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

A Bit of Information on SK Clothes

I'm a designer that doesn't like to follow the crowd too much.  I thrive on designing something I haven't seen before and with a lot of color.  My style has a bohemian flare to it.  I work casually with a friend who's also a designer.  She had asked me to sketch some designs for her last year for a fashion show, but when she saw my sketches, she was very quiet.  She's a very sophisticated lady which is reflected in the clothing she makes. (I love what she does, they are beautiful pieces, but I can't see myself wearing her clothing 24/7.  I have a younger spirit.)  I'm keeping the designs to use myself in the future.


My aim right now is to create original clothing that is marketable.  I have to reign in myself sometimes, but I like what I come up with.  The two designs below look semi-futuristic.  Bringing up futuristic, check out a designer who's clothing reminds me of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985, starring Mel Gibson, co-starring Tina Turner).  His name is Rick Owens.  The first Rick Owens' collection I saw online was the womens fall/winter 2009 collection, and I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised.  Here is a man that could work as a stylist for every futuristic movie that will be made.  View his designs on www.nymag.com and www.luisaviaroma.com.

SK Clothes 

SK Clothes 

The clothing I try to make are easy to wear pieces with a combination of colours, especially if they are spring and summer clothing.  My fall/winter clothing will follow the same vein but with a little more detail.  Yes, I'm still working on it!  Hard times now.  Hopefully the day I show you some pictures will be the end of December. 

My daughter is quite the designer.  I have a collection of her clothing sketches and have made a few of her designs already.  Whenever I see her new drawings, my mouth drops, I'm quite inspired by her originality. 

Sweety bag, SK Clothes

She sketched this bag a couple of weeks ago, and I made the pattern and sewed it yesterday.  This was made with recycled fabric.  I really think it's cute, though I have to fine tune it a bit.  The girl has great potential!   While making it, I kept telling her it was a sweet bag, hence the name, Sweety Bag.   I'll be making a few more in different coloured fabrics.


Till next blog.

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

Who's Getting Married?

                            apesara
                      www.flickr.com

For some time, wedding dresses and marriage have been on my mind  this year.  And I don't know why.  I suspect that someone in my family may be getting married soon.  My friend said that her long-time boyfriend told her he wanted to talk to her about something, but at the right time.  Now, both of us have tried to figure out what this could be, and a marriage proposal is at the top of both our lists.  

flippinyank

www.flickr.com

While I wait to find out who may soon be engaged, I've been watching wedding reality shows, combing any bridal magazine I can find, and sketching wedding gowns I may soon attempt to make.  One of my favorite wedding reality shows is called Say Yes to the Dress on Slice tv.  I just love to watch the brides-to-be trying on different styles and cuts of designer wedding dresses. 

 

 Wonderlane

www.flickr.com

 For those of you who are budget minded and watch this show, you can imagine what I'm thinking when I hear the prices for some of the gowns.  Nothing against women who believe that the higher cost of the gown makes the day more special, but I don't think I could spend more than $500 on a wedding gown (but then I'm stingy).  Actually, if I could buy one for $200, I would do it.  Weddingdress.com is an online store that sells gowns from $99.00 (wow!) to about $400.  Let me throw this in now if you're really super- budget minded. There is a video on Youtube called $10 Wedding Dress - Threadbanger Projects.  I couldn't believe the simple but nice looking wedding dress that came to life using t-shirt fabric!

My favorite wedding gown designers so far are Vera Wang, Amsale, and someone new to me, Angel Sanchez.  Vera Wang uses a lot of tulle, giving a lot of her gowns an ethereal quality.  She experiments with volume and shapes and her dresses are unique.  Amsale uses both soft and structured fabric for her designs.  The bodices of her strapless gowns are unique in that she uses diagonal pleating on some of them to personalize the dresses. She's also bringing in the short wedding dress for 2010.  Angel Sanchez uses firm fabrics for most of his collection for 2010.  I appreciate the flower neckline on one gown, and the assymetrical flounces on others. 


View these three designers' 2010 collections on Youtube:

Vera Wang Bridal Gowns - Spring 2010 Lookbook
Brides.com - Amsale Spring 2010 Runway Show 
Brides.com - Angel Sanchez Spring 2010 Runway Show


Enjoy!  Till next blog.

The Good Old 70's...

I was watching the Jackson 5 singing "I Want You Back" on Youtube a while ago, and I was just gawking at their brightly coloured tops and pants with the platform shoes and thinking "Whoa... a lot of colour..."  The 70's was certainly a time of freedom of expression clothes- wise among other freedoms.  I was looking in a Sears catalogue for fall 2009 and saw a nice pair of women's pants in a grey and black plaid.  Last time plaid was really in style was the 1970's.  Plaid looks pretty good now a days...

 

Designer is Y-3

                                   www.fashionweekphotos.com

I remember my sister and I proudly posing, around 1976, in our living room,  for pictures in our newly purchased plaid striped pants (one was red and blue plaid on white), two-colour platform shoes(brown/black and burgundy/black I believe) and I believe our knit tops had stripes in them as well, but I don't think they matched our pant plaids though.  But then, you didn't have to match, that was the style.   Put two colours or prints together that didn't quite make sense (well...the pairing made sense then) and you fit right in.  Aahh, the 70's...  

www.fashion-pictures.com

www.fashion-pictures.com   

Think Brady Bunch, think the Partridge Family, think the Evans family from "Good Times".  Striped flared pants, winged collars, bright colours, loud prints.   I remember those good old days of good family values, innocence, the innovative music... I miss that decade... 

www.fashion-pictures.com

I've noticed quite a few designers have plaid clothing among their collections from about 2007.  It hasn't become a favorite so much among the general public, but I think we may be seeing more people wearing plaid fabrics in some clothing form soon.  The teens are wearing a lot of checked shirts now, which I remember was a must have among teens in the 1980's (especially in the form of a lumber jacket...  I live in Canada). 

We can take some note from the 1970's.  I often wish, especially during the winter, that a few more people would experiment with colour.   After all, colour is what makes life a bit more interesting and fun to view.   Let's try to make this winter more interesting by experimenting with colour.

Till the next blog!

New Design - My S Saks

I've been working on some designs for accessories in between designing the ever late fall/winter sample clothing for SK Clothes.   The accessory is the bag.  I just love bags.  If there is any clothing or accessory I would collect, it would be bags.

Right now I love long strapped bags which leave hands free for doing other things like shopping, reading on transit, eating, etc.  I wonder about us women always having to carry big bags containing everything with us when men only have a wallet in their pocket.  But I myself will not travel without my  wallet, lip gloss, tissue,  pen, novel,  you get the point.  So I've designed a convenient bag for those teen girls and women who need a bag, but only for necessities and want to travel hands free.

The S Sak, which I call my design, is made of two to three fabrics for attractiveness.  The strap is sewn in diagonally and made of two fabrics as well.  It is lined with the contrasting fabric. The entrance to the bag is made of the same contrasting fabric as the lining and opens and closes with a drawstring.  What's good about this sak is it's washable, it's attractive, functional, and it's worn diagonally to prevent the strap from slipping off.  (When I carry the long strap bag the traditional way, over one shoulder, I'm forever tiring of slipping the strap back in the correct place.)  The S Sak is a type of backpack with one strap and one storage space on purpose, so females can only carry what's absolutely needed.  

These four saks are for sale on my ebay store page.  If you would like to purchase any one of them, my store link is www.stores.ebay.ca/SK-Clothes.  

Till the next blog.

A Little History on Clothing We Can't Live Without

As much as some of us love to dress for success, dress to express ourselves, dress to convey a mood, don't we all just love the basic pieces of clothing?  I'm talking about the must must haves.  The denim jean and the t-shirt.

Now, I love an opportunity to look nice anytime, to show how good I can look, to get a couple side glances when I look just right.  And then there are always the times when I just want to look casual.   I read or hear of women always saying that " I'm most comfortable and myself in t-shirt and jeans".  I used to think that women who said this were the one's who always had to dress for their career and were in the limelight a lot.   Well, I'm not in the limelight, at least not right now (wishful thinking)  and I have to agree with them myself.

I remember my mother telling me about her girlhood days when people dressed up to go for a walk down the street or to the park.  And they most likely dressed for the movies, a concert...Now a days, we think that's a waste of time and money to  dress somewhat formally for the purpose of looking good to have casual fun (although people still dress for the theatre).    Well, how many of you still wish dress-up days were like the past?  I don't know if I do.  

 

Target Rocks Red Market 1 : March 2008 Australia

Picture courtesy of FashionWeekPhotos.com 

I'll give you a bit of history on the t-shirt and the denim jean.  The t-shirt was first introduced to American soldiers by the European soldiers in WWII.  The American soldiers appreciated the comfort of the t-shirt and started wearing them as undershirts.  By 1955 the t-shirt could be worn alone and be acceptable (thanks to stars like James Dean).  The denim jean was made for workers in 1873 by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss (a popular brand name for jeans).   Women were free to live in jeans from around the 1950's and on, whereas before, the acceptable clothing were skirts and dresses.

These are two pieces of clothing that can be dressed up or dressed down or even in between, timeless pieces we can't live without for now and some time to come.  I think the hoody and the sneaker also should be added to the list of things we can't live without.   

sneakermaniac.com