My top 5 "what were they thinking"
#5 - B5155
Not doing it for me. Not doing it at all. That curve right over the bust? No. No, no, no. There are five people in the world who can pull off that look and, let's face it, neither you nor I am one of them. If you've got any bust at all that line makes them look bulbourous and droopy at the same time and leaves that as the only hint of your figure. Not good. If you're flat then it looks like a late 80s little girl's dress. Just say no!
#2 - 5161
What's sad is that this pattern will probably find it's way home with me at some point. I have a fundamental issue with fabric crowns - If I'm wearing a crown then it's metal - unless this is a community theater play with no budget at which point I might fudge a little. But I am not in any community plays and so have no need for a faux crown. But even so it attracts even as it repels. I think it's the pic of king-boy trying to look all stern with giant plastic jewels hot glued around his crown.
#3 - 5154
Poor Connie, I'm picking on her patterns terribly. And really this pattern is fine, I can see some good possibilities with some color blocking, lace ... lots of ways to really own it. What I can't see is why that model seems to be pregnant with some alien spawn that grows from the hip. It's really not a good look at all. I so want to take an eraser and just smooth it out a bit ... but I can't. Even if I loved this pattern (which, honestly, I don't) I'd have trouble making it from fear that the hip-bulge came with it.
#2 - 5151
This one's purely personal - diagonals that hit right across the hips and thighs with no waist definition are my kriptonite. There may be nothing else in the world that makes my hourglass/pear figure look worse that these lines. Look, even the model looks a little out of proportion! The thing is I know there's some women out there who pull of this style with panache - I'm just not one of them. So this isn't a misstep on Butterick's part so much as it's just me recoiling in horror from my own traumatic experiences with this style.
#1 - 5143
Nice in concept but the made up garment looks like a home-made jacket gone terribly wrong. The fabric is so not right, dragging down the sides to make for a horribly uneven and dumpy hem and those gathered pockets just make it worse. Then the over all silhouette of a narrow neck with that mandarin collar billowing out to practically a pup tent? Bad, bad, bad. Made up in the right fabric and adjusted to the right hem length it could, conceivably, be very nice. But as they show it? Ick.
Now for the fun part, those patterns that will be speaking their way home with me sometime soon:
#5 - 5130
While empire waists are far from my best line, I've been in love with their knit versions since they first came out. With a little care and the right accessories I've gotten them to work. This one's a jem. I love that cute short sleeve summer version that would be such a cute swimsuit cover-up made from terry (you know, if I ever went swimming) or a fun evening dress in a funky print. Then the longer sleeve one that's just so chic. I love the double gathering going on up at the neckline- very nice and rather high end. I'll have to try this at some point, first for a night gown and then as whatever it next asks to be!
#4 - 5144
I can't imagine wearing something this voluminous but that doesn't keep me from loving it. This is one of those patterns I'd own just to own, like a nice picture. It doesn't have to be anything but what it is to make me happy. Just looking at it is like opening the possibilities of an overblown musical or heart wrenching drama, where the streets are always shiny from rain and beautiful banquets are an everyday event.
#3 -
This is a total jewel of a wardrobe - look, it's got four basics in it, right for the offering; two little black dress patterns, one straight, one a-line, and two skirts, also straight and a-line. This means that once you've gotten the straight skirt or dress fitted then you can just transfer the adjustments over to the flared counterpart and sew up without worry. I love it. But one thing I don't get - what's up with the shell tops they keep including? It's nearly impossible to get any shirt with a zipper up the back either on or, when it's on, to look good. Maybe I'm not shopping in the right stores but a woven shell like that just screams out "home-made" and not in the good way. There's got to be a button-up shirt or some other style that would work far better. But that's my only problem. Love the jacket, though it's probably a little too boxy for me. Still, very, very cute.
#2 - 5143
I am in love with this coat. I swear, someday I'll actually make a coat (probably when I'm living somewhere with the need for one) and when I do this pattern will easily be in the finalists as I pick which of my dozen coats to make up. I want to sew up that pink version in a nubby dark sage/black fabric with large black buttons. Or maybe a teal blue wool. Or a lush black. So many ideas ...
#1 - 5236
That dress is pure, undiluted glamor captured in tissue. It requires confident shoulders, bright red lipstick (but not the wrong bright red), and a lush fur stole. I have neither the figure for this nor any occasions - but I WILL have the pattern. It will probably spend it's time in my pattern drawers alternately ignoring the other patterns as being beneath it and giving lessons on how to saunter just right into the room. I love it.
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1 comment:
I'm one of the few who can actually wear the diagonal over the hip - but not the criss cross one! That has been so done a few years back, too, big yawn. You are so right on about all of these.
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