A very hot trend for fall, surface detail is an area where we
sewists
can really break out.
Costello Tagliapietra may not be a household name but they make
beautiful clothes and really know how to fit a woman's body. 
The detail on this dress,
(left) from the Fall 2007 collection looks tricky,
but it is really just a series of soft darts up the sides. Notice how
curvy it makes the model look. She is probably a size 4, but those
diagonal lines are fabulous for those of us who aren't.
If you're already curvy, add it to your shoulders as they did
at Calvin
Klein.
(below)
If
you have full hips, think
about adding the darts above the waist to
balance your figure and give you more of an hourglass look.
This dress can be made using a favorite sheath pattern. Use a pattern
with a neckline you can wear under a jacket and it will be great for
crisp fall days.
Other designers showed all-over fabric treatments that made some otherwise undistinguished fabrics really spark. Couching punches up plain wools and gives them more personality. Couching is simply taking yarn or ribbon and zigzagging over it to attach it to the fabric.
There
are tons of kits available that include everything you
need for
needle felting. I had always thought it would look artsy-craftsy until
I saw a stunning piece Hellenne (Artistwhosews)
entered in a Sewing with
Image courtesy of Style.com Marcio Madeira Photographer
Plan (SWAP) contest sponsored by Timmel
Fabrics. Start small and with a little practice this technique
will add real
impact.
Maybe impact is too strong for you.
Maybe you want a quiet elegance instead.
If that is the case, be sure to read the
article
by Jennifer Orsini on Bonnie Cashin’s leather and suede trim.
wear glamorous stuff like
that? This is that season. Of course, if Mom was a flower child of the
1960s who went to work in 1970s and 1980s, this will all be new to you.
Put on some old movies to see dress suits and wide trousers. I
recommend anything with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. La Kate
will teach you how to walk in laced ghillies, how to look like a WOMAN
in pants, and how to be taken seriously even in a dress. She may have
had a range from A to B but she did know her clothes!
Image courtesy of Style.com Marcio
Madeira Photographer
Grown-up
clothes includes: tailoring, tweeds, 1940s silhouettes,
stockings, trousers, and even 1980s shoulders and narrow pants if
you’ve got the figure for them. They have all made a comeback for the
fall. The designers did show suit-heavy collections but even if you’re
not a suit wearer there is still plenty to fall in love with. The dress
still figures strongly but it’s more luncheon and less Boho. You're
gonna want
a structured bag and some makeup, not your hobo bag and lipgloss.
Even the casual stuff has some snap to it. A great blouse can
polish up your typical jeans or try an upgraded T-shirt. There are two
by Sandra
Betzina (Vogue 8151 and Vogue 2980) that sew up quick and add
style without being stuffy.
Speaking of jeans, if
the skinny styles that showed up in the
beginning of the season scared you, pull out your favorite trouser
pattern and
make up a pair in denim. You’ll look au courant without sliding into
fashion victim territory. If you’re missing a trouser pattern in your
collection, Hot Patterns just released Weekender Jeanius jeans that
look fabulous.
Do
you knit? I don’t but I have a sister who can knit a Fair
Isle without a pattern. Yes, she’s that good. I can do a fair
stockinette
stitch but I get really frustrated with having to make the cloth before
I can sew it together. Anyway, if you do knit, pull out the big sticks
and the ropey yarn if you like the more avant garde designers. Some
designers really laid it on thick this winter, which may not work in
most women’s lives. For the rest of us, the standard twinset might seem
a little tame this winter. You could pull the Wellesley girl trick and
wrap the cardigan around your neck like a scarf, or more likely, grab a
guy’s sweater for a little more volume.
As for sewing, the knits on the market are getting better and
better. It is definitely worth your time to find some fabulous wool
jersey.
Sweater dresses are big, well, little, actually, as they tend to be on
the miniskirt side for wearing with thick tights and boots. They come
in mod or classic so you can pick your poison. Not going to be caught
dead in a
mini, wear the skinny pants under it like at Kenneth Cole. It has that
80's snap
and crackle without feeling like we've been there already.
Image Courtesy
of Style.com Marcio Madeira Photographer
No, the world has not gone black and white. It is only shades of gray. Evidently designers watched a lot of 1940s era movies and picked up not only the styles but a lot of gray in the process. There was color, just not tons, if all the gray is just a little funereal for you go bright but ground it with a neutral to make it less Stephen Sprouse and more Valentino.
Now, if you’re like me and you wear entirely too much black, gray feels like a color. I know it is not a real color but it is in my comfort zone and goes with everything I already own. The nice, and sometimes tricky, thing about gray is that there is one out there for everyone. I’m a deep winter with cool-toned dark hair and fair skin so I wear cool-toned grays. My blue-eyed, blonde mother with peach-colored skin wears warmer grays and we both look polished and perfect, even if we don’t look like we could possibly be related. So just because two fabrics are gray, it doesn’t mean they go together.
Image courtesy of Style.com Marcio Madeira Photographer
