Spring 2011 RTW Trends

Inspiration for Spring/Summer 2011 sewing from the recent Fashion Week shows:

• Wide leg trousers - I'm lucky, my short-waisted H-shape body can wear many different pant leg widths, as long as the waistline is lowered, or combined with a blouse-y tucked in shirt or (better) a longer top.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Elie Tahari

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Elie Tahari



Bright colors with whites and khakis, as well as white + neutrals (see above) are big for S/S 2011.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Oscar de la Renta - Runway

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Jonathan Saunders - Runway

Full skirts/longer lengths - for me, "full skirt" translates to fullness *below* the hip; again, dropped waist styles and no gathers/pleats/fullness at the waist.

Neutrals - grays, taupes, beiges, khakis, etc.

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Elie Tahari - Runway

 

Bermuda length shorts

 

Crochet/macrame/lace/eyelet fabrics

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Luisa Beccaria - Runway

 

Updated shirtdress

White - dresses w/ khaki/brown jacket/vest over, or head-to-toe white.

Dolman sleeves - not overly exagerrated, combined with v-neckline and/or empire waist.  This Ports 1961 look is a little too boxy for me, but I could see this with a bit more waist shaping over wide-leg pants.

Statement necklace - back again this season, great for busty H-shapes like me.

Drapey vests and sheer fabrics in layers

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Charlotte Ronson - Runway

Updated trench

Florals

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Barbara Tfank - Runway

Spring 2011 Ready-to-Wear
Barbara Tfank - Runway

Other trends I like:

• Mint, sage, and leaf greens are making more of a mark than usual.
• Chunky summer sweaters over those long, flowy sheer skirts.
• Platform shoes were everywhere

 All I need to do now is figure out which one to make first!

Crazy crotch

I was flipping through the Fendi Spring 2011 RTW slide show on Style.com, and came across this hot mess.  I was totally loving this look...until I got to the thigh area.  Now, it's possible it was just unfortunately photographed, but YIKES that is rather unflattering.  (And those gathered ankles have to be the icing on the cake.)

Oh. This is not good.

I happened across this item online tonight:

"Though Venus defeated No. 18 seed Shahar Peer in straight sets during their third-round match at the U.S. Open on Sunday, the tightness of Venus' self-designed dress clearly gave her issues throughout the match. During most points the tight garment would ride up Venus' hips, revealing her undergarments for everyone to see."

CBS went so far as to later display a "tug count" that tallied the number of times Venus and Peer pulled at their respective dresses following a point. At the time, Venus was leading Peer 42 to FOUR.

At first glance, it looks like a tank-top-over-shorts. But it was supposed to look like this:

Damn.  That is what I call a wardrobe malfunction...

OMG.

My new sewing & embroidery machine arrived this afternoon.  It's a Brother SE-400.  Isn't it cute?

Brother SE-400

Last Sunday, I was at a meeting after church and got into a discussion with a woman who is somewhat new to the church.  I discovered that she is a quilter, and she mentioned something about having a new embroidery machine (I have no idea what make/model it is), and if I wanted to try it out sometime I could.  Somehow, between that conversation and Monday afternoon, I talked myself into buying a machine of my own.  (I am SO easy.)  For a mere $388, including shipping (but let's not tell DH, OK?), I now have a combination sewing and embroidery machine that so completely surpasses my Viking 500 (which I paid twice as much for nearly 20 years ago) that I am kicking myself for not having thought of this sooner.

So far, I have made a sample corded buttonhole, practiced monogramming, tried out some scalloped (shell) pintucks, and a bunch of other basic stitches.  I read several posts on PR suggesting that I would want a larger hoop/embroidery area than the 4x4 inch one this machine has, but I am having a hard time imagining WHY I might need one.  It will take me months just to figure out and play around with all the features this one's got.

What I DO need, however, is a name for it (her?).  I am open to suggestions...