Seven Basics and a thought

Sorry, just haven't been in a post-y mood recently. It comes and goes - give it another month and I'll be posting daily and commenting like mad on all your blogs. :) Does that make me a bipolar blogger? Hm.

Anyway, at Artisan Square someone posted that Donna Karan's returning to her designing roots of her seven basics: Body suit, wrap skirt, tailored jacket, tailored pants, cashmere knits, robe-like coat and evening wear. The idea is that these pieces form a sort of swap, working for home, office, and evening events. Neat, though personally I'm not feeling the items themselves. Wrap skirt? Tried, don't like. Body suit? Love the clean lines, don't so much love the gymnastics of rebuttoning after a bathroom break.

So I present my basics. Not authoritative but, hey, this is a blog. :)


1. Nice knit shirt



Preferably a v neck, in a great fabric and a good, versatile color. For me that usually means black. Hazard of being a tech chic from DC.

2. Trim pencil skirt



one in black, one in denim, and you're ready for most anything.

3. Long but fairly fitted button up shirt



Tuck into skirt for the standard business uniform, throw on over the knit shirt for a loose, casual jacket, or button up and wear over the skirt with a belt cinching it in.

4. Jeans - Dark wash, well fitted, with a bit of flare



Non negotiable. Come what trends may, I NEED my flare.


5. Little black dress



Hey, classics are classics for a reason. Doesn't actually have to be black if that's not your look - any color that plays well with others works. Just make sure it's well fitted and nice enough to go to the symphony in. Throw the button up shirt over it for a nice office look or wear it with the denim skirt for a shell look.

6. Bright wool coat



Because too much black is boring, especially in winter.

7. Gorgeous layering sweater



Pick the neckline and color best for you. Layered over the LBD, button up shirt, or knit shirt it looks fab and keeps you warm. And I'm all about being warm.

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There they are, the Alicia Jeanae 7 basics. I'm working on making these into a reality with my SWAP. So far it's coming ... I've got the pencil skirts covered, made up one layering sweater, and (not included in the official SWAP as they're not sewn by me) bought a pair of jeans and was given a small collection of fitted longer buttonup shirts. So I'm just missing the nice knit tops (next on the sewing list) and a great coat. Which I really, really need but haven't settled on the fabric. Since we're already to short sleeve weather here, it's not a pressing concern so I'll take my time. :)


So agree, disagree with my choices? Think I'm missing something critical? Got your own choices?

McCall's Spring Preview - What's Hot, What's Not

Not Hot
Starting out with what's Not because it's just so much more fun that way...

M5578


This dress is giving me bad flashbacks to fourth grade. Baggy top, gathered knit skirt, and buttons in the back? And those horribly placed pockets? Trust me, it wasn't particularly attractive on a fourth grader in the early nineties and it's no better on a grown woman. Worse, actually. I'm pretty certain that this dress is specifically designed to make a woman look her absolute dowdiest. Yes, those longer sleeves are kinda cute. Do yourself and all who look at you a favor and morph them onto a better bodice. The world will thank you.

M5577


The purple line drawing doesn't look so bad ... but that's only if you can tear yourself away from the train wreck of the blue jumper to look. Seriously, could the proportions look any worse? That tiny top with the child-carrying pockets just looks off. Granted, it's the kind of look you can envision seeing during Project Runway ... but it's usually the result of too little sewing time, a bad choice of fabric, and strange materials. We don't have that excuse. If, for some reason, you just HAVE to have a jumper like this then take your cue from the purple girl - wear it with a full shirt, use drapey fabric (maybe even a lush silk knit) and DON'T USE THOSE POCKETS! Put discrete ones in the side seams, if you like but please, by all that's holy, run from those horrible ones. They give all pockets a bad name.

M5588


This one isn't terrible ... it's just not good, either. The proportions with that neckline just seem very, very off. It looks like it's both engulfing and binding the poor model. Not exactly the look I go for when I get dressed each day.

M5565


The absolute, no doubt, unarguable worst of the bunch. It screams Happy Hands at Home in a way that makes one flinch from sewing. It's giving a tiny model thunder thighs. It looks like a maternity outfit made by a sweet aunt who only bought her fabric on sale ... back in the 70s. It's got those horrid thick fabric straps that only show up in bad sewing patterns and those oddly placed buttons that just feel so wrong. From top to bottom it's just so completely ick. Congrats, pattern, you've won top price at worst pattern of the season.

Hot
Moving on to happier grounds, the best of the bunch. Honestly, this was really difficult. There were so many patterns in this batch that I really like and would love to comment on. However, these are the five that I finally settled on as my absolute favorites. Enjoy!

M5576


It's a sack dress that also has shape - beautiful! And I love the use of the silver fabric and the totally mod gems on the green. Just too cute. And how can you not love a pattern that says, under notions, that it requires "purchased plastic or acrylic stones to creatively embellish motifs within the fabric for dress B or front yoke on dress C."

M5575


What a hot little tunic. I've got a similar one that I've been wearing to death over a pair of simple black pants. No leggings for these legs. It's worked really well, I get a number of compliments on it and it really is slimming. I'm not sure how since empire waists and mid-thigh tunics are usually my kriptonite, but it is. I might pick up this top and try and repeat the previous one's success. With a cami underneath - that's a pretty impressive v there.

M5590


This is a basic that NEEDS to be in your collection this year. High waisted pencil skirts are back with a vengeance and this is the perfect template for a lot of very stylish creativity. Added bonus - once you've got this pattern fitted for your figure it's an easy trim away from being a perfectly fitted regular-waist skirt. Since I hate the fitting step I'm all for that.

M5597


Look at that jacket. Look at it! Is that not an instant trip in time to the suits of the 30s and 40s with their small but fantastic details? Despite not having any need for the suit jackets I already have, I'm feeling a need for this one. Just wearing it is instant glamor. A definite must have for my pattern collection.

M5584


There were a lot of great patterns but this one is the one that I fall in love with a little more with each look. It's so retro modern, so over the top glamorous, that I can't stop thinking about it. Logically I shouldn't even consider it - I'm a curvy hour glass that should, by all the rule books, stick with close fitting silhouettes. Yet I keep wanting to float around in a deep olive green satin version of view C with black tulle poking out beneath and thin gold and silver celtic knots embroidered around the top band. I'm very seriously considering making it up for a wedding we're going to tomorrow evening. After all, with as little fitting as this dress has, it can't be all that difficult to make. And it would feel so very glamorous. Maybe with a little black velvet bolero ... I'm sold.

My Top 10 for Winter

A recent post on one of my fave sewing sites asked what our personal top 10 fashion trends for this season are. I was thinking through this (while reading up on the Atticization of the Koine Greek of the New Testament - fascinating stuff, I tell ya) and came up with my list. Now be forwarned that I'm no fashion maven - sadly a good portion of my wardrobe is older than most of the children I work with. Which isn't too bad because they're mostly 1st grade and under ... but still.

Ok, enough stalling. My top 10:

1. Knee high black boots
2. Unfitted, knee length dress
3. Opaque black tights
4. Ballet flats
5. Fitted jumper
6. High-waisted pencil skirt
7. Chunky knit jacket
8. Dark wash jeans
9. Long tunic shirt
10. Fitted belt

Of all those I currently own ... four. Numbers 1, 3, 4, and 8. Granted, those first three are pretty much wardrobe staples, especially if you were a female at a private Ohio college that required women to wear skirts in spring and fall. Knee-high boots were a bit edgy when I bought them (one of my friends kept referring to them as prostiboots until I kicked him) but they were WARM. And those black tights help block that horrible wind. So I really can't claim to have anticipated the trends. I was just trying to survive and somehow, in the lottery that is fashion, those two came up winners.

And I'm suddenly wondering why I still have those winter things now that I live in TX. Great. Now that I'm in fashion I have to wait for our one cold month to show off my amazing style. Life!