Weekend Review: The Pink Suit

The Pink Suit / Nicole Mary Kelby
NY: Little Brown, c2014.
288 p.

I found this book in my library collection, and decided to give it a try wholly because of the sewing content. The plot revolves around an Irish seamstress, Kate, who works for an American couture house making clothes for Jackie Kennedy, including the infamous pink suit she was wearing when JFK was killed.

Now, I don't like political stories, especially not American hagiography, so I was hesitant about this one but gave it a fair shake.

My opinion? The sewing content is realistic, sensuously described and the workplace is also evoked with realism and was so interesting! The adoration of Jackie Kennedy was a bit much to take, and the story around the story -- the life of the seamstress in question, her family, romance, longing for home (Ireland) -- was not interesting to me at all.

So it's the New York boutique Chez Ninon, run by two elderly eccentric ladies, and Kate's traditional NY neighbourhood where they frown on her taking a ride in a convertible and think she's putting on airs by working in fashion and dressing well, that are the main contrast here. Jackie's unattainable fairy tale life is the dream, contrasted with the unhappy grind that Kate finds herself living.

The problem is I didn't really like Kate much, she was both dull and isolated, so there weren't many other characters to engage with. Her only interesting characteristic was her sewing skill, which was described and shown but not enough for me! And her romance with the local middle aged butcher was depressing; it was clear that she was going to give up her dreams of a fashion line of her own and the chance of going into a boutique with a coworker, in order to marry a butcher and spend her life as a housewife and butchery assistant. It reminded me of the story arc of another book I previously read in which the main character gives everything up for a man/a child as well -- The Dress in the Window -- and that one frustrated the heck out of me as well.

After all the potential of her fashion work in New York, Kate simply gives it up for a disappointing marriage to someone she kind of likes and they leave America altogether. So much for the American dream.

The Psychedelic Zebra Dress

I've had my eye on a duvet cover that I picked up at a thrift store quite a long time ago. Wondering if I dared make a dress out of the super bright and large print. I finally figured out what would work with this wild fabric, at least theoretically, so gave it a go last weekend.

I magically had the exact orange tone of the print in my vintage bias binding stash, and also a spool of orange thread which matched. So I got busy and started cutting!

I used a Burda envelope pattern, Burda 6322. I made the cap sleeve view, but added length so it is at my knees. If it was even a touch longer I'd have had to add the side slits but as is it works perfectly for walking and sitting.

The major changes I had to make here were to shorten above the waist by a good 1.5", and then add that length back onto the bottom. And I added in some side seam pockets because why not?

I basted it and tried it on to see if I could get away with not installing a zip. I could manage but I didn't look quite right. I ended up taking in 1/2" on either side of the back seam, grading to nothing by the waist, as the neckline was a bit gapey. I forget how wide Burda necklines are for my frame! This helped but the back neckline is also a bit high and so stands away from my neck a bit. If I make this again I'll be lowering the back neckline by at least 1/2" before putting in a zip.

Otherwise this was a quick and fun project and I actually love it! I wondered if the print might be a bit much, but when I tried on the dress, I felt the fitted silhouette balanced the wild print, making it a fun wearable outfit. This duvet cover is also 100% cotton, so I made a matching mask.

I'm definitely sewing less now that I'm back to work and much busier so this quick project was a great boost to my sewjo. I'm excited to try a couple other projects in the queue now.

Weekend Review: Betsey!

Betsey: a memoir / Betsey Johnson with Mark Vitulano
NY: Viking, c2020
288 p.

And now for a fashion bio of a different sort! This memoir by Betsey Johnson is refreshingly cheerful and straightforward. No vicious catfights or excessive drug use or terrible destruction here. Just a women who made her own version of a fashion career in America.

Of course, when you are telling your own story rather than having a journalist tell it, you are able to gloss over some of the darker stuff, so perhaps there was some in her life. But it's not in this book. That's not to say that Betsey Johnson didn't have some issues -- her worst trait seems to be her terrible taste in men. She is open about her relationships, most of which were pretty bad, one so much so that she refuses to name him, just calling him Husband #3. But that personal information is just a small part of this book; the focus is really on Betsey Johnson the brand. 

I've always liked the wacky style of Betsey Johnson, and one of my most favourite thrift store finds is a Betsey Johnson computer bag, complete with garish rose print and gold zip and tag. It is so her. So I was interested in reading about how she got to be an American success. 

I was actually surprised by some of the biographical information; I don't always know much about designers as people, I'm more interested in their fashion. But Betsey Johnson started as a "good girl",  from a stable family and with boundless energy that led her to dancing early on -- and teaching dancing too, from the age of 14! She was also a cheerleader in high school and in college, definitely not something that the fashion students in her college days understood or appreciated. 

But she was in the right place when she needed to be. She got an intern position at a New York magazine via an essay contest, and made connections there, while sewing up clothes for herself that coworkers began asking for. Her quirky style caught on and she landed in Paraphernelia, with a trendy boutique in a larger store that highlighted individual designers at a time when this was a new concept. She was very successful at making her name there so later went out on her own with a business partner -- ending up with a large franchise and a lot of success, financial and creative. 

But then 30 years somehow passed, and they decided to sell their company and like all takeovers, the money people came in and ruined a good business. Her name was licensed all over the place (hence my thrift store bag) and then she left the company altogether. But the story throughout is fascinating, absolutely not self-pitying at all, gives a great view of female entrepreneurs and how hard it was to get going as two women starting a business, and also paints a portrait of Betsey Johnson the person. 

She feels very extroverted and outer focused to me; maybe because it is so different to my own personality, even reading this was a bit tiring! At some points I wondered about the self-reflection she might have done to understand her terrible relationships and some of her business decisions -- very personal information like that is not included in this narrative. But other personal information, like her fight with breast cancer, is shared, mostly to highlight the work she's done with cancer charities and how important knowledge is for women in this area. 

I enjoyed this light read about a designer I like; even with the lightness there is mention of the sexism she faced over the years, and the disdain of "real" fashion people when she won the Coty Award early on in her career -- since she hadn't gone to fashion school and didn't operate from 7th Avenue, she wasn't considered a "real" designer by many people who had done those things -- again, sexism was a part of that. But she just keeps going and makes a life for herself despite the haters. I found this story much more wholesome than the last few fashion world exposés I've just read and it was a great one to finish off this series of titles with. 

Terrace Dress, Kaftan Style

I picked up a cotton print last year when my local Fabricland was having a massive moving sale. I have been undecided about which pattern to match it with, but as summer is waning I thought I'd better get a move on!

The print is quite strong, and I wanted to really highlight the graphic feel of it, so finally decided on using the Terrace Dress by Liesl & Co, a dress I've made before with success in large prints.

This time though, I changed it up a little, again. Because it's a very light summer weight cotton, I thought I'd go with the midi/kaftan style that is so trendy right now. I love how the Terrace fits in the bodice so just extended it to mid-calf, and added a slit to the knee on either side seam. I used the plain tie sash from the pattern, and it all worked even better than I'd hoped.

The Terrace is a simple pattern; cut-on sleeve, bias facing at the neck, and turned under sleeve and bottom hem. The fit is perfect for me -- I didn't have to narrow the neckline on this like I usually do with most patterns, and grading out a bit from bodice to hips results in a great fit.

Like with my other two versions, I raised the pocket placement by 2" in order to have the side seam pockets in the right place. And the main alteration in this one was to sew the side slits before folding up a 1" hem. It's a light cotton so I may have to wear a slip on sunny days, but I really like the effect with this graphic print.

And of course, a matching mask is the accessory du jour! (I use the Dhurata Davies free pattern)

Weekend Review: Champagne Supernovas

Champagne Supernovas / Maureen Callahan
Touchstone, c2004.
288 p.

Another look at a decade in fashion, this time the 90s, with a focus on two designers (Marc Jacobs & Alexander McQueen) and one model, Kate Moss. Coming after the lengthy biography of Lagerfeld and St Laurent of The Beautiful Fall, I found this one a bit disappointing.

Author Callahan is a pop journalist, and the style and appearance of this book both make me think of magazine articles about these people and the style of the 90s. It was interesting but felt more magazine than in-depth investigation. It was still quite interesting, though! 

Just like the Paris scene in the 70s and early 80s, the people in this American/English scene in the 90s were equally messed up. The level of drug use and sexual shenanigans are just unbelievable; it feels tawdry and cheap in this book while somehow less so in Paris in the 70s -- perhaps the extra decades give a bit more distance from it. 

Callahan gives the background of each of the three people she's using as her touchstones, and why they were such a powerful part of the way fashion shifted in the 90s. Each of them was self-destructive and willful, and did things against the ruling ethos. It's why they shifted things in the wider world, but in their personal lives it wasn't so great for them. Drug use, depression, angst, and in McQueen's case, eventually suicide, were results. 

But this isn't a book that is based on extensive interviews and research into the psyches of these three people, rather, it's a look at their biographies insofar as they fuel the way they work in the fashion world. She shares their upbringing and the weaknesses each one had as a result -- each one had the drive to create their own style and way of being (and each one sounds like a nasty person to work for/with, at times). McQueen's attraction to ugliness and violence in his life and his fashion is outlined, and there are images of some of his earlier important shows. And Marc Jacobs' ground-shifting grunge collection (which was panned when it was revealed, which I recall quite well) is discussed and shown too. Kate Moss just seemed to embody the new breath moving through the fashion world with her gaunt, grungey heroin chic appeal. 

Perhaps I didn't enjoy this one quite as much since I don't really like any of the three characters. I always found McQueen's fashion sense ugly and somewhat revolting; the other two are shallow compared to earlier designers & models, and I just don't feel as interested in them. So while this was an interesting look at the state of fashion in the 90s, and I felt that I did learn a few things, the gossipy tone and more surface approach to the theme made it just okay. 

Cover Designs #18: She Came to Stay

Cover Designs is a feature in which I try to match up the outfit on a book cover with a dress pattern and sometimes even potential fabric matches as well.

Today's title is She Came to Stay by Eleni Kyriacou. This new release is set in 1952 New York, when Dina Demetriou arrives from Cyprus for a better life in America. How she does so might be of extra interest to my readers here -- Dina is a seamstress with a passion for clothing, and finds a job repairing costumes at the Pelican Revue. There she meets a friend, the glamorous bleached blonde Bebba, who takes her around Soho and introduces her to all its excitement. But Bebba has a secret, and when Dina finds out, everything hangs in the balance...

To match this classic shirtdress pattern, you could use Burda 6520. The notched collar, bodice buttons, belt and the sleeve of View B match this dress very well. This skirt is a pleated one, while the cover image has a gathered skirt, but you could change that if you wished. The overall effect is quite similar. 

I'm sure it would look fantastic in solid red like Dina wears on the cover. You could find a good match in this beautiful red linen from Simplifi Fabrics

Or maybe by using this viscose linen noil from Hart's Fabric. 

Either one would sew up beautifully in this pattern and reflect the dress on the cover of this novel. Then grab a coffee & a bagel and enjoy this New York read!

Weekend Review: The Beautiful Fall

The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris / Alicia Drake
Back Bay Books, 2006.
448 p.

I wasn't sure what to expect of this book, an in-depth study of the fashion rivalry of Yves St Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld throughout the 70s and into the 80s. But that gorgeous cover sure sucked me in!

As it turns out, I found this book enthralling and engrossing. It's based in over 500 interviews with people connected to both designers, and is written with a flowing and fast paced style, which makes it easy to read despite its nearly 450 pages.

I think it is also so fascinating because both Lagerfeld and St Laurent are a bit mysterious with huge mythic stories built up around them. St Laurent was a recluse and Lagerfeld always embellished on his past, making both of them a bit chimeric; what is the truth? Even here, with all Drake's excellent research and investigation, they both still end up with a veil of glamour and mystery surrounding them.

The book investigates the lives of both designers, from their childhoods on, leading to their huge levels of success in the 70s and especially in the case of Lagerfeld, on into the 80s. Drake also outlines the rivalry between them, and the effect it had on the social circles that they both belonged to. The two men come off as quite different in character; while St Laurent was charming, mercurial, debauched, and eventually reclusive, Lagerfeld was a constant outsider whose entire focus was his work, and he never stopped working.

But the book is really about them as individuals, and about their place as key players in the glamorous world of fashion in 70s Paris. The people who surrounded them will be well known to anyone with a passing interest in fashion -- from their business partners and muses to fashion people like models Pat Cleveland or Donna Jordan, to celebrities like Mick Jagger and Paloma Picasso, Paris was the centre of the fashionable world, and these two designers were at the top of it. There's not a heavy focus on the actual work of creating fashion, besides mentions of various important collections, or who worked for whom, and the rising and falling stars of either man. It's much more of an in-depth look at the characters of these two and how their personalities and surroundings and ambitions shaped their lives, their work, and their rivalry.

And there is a lot of gossip -- the people in these circles were unbelievably louche -- they stayed up all night dancing, pairing off, fighting viciously, taking massive amounts of drugs, throwing parties, flitting about with the trendy people of the moment, switching partners or taking others' partners for the fun of it -- you name it, you'll find it here. The elements of sexuality and the free drug use are somehow innocent before the era of crack and AIDS, though -- it was the joy of freedom in the city, especially for gay men who were just starting to be able to openly live as they pleased.

Drake captures the spirit of the era, and really digs into the stories surrounding these two men. She doesn't shy away from outlining the mental health issues that caused a lot of St Laurent's more atrocious behaviour, or from refuting Lagerfeld's ever-changing stories about his birth date and the circumstances of his upbringing (each time he told it, it changed to a more elaborate and aristocratic youth). Lagerfeld even tried to have the publication of this book halted, and succeeded in having it briefly unavailable in France; but it has certainly surpassed that slight hitch by now.

I found this more than just gossipy, though; Drake, a journalist, is able to capture something special. There is a depth and a warmth to the telling that makes every character compelling, every lost soul a  tragedy; there is a melancholy that doesn't slide into sentimentalism, or stop her from revealing the ugly sides as well as the beauty and achievement.  It was a good read beyond just being a fashion bio -- it's a cultural history of this era and captures so much. The writing style suits the story and keeps the detail from being overwhelming, instead it is paced just right. I think that the level of primary research she did, via so many interviews, added to the complexity of her portrayals and the authority that comes through in her storytelling.

There is a centre insert of some black & white photos, a handful. When I think of Lagerfeld I think of his latest incarnation with white hair, sunglasses and high collars, but there are images of him throughout his career in his many guises. It's a nice collection of images of some of the most important and most frequently mentioned players in the story, and adds to the reading experience.

As far as designer bios go, this is one of the best I've read. I really enjoyed it, despite shaking my head at the lifestyles of their social circles and the kinds of things they got up to regularly. If you like fashion history that is also an investigation into the psyche of a designer and their milieu, I think you'd like this one a lot too.

July 2020 Burda "simple" top

I thought I'd make one of the very easy tops from the July issue of Burda magazine -- it's been so hot here that I wanted to use a lightweight cotton that I've had in the stash forever. It needed to be cut on the crossgrain as it has a bit of a border print so I thought this easy top would be a good choice.

Well, as it turns out, that is only partly right. The top in the magazine is in a fabric that is a little drapier, which I think would work better. This cotton is lightweight and not really stiff, but it is a cotton and so doesn't really drape or fall too smoothly.

note how it poofs out under the gathering

This pattern is extremely easy, maybe too simplified to be really successful. It is literally one piece. Cut the same piece for back and front and put a waistline casing on the inside, leaving an opening at each side seam to thread a cord through as a drawstring. There were some issues thanks to this pattern making decision.

The neckline was a bit of a disaster. It's a boat neck style, but I always find Burda very wide at the neck, so cut it narrower. But then I couldn't get it over my head. So I had to open it up a bit. And the front piece was too high and wide at the neck, so I ended up cutting the front in a curve, lowering it by one inch. The fall is still kind of odd though, after the top is gathered. In a drapy fabric this wouldn't be as much of an issue, though I'd still pinch some of that centre width out at the front.

And the neckline finish is simply to fold under and stitch. This might work in a knit with the suggested stablizer ironed on before folding under, but in a woven it's a messy disaster waiting to happen. If you use a woven, I would suggest cutting a bias strip to finish it with.

This simple quick pattern gave me more hassle than many of the complicated things I've made lately. I do like the fabric but I think that the fabric & pattern just don't quite match up perfectly. I might wear this, it is very cool and light, but I have to say I just don't love it.

I did try it out without the drawstring tied, so with zero gathering at all, and it kind of works in this cotton, looking more like a boxy top. I may wear it more like that. I'll give it a couple of wears to see what I think! 

Linen Owyn Trousers

I made some trousers! I don't make pants as a rule; I hardly ever wear them. But after my recent success at making a pair of shorts for my husband I thought I should try a simple pair for myself.

I recently picked up a copy of Lotta Jansdotter's Everyday Style, which I have been wanting for a while, thanks to all the nice versions of the patterns in this book that I've seen on Instagram. So I traced out the elastic waist pull on pants in this book, the Owyn Trousers.

It's a simple style; flat front with elastic coming about 1/4 of the way across the front on each side. And the pattern is slightly cropped but I didn't realize that; I'm so short that the cropped look is ankle length on me anyhow!

I added some patch pockets to the front, and ended up folding the casing down by only 1/2 its width so I have a narrower elastic waist because otherwise I wouldn't like where they sit on my waistline. They fit okay, but I'll definitely need to increase the back height next time as I'd like them to sit higher, and I'd like to fold the casing down fully too.

I used some old navy linen in my stash and it's lightweight and comfortable for summer. If I can get the fit right on these I think they would be nice in a heavier weight fabric for work pants too. But they did remind me why I don't really make pants; the fit is so hard to get right, even for easy pull on styles, and I end up not wearing them very often anyhow. So I'm not sure if I'll tackle the fitting adjustments and make another pair of these soon, or wait until the fancy strikes again, probably in another year or two ;)

Weekend Review: The Battle of Versailles

The Battle of Versailles / Robin Givhan
NY: Flatiron, c2015
320 p.

A story of fashion history today! This book looks at the famous "Battle of Versailles", a fundraiser fashion show pitting the top French and American designers against each other, in November 1973. The designers represented were: Americans Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Halston, and Stephen Burrows and French designers Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro, and Marc Bohan of Christian Dior. You'll notice only one woman and she had to suffer egregious sexism.

Written by Robin Givhan, an award-winning fashion journalist, this story is told with clarity and verve. She approaches it from all angles; chapters on the designers, the organizers, and even the models illuminate this one night and mean that there is enough context to get a whole book out of a single event, with only the barest glimmer of repetition in the telling. 

Conceived of as a fundraiser to restore the Palace of Versailles, nobody had much expectation that the American contingent was going to be close to the French in terms of style and glamour. And the back story certainly shows how the French designers had the best of everything -- scheduling for their run-throughs, sets, music, and much much longer presentations. 

But against expectation, the American shows with their looseness and modern music and fantastic individuals as models (ten of whom were Black) took the night. The energy and speed of their presentations, the modern designs that captured the 70s spirit, and the way in which the models moved and danced on the runway unlike the static traditional presentations of the French designers -- all this led to the celebrity/rich person loaded audience response of loud cheering and excitement, also quite out of character. 

This night changed the perception of American fashion vs. French fashion. No longer did French fashion dominate the imagination as the only source of style, now there was an American spirit as well. Givhan notes that this event really changed the direction of the fashion world, and spends a lot of time going into every aspect of it to show how its effects rippled out in so many ways. You might think that looking so deeply into things like the funding and organization of an international event, spearheaded by American fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert, might be dull, but it's not. 

If you're interested in fashion or cultural history, this is a good read. There are a few flaws; because of the focus on this one particular moment, larger issues raised by things like the presence of the Black models or the sexist treatment of Anne Klein aren't expanded upon in a wider context. And while she does describe some of the designers and the way they planned their shows, she doesn't really call anyone out for their atrocious behaviours. Also, there are no colour images in a book about the impact of colourful, bright, energetic American fashion on a more prim fashion world. 

Overall, however, I enjoyed this one and learned a little more about a subject I'm always interested in.