The Vertical Stripe Wins

Aren't striped fabrics mostly cut to run horizontal on sewn garments?  Yes they are. And don't you find that striped fabrics cut to make vertical striped clothing very a la mode?  I definitely do.  I believe this is how I prefer to wear stripes...

iduple.com

aliexpress.com

luxurymall.ph

ezpopsy.com

 Till we meet next blog.

The Fringe Thing

When you see fringed clothes, what comes to your mind? Native American garments?  The 1920s Flapper period? Maybe hippies and rock and roll music.  

Fringe has been part of clothing design over many decades.  It looks as if it's resurfacing again in fashion, and has refreshing new ways of being incorporated into the clothes and accessories we wear.

pinterest.com

Dress by Jil Sander, fashioncopious.typepad.com

easydoesit.wordpress.com

stylehive.com

By Clover Canyon, Pre-Fall '16, nymag.com

Till next blog!

Young Africa Designs

 Aaaahhhh.... the young African fashion designers (by young, I mean anywhere from 18 - 45 years old, lol...) are creating some incredible clothes.  I saw some innovative designs by Africans, online, that made my mouth drop.  There are some fantastic ideas in terms of silhouettes ( take a look at Blacktrash designs for example.... yes, the name astounded me, but the clothing is phenomenal...) and there are lovely combinations of fabrics, colors and prints.   Applause!

monsieurpolk.wordpress.com

wp.360look-book.infor

 

lovefashion.co.za

fashionnetworkafrica..blogspo.com.es

Till next blog!

The Facts of Life Facts of Fashion

I'm an absolute fan of The Facts of Life television series.  I remember waiting eagerly for the new episode to air each week. I loved the quality of the program, the characters, the school setting.  I was just telling a friend yesterday that I can't pick a favorite character; I like all the characters equally on the show.  The personalities are different, but they work well together.  I also loved to see what clothes Jo, Tootie, Natalie, Blair and Mrs. Garrett would wear each week. Especially Blair.  She was the fashionista.

The girls behind the characters are women now, and they have their own unique fashion sensibilities.  The facts of fashion for all of them is to be comfortable and classy.

Kim Fields, thejaminebrand.com

Mindy Cohn, zimbio.com

Nancy McKeon, icelebz.com

Lisa Welchel, fashionhairstyles2015.com

Charlotte Rae, dailymail.co.uk

Till next blog!

Fabulous Style - Fall and Winter 2014

I've been glancing at a few of the top designers' fall/winter 2014-15 collections.  Wow! So much color, so many prints, so many silhouettes, this season is fantastic in terms of variety!  I'm inspired.  I'm actually excited for this fall and winter in terms of clothes, not weather.  Hope to see a lot of women, men and youth expressing who they are in fabric and design.

Tracy Reese, www.fashizblack.com

Haider Ackermann, www.fashionisers.com

MMissoni-15, lib.annarusska.com

Till next blog!

Designs by Project Runway Alumni

Ever wonder what previous Project Runway contestants are up to?  What they're designing, or if they're still designing?  I do occasionally.  I've been searching in vain for which channels in the Toronto/GTA area (I live in Ontario, Canada) would show Project Runway season 11. Season 12 is being aired now in the US, so Canada, as far as I know, is a season behind.  So I've resorted to watching my old VHS tapes of previous seasons of Project Runway (yes, I still have a VCR!  If it ain't broke, don't replace it, at least don't throw it out, lol).

I remember the good old days of watching seasons 1 to 10 on first Bravo then the Slice channel.  Which led me to wondering what previous contestants were up to now, or shortly after completing the show.  Here are some lovely designs by 5 previous contestants from Project Runway seasons 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.  

 Mychael Knight (PR 3), andreaserrano.com

Daniel Vosovic (PR 2), danielvosovicny.com

Daniel Franco (PR 1&2), danielfranco.com

Irina Shabayeva (PR 6), zimbio.com

Korto Momolu (PR 5), kortomomolu.com

Excellent work!  Here's to hoping that the parts of Canada that are deprived of Project Runway 11 will soon be able to see it or purchase the dvd.  

Till next blog!

Old Meets New - African Print Fashion

African fabrics, traditionally draped and tied to be worn in the past, have, for some time, been transformed into many clothing silhouettes.  The bright colors, intricate patterns and geometric shapes on clothe have gained popularity throughout the world since 2010.  I must say, the combination of traditional African prints and current clothes are a lively and wonderful combination.  

www.afrofrocks.co.uk

www.fashion-conscience.com

www.clothingattesco.com

www.toyfilm.jp

Till next blog!

Two of My Favorite Designers

One of my favorite programs on television is Project Runway.  For those of you that live in the United States, there's a sister program called Project Runway Canada.  For those of you that surf Youtube, you can find short exerpts of Project Runway Australia, Project Runway Phillipines, there's another country I can't remember that also has their version of Project Runway, all cousins to the original, lol.  Anyway, I discovered two of my favorite designers through the program.   

                      Rodney Epperson                             

                     www.poptower.com                     

                                                by Epperson 
                                      www.fashionwindow.net 

                                                  by Epperson                                      
                                             http://hubpages.com                                  

Rodney Epperson, who was on Project Runway season 6, was a well known designer before the show.  He's designed for Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and also the late John F. Kennedy Jr.!  Epperson's first collection was shown in 1994, after a successful stint at designing and selling accessories to Traffic in Los Angeles, and Barney's in New York City.  The Epperson Studio in located in Brooklyn, New York.

                                             Shernett Swaby                                  
                                        http://3.bp.blogspot.com

by Shernett Swaby,   http://fashioninmotion.wordpress.com

                                                                                       

 by Shernett Swaby, www.luckymag.com

                                                     

Shernett Swaby, a contestant on Project Runway Canada 2007, was born in Jamaica.  Swaby studied at the International Academy of Design in Toronto, graduated in 1998, and immediately started an underwear collection for both men and women.  Her desire was to start clothing collection for women which she started when she opened her boutique in 2001 and she now has completed six collections.  Shernett moved to Chicago in 2009 to open another boutique called Shernett Swaby.  Her website is 

www.shernettswaby.com.  

Project Runway season 8 is being shown in the US now.  I'm waiting impatiently for it to be shown in Canada.  Till next blog!                                                                                                                                    

A Dress Made in an Evening

Saturday was a busy day for me.  I altered four pairs of pants for a lady during the day, then the evening was spent making a dress for my daughter to wear to a wedding on Sunday.  The couple is married already and they wanted to renew their vows... that's so nice!!!  I suspect there will be more people I know getting married this year or next year.

Well, my daughter and I spent some time deciding what fabrics to recycle, what new fabrics to add, and the actual design of the dress.  I'm getting good at making clothing from draping and without a pattern, it's kind of liberating.  I enjoy making clothing patterns though, so I won't abandon it, it's just temporarily on hold (until I buy fabric to complete my daughter's 5-piece spring/summer line for this year and I hope it's soon).   Her dress is made of 3 different variations of polyester fabrics in 3 different shades of blue (my favorite color!).

I'm pleased with the dress.  I was so tired from the humidity in my area Saturday evening that I almost gave up on completing the dress and was resigned to letting her find something else to wear, but since she was pleased with how the dress was going to look while I was draping, I pushed on.  What we mothers' do for our children!!! Lol...  I've had a bit of a taste of what it's like to design and sew in limited time like the Project Runway contestants.

Also, here is the picture of the blouse I made from a scarf my friend gave me.  Yes, she knew I was going to turn it into something else...

What do you think of the sleeves?  Their quite interesting...  The blouse was for myself, but I needed more fabric to lengthen the blouse.  I'll have to make about two of these for myself with the proper amount of fabric.  


Till next blog!

New Blouse and Shoe Designs: Love Them!

I've been surfing the web again looking at the fantastic clothing available to those who have extra cash to shop.  Isn't it funny how we seem to go with the flow, well, a lot of us, regarding the clothing designs for each year?  There are those people who stick to absolute basics and aren't interested in clothing.  I wonder what it's like to not care what one wears at all?  Oh, forgive me, I was like that when my children were young.  My focus was taking care of my kids, 24/7.  Now I have some time to be interested in what I  look like.

I've found some interesting blouses online.These blouses have a lot of interest and style which are attractive.  I did say I'd post something with more color.  The tank is black, but what makes it summery are the aqua beads and the cut.  I think it's cute and can be dressed up or down.  The silk blue, black and pink print blouse is absolutely fantastic, I haven't seen anything like it before, print wise that is. The grey ruffle blouse is very feminine and unusual, light and whimsical.  I'm thinking children's fairytales when I look at it.  I don't know why...

I saw a pair of shoes on www.tracyreese.com for 2010 that absolutely caught my attention.  They were a cut-out design.  And so I found some cut-out design shoes that I like a lot.

I don't know who first designed the cut-out shoe, but usually designers all have the same idea regarding clothes and accessories every season.  I'm not one to pay too much attention to shoes, and I don't care too much for heels, but if I could purchase one of these, I would.  The grey dove shoe ( that's the name of the color) is from the Tracy Reese collection 2008. 

What styles do you like?  Feel free to let me know.   Till next blog! 

grey ruffle blouse  by Wan-nabe - www.mad-by-rae.com
blue,black and pink print blouse - www.millionlooks.com
black tank with aqua beads - www.oldnavy.com
blue and white shoes by David Dixon - www.townshoes.com
grey dove shoes by Tracy Reese - www.ebay.ca
green and black shoes by Miz Mooz - www.townshoes.com