette Sewing Handbook in the mail.  I confess I ordered it so I could get my hands on the patterns, in particular the Truffle.  I think my favorite chapter of the book is "A Thoughtful Plan".  It ties into Colette's wardrobe challenges in really think about how to make things that work together. And knowing what works for your lifestyle and your body type. Which brought me back to what I was thinking about last post. Don't try to stick my square peg self in a round hole (or round peg in square hole? eh, whatever, you get what I mean).

And honestly, that got me to day dreaming. And poking around on Pinterest, which I'm sure everyone here has heard about right now. I stumbled up on this dress.

dress found here

Which, honestly, I was like OOO!  I love the black and white houndstooth with a pop of red.  Originally I had planned to use the below August 2011 Burda Style dress, but the sizing and instructions made reticent. Not to mention I wanted more sleeve and less... neck thing.

Please excuse blurry photo. 

wool/rayon houndstooth

 So I went looking for an alternative and found the following Vogue V8413 and the perfect rayon/wool blend houdstooth.  Match made in heaven!

Vogue 8413 View C

Now I have one thing to think about.  The other place inspiration has struck is in the form of impulsive fabric purchase.  But I don't feel one iota of guilt. This fabric screams NERD, but is posh at the same time. Pixalated charmeuse print  with random beading anyone?

I made the photo big because it totally deserves it. I've got a Laura Ashley pattern in my stash already that will be perfect for this. Its basically a lined princess seam sheath dress. 

Both of these will take a little time and a few muslins to get the fit right.  So to start I'm going to do a few knit-wear pieces that i know fit, just to feel some satisfaction. First will be this Vogue top:

Vogue 8649

In a slate blue bamboo knit.  And the second will be a pair of yoga pants out of some black sweatshirt knit my Mom left me that has tiny white high heals all over them. 

So... that's what I've been musing over when not contemplating all the crazy news going on here and abroad. Tell me, what has inspired you recently?

Revisting Old Inspiration

I admit it, I'm writing this at work. I know, I know. I'm a bad employee and setting a poor example. But honestly there's a network black out (I'm a Junior Sys Admin/Fourth Level Escalations for a LARGE communications company) company wide. Most everyone is on vacation and anything that is 24/7/365 is on skeleton crew so no changes outside of emergencies are being done. No upgrade, nothing... emergency fixes only. S0 I um... I'm testing to make sure customers can get to blogger.com! Yeah THAT'S IT! You believe me,
right?

*coughcoughshesfullofitcoughcough*

So back in Spring of 2010, which in the Fashion World (please note ironic use of capital letters) that's like eons ago, Ralph Lauren came out with this dress in his RTW collection. I just fell in love with it. He was taking inspiration from The Great Depression (these capitals are not ironic). I loved the blue with the red buttons, and the matching belt. I went in search of a pattern that would be a close match. And almost nine months later I found it. I bought the pattern on the left from Midvalle Cottage on Etsy. She has wonderful taste, especially for the 40's and 60's. And if you are in the market for vintage patterns for children, she has a lot of those too.

But in any case, I am quite pleased with this find and I am going to add it to my list of spring "To Make" dresses. This is going to be a spring and summer full of dresses for me. The pattern itself has three different sleeve variations, the short sleeved version will be the one I use. I think I might have to try the cap sleeves as well. I have the red buttons but now to find a blue print that I actually like. One that is small enough to work. And maybe I'll even be able to use some of vintage cotton thread. Not sure how wooden spools are going to work in my machine, though. I'm sure it will be OK. In any case, looking at these two pictures really brings home that there is such thing as "classic style". Taking a piece of advise from Tim Gunn (paraphrased, of course), if you want to do a vintage look but keep it modern, pair it with modern accessories and hairstyles. There's no substitute for class, that's something you feel inside.

Speaking of those vintage spools of thread, I did some stress tests on it to see if they were any more brittle than my modern poly thread. Nope, it took about the same amount of tension to snap either, so that's good.

That's all for today. Stay Fabulous!