Draping Me Some Ted Baker

Oh my goodness it has been a while since I've posted.  Work, life, and gearing up for the holidays seem to have me distracted as I am sure many of you are as well.  I have however had some free time to play with design and have something fun in the works.

I love this Ted Baker dress, from 2010 (can be found on my Pinterest Dresses board), which obviously isn't available anymore so I am working on creating my own.

So last week I pulled out my dress form and draped the basic shape:

And worked on drafting patterns for it last night:

I did have a rather (un)helpful assistant though so it was a much slower process than it should have been.

She kept lying on my patterns, chewing the paper, and running off with my tools.  Little brat.  I told the hubs I might have to buy her a mouse next time I do pattern making to keep her preoccupied because the dogs weren't helping keep her entertained.

Anyway, the dress is ready to be sewn up so now I need to brave the fabric stores to find the perfect fabric..... or maybe I have something wonderful in my stockpile that I can use.... the hunt is on!

Just a short post today but didn't want everyone to think I have been slacking!

One of My Fashion Icons/Major Jacket Envy

I was trying to come up with a list of who I believe are current style icons, and who I am currently most influenced by.  In past years, my list has included Angelina Jolie, Heidi Klum, etc.  The short list that I came up with for right now is: Kate Middleton, Blake Lively, and Victoria Beckham.  There are of course others that I love (Emma Watson and Kerry Washington (Olivia Pope) for example), but those are the 3 that I am most drawn to currently and the ones I see most in the media right now as well.

With the weather dipping as low as the 40's here right now, my thoughts have been turning to one of my very favorite wardrobe staples, jackets.  I don't know what it is about them but I love coats and jackets.  I have a closet in my house dedicated to just those.  I love a classic trench, a perfect peacoat, even athletic jackets, I love them all.  Don't believe me?  Check out my board.  So what does this have to do with my style icons mentioned above???

Kate Middleton has a wonderful collection of jackets!  I found in my creation of my Pinterest board dedicated to her and her classic style, that she has an incredibly enviable collection of coats and jackets.  What does one have to do to be the heir to a Duchess's wardrobe, specifically her outerwear???  If anyone knows, send me the application ;)

Here are a few of my favorites I've seen her in:

The pleated skirt on this is so feminine and beautiful.  Plus the color is great.  It's much more warm and young than the normal greys/blacks/and tans that we usually see (and still love - don't get me wrong).

Then there is this white beauty!  Again, very young, and playful, but still very much a classic.  I love the full skirt, and the double breasted bodice.  And the matching hat is totally icing on the cake.  And it's timeless... Can't you imagine Jackie-O in this?  I totally can.

And finally plaid!  I love a good plaid.  Also, again with the matching hat!  I love it all.

I am sure that when you are a Duchess, you get stylist to go along with the roll you play and whoever is helping to dress the Duchess of Cambridge is doing a fantastic job.  She looks polished at every event and outing that she attends.  She has developed a signature style and is always classy.  Her wardrobe is enviable and so is the job of whoever styles or shops for her (again, can I get another application for that???)

I could post so many more pictures of her lovely frocks, specifically in the cold weather, outerwear department but I won't make you scroll for 6 pages to do that.

But speaking of Kate Middleton and paper dolls (one of last weeks posts), there are of course paper dolls of this modern royal (as well as many historical ones as well).  That may be the best way to get her wardrobe in your home.... I may have some shopping to do: on Amazon.

If I could only own one jacket right now.... let's rephrase this into a more pleasant scenario.... If I could only buy one jacket this year.... much better... I think it would have to be this one below:

I have no idea the brand of jacket or where to find it.  I originally found it on my IBFF where it was pinned on another bloggers site: April W.  I think this jacket is stunning!  I love the structure at the shoulders.  I love the pleats.  I love the buckles on the wrist.  And of course I love the bow on the back.  I feel like this jacket would be a catch all.  You could wear it with jeans and a tee up all the way up to a gown for an event.  It is beautiful and versatile.  Since I don't know who created this or where to get it, in my future free time I may have to recreate this.  I would probably change the color.  Not sure to what.  Perhaps a charcoal or a nice tweed, but all of that will be decided at a later date.  I am definitely going to keep my eyes open for the perfect fabric for this.

If anyone knows more details on this particular coat, please share the info!  I would love to know where it comes from.

Sorry this post seems to be all over the place.  I apparently and suffering from some form of ADD today and can't stay on one subject.  I tried to tie everything together but it is a bit random.

Too Old for Paper-dolls???

Now that the weather is starting to change, I am realizing that we are getting close to Christmas.  That is a scary thought.  Especially if you, like me, like to try and DIY some or all of your gifts.

I decided that for my niece I want to make her her own paper dolls (if you know her, keep this on the down low, obviously).  She is 8 and loves to play dress up so I thought this would be a fun activity for her and would be portable for times and places she can't actually dress up.  So, to get some inspiration on how to put this together, I turned to my IBFF (internet BFF), Pinterest.  While my good friend didn't give me as much inspiration on putting this project together as I had hoped, I did manage to distract myself and find paper dolls that made me want to go back to playing with one of my childhood pastimes.

The first one that got me excited was the Louis Vuitton Paper Doll collection featured on Refinery29 (can be found here).  I couldn't get my computer to download these, but I think they would be cool to frame in my sewing room (or cut out and play with should the mood strike):

I love the use of watercolor on the clothes.  I think it gives a cool effect.

The next one that I was excited about was done by another blogger, Stardustsoul.  I hope she won't mind me sharing these with you but I think she did a fantastic job.  Check out her page and her beautiful paper doll here. 

Stardustsouls is more like what I have in mind for my niece.

The thing I'm having a hard time deciding is if my doll should be an actual photo of my niece so that there is no doubt that her doll is her, or if I should sketch a croquis to look like her.  My debate is this: If I use a photo, will it be weird that the clothes are pen and ink renderings instead of "real" clothes, since the picture will be real? and if I sketch her, I'm worried I won't be able to pull off a good enough resemblance.  I haven't done many (if any) children fashion sketches before so I view it as a bit of a challenge.  Any advice?  Anyone? (Bueller?.... Bueller?)

I remember being a kid and loving to flip through the paper doll books at Barnes and Noble.  I never got many, but I sure loved to look at the clothes.  I had the Samantha American Girl set that I played with at my Grandmas.

Don't you think it would be cool to have a personalized one when you were a kid?  I hope she'll like it as much as I would have when I was a kid.

I, of course, ended up creating a Pinterest board of some of the fave paper dolls that I found as well.  Check it out: http://www.pinterest.com/UntradFashion/paper-dolls/

What Would Your Basic Wardrobe Be?

I've been on a (mostly mental) kick this year to clean and downsize everything in my house.  While I have been successful in some fields and have thrown away quite a bit and organized my basement, bathroom, craft room, linen closet, etc., I have not been very successful in downsizing my wardrobe.  I have posted about cleaning out my closet before and I did get rid of a lot then, and I regularly am pulling pieces from my wardrobe that don't fit how they should anymore, or that I never wear, but I really need to do a wardrobe overhaul.

To give you an idea of what I mean, I only have to do laundry about once a month.  And that is only because I run out of clean socks and underwear.  My dresser and closet are still bursting at the seams at that point.  I obviously don't need as many clothes as I have.  So, I have been asking myself a lot lately, what would constitute as a basic wardrobe for a woman?  There are so many factors that make this a difficult question to answer.  Especially for someone like myself that has mixed working environments (warehouse and business dress standards), lives in an area with varied seasons (snow half the year and hot, hot, hot the other half).  Those 4 differences alone mean that my wardrobe needs to be at least twice as big as the average Jane that has a more consistent work environment and lives in a steady climate.  So what does a gal need and when does it become too much?

I scoured Pinterest for advice and inspiration and that definitely did not narrow down the options too much.  There are boards for as many different circumstances as you can image: Fall/Winter Wardrobe, Spring/Summer Wardrobe, The Audrey Hepburn Wardrobe, The "Basic" Wardrobe (of which there are dozens of different pins/solutions), 12-14 Essential Pieces, 50 Classics for your Closet, The French Wardrobe, Wardrobe Staples, and the list goes on, and on, and on, and on, and you get the point.

After pinning and searching Pinterest for an undisclosed amount of time, I decided I should just make my own Wardrobe Essentials list and turned to Polyvore to make a photo guide for this.  The problem I encountered here, is that I had specific pieces in mind but had a hard time finding photos that matched the images I had in my head so that didn't prove to be as helpful of a solution as I had hoped but I did come up with a very minimal wardrobe guide:

Like I said, very minimal.  But in all honesty, you could get by with even less than this.  I however, don't know if I can cut my wardrobe down that far.  I was thinking I'd cut down to 5's, 10's, and 20's of each category with some combinations.  20 bottoms.  20 casual tops/sweaters.  10 work/formal tops. 10 shoes. 5 dresses.  5 jackets.  Etc.  I don't even know if I can cut it down that far!  This is going to be a real challenge but I am super excited to have a closet that I can find things in.  How great would it be to pull something out of the drawer every day and not debate about whether or not I felt like wearing it?  You should be excited about every piece of clothing you have.  If you are hesitant, and don't need it (i.e., work uniform) get rid of it.

I'm at the age where I want to narrow down and develop a classic wardrobe of quality pieces that will last me through the years.  No more impulse Forever21 purchases (be strong girl!), more quality (natural) fibers and less synthetics (except in exercise wear, swimwear, etc).

What would (or does if you are ahead of the game) your basic wardrobe look like?  Do you have a signature style?  How many pieces of your wardrobe are actually essential and what's extra?  What piece/pieces can you not live without?

Pictures and progress updates to come....

Be sure to follow me on Polyvore, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram :)  Username for most is: AnUntraditionalFashionista.  The only exception is Pinterest: UntradFashion (they limit the character amount for names).

Project Tuesday

I decided several months ago that I wanted to recreate some of the things that I find on Pinterest and love but either can't afford, or are old seasons so can't find to buy anywhere.  I even bought fabric to start on some of the projects (back in April).  I finally got started on one of them.

I have been in love with the Boston Proper shirt since I first saw it on Pinterest:

Unfortunately, it must be an old season shirt because I couldn't find it anywhere on their site.  But I've been mildly obsessed with this shirt.  So, I decided I would make my own.

Finding a similar fabric was the hardest part of this project.  I love the cut out patterns and embroidery on this one.  I looked everywhere and even looked at curtains and table clothes (channeling Gone With The Wind), but still couldn't find anything that I loved.  I did eventually find an eyelet that I thought would work.

So, I pulled out my sewing and pattern making supplies and went to town making a pattern:

My favorite tool in the world!  My iron.  j/k BTW.  I've had this iron for two years and have only used it once for a craft project.  I hate ironing clothes, but an iron is essential when sewing.  It's so important to press seams as you go.

Drafting my pattern.  I forgot how much I really do enjoy pattern making.  I wanted to just make patterns all night long.

Fabric all cut out and ready to sew.  At this point in time though, I didn't have any white thread so things got put on hold until I went and bought some.

Then last night I got it all sewn together.  Unfortunately, I don't love the end result, so I have it on my dress form and am working on figuring out how to change it so I like it better.  I added a ribbon at the bust and I do like that but overall I'm not in love with the shirt.  I think I'm going to cut out some of the circles (that you can't really see in the pictures) in the eyelet pattern and see if that helps any.  But I think the big problem is the fabric choice.  The eyelet doesn't drape and is more stiff than the Boston Proper shirt.  I'll keep playing with it though and see what I can do to make it better.

Accessories, Accessories, Accessories

I've wanted to talk about accessories since day 1 but haven't quite known where to start.  I've taken a little time to think about it and am going to wing it so hopefully I manage to get the point across how I intend.

Most people know that accessories can make or break and outfit and can take you from "blah" to "wow" but accessorizing can be a lot harder than it seems like it should be.  I mean, all you have to do is throw on a necklace, a hat, shoes, something right?  What's so hard about that?

Well, there are a lot of things to think about.  What's the occasion?  What look are you going for?  Do your accessories match the style of your outfit?  How to combine prints and colors?  Etc.  But really, accessorizing isn't as hard as we make it out to be.

Start with your outfit.  Now, where are you going?

Work?  Wear practical shoes, either heel or flat, just something you are comfortable in and is appropriate for your work.  Good accessories for work are cardigans or blazers.  Keep jewelry keyed down for work.  Some good work outfits and accessory examples are:

Accessory wise, there isn't much to this outfit.  A simple cardigan, black heels, a belt, and a watch.  Easy.  But still a fun outfit.

I love this outfit.  Love the sharp lines on the blazer.  Simple necklace, bracelets, watch, belt, clutch.  Again, not too much to it right?

I could post dozens of examples for work but I think you can get the idea.  For work, keep it classy, keep it simple.

Date night is a little more fun.  You can use more accessories, brighter colors, just have more fun with it in general.  You still don't want to overdo it but you have a little more flexibility.

This outfit is fun for a casual date.  A statement necklace and a belt.  Super easy.

I love this outfit.  I could go from work to a night out pretty easily.  Work with a blazer and probably some different shoes. Date night, lose the blazer, sexy shoes.  Super easy.  You could add a necklace or some earrings.  Easy to put together and looking hot!

Summer casual?  Hanging out, shopping, going to the beach, luncheons, etc.

Simple eyelet dress is amped up with a belt, bracelets, a hat, simple jewelry.  Very cute.

Blazer, belt, bracelets, shoes.  Effortless but very polished and put together.

Accessorizing is easy, takes little time, but makes a huge difference.  Just keep colors, patterns, and proportions in mind.  Don't mix big, loud prints with more big, loud prints.  Aim for solids or simple prints instead (and yes, it is OK to mix prints with prints within reason).

Still not sold on accessories completely changing the look of an outfit?  Check out The Uniform Project (http://www.theuniformproject.com/year1/home/monthly/June.html).  A woman wears the same dress every day for a year and just styles it differently every day.  Some of her outfits are interesting to say the least, but it goes to show how differently you can make the same thing look depending on what you pair it with.  Here's an example of 10 days worth of her outfits:

I am sure I will do more posts on accessories in the future (I already am planning one dedicated to scarves), but I think this is a good, basic overview of accessories and the effect they can have.  Have fun accessorizing, but also keep it simple.  It's very easy to over accessorize and that can make you look like a little kid playing dress up (or worse, like a cheap hooker - that may have more to do with makeup than anything else but accessories can get you there too).

Side note, I pulled all my example pictures from Pinterest.  I generally try to search the pins back to their original source so I can give credit where credit is due, but I didn't have time for that today so I apologize for that and if anyone knows the source of the above photos, feel free to leave that info in a comment below.  I'll do my best to avoid doing this in the future.

"A woman makes an outfit her own with accessories." Oscar de la Renta

One last thing, Banana Republic is doing a giveaway right now.  You can win a $1000 gift card there, a 2 night trip to one of two locations, and a Fiat 500.  Enter here: http://on.fb.me/13qpRRI.  You can enter every day this month so be sure to enter daily :)

What/Who Is An Untraditional Fashionista?

I am perhaps a bit of an oxymoron.  I don't consider myself a fashionista in the literal sense.  I don't follow fashion religiously.  I don't spend hours upon hours at the mall or flipping through fashion magazines.  I can't look at a garment and tell you who the designer is off hand (most of the time anyway).  I don't get a new wardrobe every season to keep up with the current trends.  I don't own any designer clothing.  I don't subscribe to WWD (Womens Wear Daily).  I pretty much always wear jeans and a tee shirt and hardly ever do my hair and even less often do I wear makeup.

So why do I consider myself a fashionista at all? 

That is a good question.  I don't consider myself an authority in the world of fashion at all.  However, I studied fashion in school, have designed collections for about a dozen fashion shows, I've received multiple awards for my designs and pattern making, have quite an extensive wardrobe, worked retail for about a decade, love, love, love textiles, and have a deep appreciation for well made clothing and fine fabrics.  I love the world of fashion and clothing but am not consumed by it.  Thus, I consider myself "An Untraditional Fashionista."

I believe that fashion is everywhere.  Not just in the clothes we wear.  Fashion is life, as cliché as that sounds.  Fashion is in the clothes we wear, in the cars we drive, in the way we decorate our houses, in our appliances, in the pets we own, in how we arrange our desks, in the beauty of flowers and nature.  Fashion is everywhere and fashion is inspired by everything.

In my blog, I don't plan to spend a considerable amount of time on current trends, what top designers are doing, or who wore it best type things.  I may still do those things to some degree but I don't believe that will be the focus of my writings.  I just plan to share what things I love and what inspires me.  I hope to design clothing based off of those things and share those as well.

My thought is that with the world and technology being what it is now, we are surrounded by fashion and resources.  I, like I am sure many, am pretty hooked on Pinterest.  I have multiple boards dedicated to fashion on it.  I have one for wardrobing ideas, one for fashion project tutorials and patterns, and one for clothing and accessories that I see online and just love, not to mention boards for hair, makeup, nails, etc.  If you look at my "Clothing <3" board, you would see that the things I love are not the things I told you I wear.  There are a few reasons for that... mostly that the things I admire and love, aren't the things that are practical to my current lifestyle.  I love classic clothing.  I love tailored, well made suits and dresses.  I love silks and wools.  However, I manage a warehouse.  I have 3 messy, jumpy dogs.  I can't wear skirts and heels to work.  I don't want dogs jumping all over my fresh silk dresses.  I don't have thousands of dollars of disposable income every month to spend on apparel.  Things like that.  Those might sound like excuses and to some degree maybe they are.  But that is the life I lead and who I am.  Maybe one day I will have a life where I can be different than what I am now but that isn't the case now and I am happy with that.  That doesn't mean I don't understand and appreciate clothing construction, design, or fashion any less.  I still like to dress up on weekends or for events.  I have dozens of different shoes.  I have plenty of dresses.  I have nice, quality clothing but those aren't my every day reality.

In short, this is who I am.  I will share with you the things that inspire me, things I appreciate, things I create, etc.  Welcome to my blog :)