It's Sweater Weather

I'm sitting by my glass balcony door right now and feeling the cold.  It's sweater weather again folks!  I love sweaters, they're so comforting and warming.  There are so many versions of the sweater for women.

Fashion designers, I think there's a niche still open.  I had a time looking for unique stylish sweaters for men.   Maybe men don't buy anything too different from what they're used to seeing and wearing currently.   Argyle, solid dark colors, and horizontal stripes are some of the popular sweater styles for men.  Maybe I should work on designing unique sweaters for men myself for fall/winter 2011...

Billabong Yorkshire Sweater, www.dogfunk.com

BKE Speckled Cardigan, www.buckle.com

Element Snuggle Sweater, www.dogfunk.com

Dunmoran Hoodie, www.activejunky.com

Ergo Sweater, www.bizrate.com

Sport Obermeyer Quandry Cardigan, http://skiandsnowboardstore.com

I don't know about you, but I think some of the very style forward websites have some unusual names.  Maybe I should change SK Clothes to something more catchy...
Till next blog!

Forward Fashion

I've found some clothing designs that I love by designers who you must be familiar with.  They are all fashion forward pieces with a couple of common denominators.  Can you tell me what they are?

The designers' names are Epperson, Carolina Herrera, Erdem (Canadian), Marie Saint Pierre(Canadian), Helmut Lang and Haider Ackermann.  The designs are from their fall and winter 2009 collections. Epperson's design was made for one of the challenges for season 6 of Project Runway.

by Carolina Herrera, www.life.com  

                                                                                                                       

by Epperson, www.everydaysassypants.com

by Erdem, wwwiwanigot.geekgirl.com

by Haider Ackermann, www.fashionologie.com

by Helmut Lang, www.examiner.com

by Marie Saint Pierre, http://lorilangill.blogspot.com

Till next blog!

The Colors of Fall and Winter 2010 - 2011

According to  Millionlooks.com, the colors for the fall and winter season for 2010 - 2011 are:  black, white, red, yellow, beige, blue, pink, grey, orange, brown and green.  I think that means every color existing is in fashion this fall and winter.    This should make life a bit more simple for those of us on a budget.  We've got some, if not all, of those colors in our wardrobe already.     Fashiontrendsetter.com, one of the fashion forcasting websites,  have names for their colors like tea rose, deep plum, gray mist, golden bronze, pecan and Prussian blu (I didn't spell blue wrong; that's how it's spelled on the website). 

Here are some more popular colors for fall and winter 2010 and 2011 in visual form:

Tea rose - dress by Dorothey Perkins

http://shop.standard.co.uk

Mocha - Classiques boucle jacket        

www.glimpse.com

Plum - dress by Donna Ricco

www.thefind.com

Emerald - Moncler quilt coat          

www.36day.com

 I remember wanting women to wear more color during the winter months.  I may have received my wish this winter season.  Till next bog!                                                                      

SK Clothes Styling for Fall 2010

I was impatient to do another video for SK Clothes because I'm still in the middle of sewing my daughter's line (yes, the summer line, but I already have a vision of how the summer pieces can be translated into fall pieces).  I had just bought the fabric in late August, but I found the exact fabric colors she wanted for her designs, and I bought them all on sale too!  It dawned on me to become a fashion stylist for a few hours yesterday and use SK Clothes designs with clothing from my daughter and my closets to make fresh fall looks for the junior miss age group.

We had fun, and, of course, my daughter was the model.  She took it up a few  notches with her poses for the camera.  

                          Cowl top by SK Clothes                          Fuschia dress by SK Clothes

                                              Mushroom sleeve sweater by SK Clothes

There are more fantastic outfits on the video.

I hope you've enjoyed the video.  If you can tell me three clothing pieces from the video that are SK Clothes designs,  you could win a glass bead necklace by RayB for SK Clothes.  Till next blog!

Fashionistas Clothing Must Haves for Fall/Winter 2010

My list of must have clothing pieces for fall and winter 2010 is somewhat different than  other lists I've looked at today.  At least the lists, and mine, agree on three pieces of clothing, the boot, the military jacket and the knit sweater ( theirs mention chunky sweaters and mine mention the fitted turtleneck).  I'm not doing too bad!

According to www.womensfashion.suite101.com and www fashionising.com, the clothing pieces to add to your wardrobe are:

  1. Thigh high boots
  
  2. Sheer clothing      (blouses, dresses)
  
  3.  Leather clothing  (skirts, jackets)  
  
  4.  Asymmetrical tops

  5.  Military jacket

  6.  Chunky knits
 
  7.  Capes and cloaks






The three items from this list that weren't on mine that I would also like to have are  the sheer blouse and dress, asymmetrical top and a chunky knit sweater.  I've been wearing sheer blouses that I've made over tank tops for the past few summers.  I'd like a sheer dress to wear over a strap dress, this is something I'll have to make.  I love loose sheers, they're easy to wear and allow the skin to breathe (but this doesn't apply for winter).  Asymmetrical blouses I find refreshing, somewhat out of the box, a bohemian look.  And for those of you that know I design bohemian style clothing, asymmetrical is definately up my alley.  Who can let a winter pass by without having a comfy sweater to wear,  especially for outings such as tobogganing and skating?  

Till next blog!

Thigh high boots - www.shoppingedge.com
Asymmetrical top - www.aswechange.com
Chunky sweater - www.tradercity.com

My Must Haves for Fall/Winter 2009-10

Many of us love to watch what the stars are wearing.  Many of us love to watch fashion tv.  Many of us love to dream of having a fabulous and expensive wardrobe.  But most of us have to watch our budget.

 I don't change my wardrobe too often.   I usually buy a few pieces each year to add to my wardrobe.  Yes, I sew, but I find I'd rather sew for others so I don't find time to design fantastic clothing to wear myself.  I do alter some of my old pieces to modernize them though.       

 

                                                

My must haves for  2009-10 are:    
1.  Turtleneck.  Fitted, monotone colour, narrow neck.               
2.  Scarves.  Long mult-coloured or one coloured scarves   
3.  Plaid semi-fitted shirt.  Narrow plaids please.
4.  Fitted jacket.  Traditional or military style.
5.  Long a-line skirt.  Preferably in denim or a dark colour.

6.  Ugg-style boots.  I don't need the original, just affordable.  

These are basic but stylish clothing that mixed and matched can change your look from business to casual.  

 

I've been following fashion websites and viewing what has been considered must haves for this winter.  Comparing my simple list and the fashionistas' lists will be interesting.

Till next blog.

turtleneck - www.sierratradingpost.com

military jacket - target.com

boots - onlineshopreviews.com

Fall 2009

Summer is over, fall is here already. I can't believe it! The days are going by very fast... Which reminds me, time for fall and winter clothing.

I'm currently working on my fall/winter sample clothing for 2009-10. And it's already September 21. I know I'm late. Blame the lack of finances, but I hope to finish the samples by the end of October. Spring/summer sample clothing for 2010 will have to be worked on simultaneously so I can promote the spring/summer clothing from January on.

My fall/winter clothing will incorporate a bit of structure, some ruffles (ruffles are all the rage now), and of course a Bohemian flare in some pieces. I won't be using too much black, if I use any black at all. You'll be one of the first to see my designs, so keep reading my blog.

The above design is from my spring/summer samples for 2009, but it could easily translate into fall because of the navy blue colour. I used two pairs of pants(as seen above), one light blue and one dark blue, to make this semi-fitted puffed sleeve jacket. The facing and collar are made from navy blue cotton mix fabric I purchased at a fabric store.

Currently I'm looking at all the fashion websites I can. It's amazing what some of the successful designers are making. Some designs are really exquisite, some are mediocre, and some clothing designs made me really wonder what the designers' were thinking! There are ruffles almost everywhere for the fall/winter designs for 2009.

One of my favourite websites is www.nymag.com. If you love fashion, even though you may not be able to buy some of the designer pieces, take a free look at what's being sold on Bloor Street (Toronto) and Hollywood Boulevard ( California!)