Extra roomy

Happy Valentine's day everyone.

If there's any reason to still be sporting the hoody, maybe this is it. 

Pantalaine Sweat-Heart Sweet-Shirt 2004 From McSweeney's 17

15 Point Prescription for a Winning Wardrobe

I met Steve Boorstein, the "Clothing Doctor," in a chance encounter about one week ago, and I am thankful for this new resource for fabric care!  Thanks to his expertise, we have some matter-of-fact advice for how to keep our wardrobe fresh.  I think a lot of us have thought about these points but have not really put most into practice.  Some ideas were new to me, and I look forward to a little purge here and there as well as more realistic shopping choices to keep my closet from literally bursting!


Below, I quote Steve's website, www.clothingdoctor.com, which outlines good planning and care for a winning wardrobe.  I encourage anyone who invests in their wardrobe to go to the site and learn more!  What a resource!

Fashion, personal style, and clothing care are mutually important when building and maintaining a wardrobe. This "Top 15" list will change, over time, but will never stray from the basic premise; we spend too much money on our clothing to not know how to take care of it. I hope you can embrace a few of these suggestions and make them work for you.

1. Every time you buy a new garment, discard or donate an old one.
2. Choose a drycleaner for quality, service, convenience, and price - in that order.
3. Never rub a stain-blot only dab with a dry white napkin.
4. Show your drycleaner all stains, fabric pills, snags, pressing problems, and minor repairs.
5. Buy clothing that fits your current body.
6. Buy clothing that looks great in the store, looks great at home 72 hours later -- and stop buying "maybes."
7. Apply hairspray, perfume and deodorant before you dress -- let it completely dry.
8. When you shop, ask yourself, "Is this fabric well-suited for me and for what I do? Will it wear well? Can this fabric be washed at home or will it need professional drycleaning?"
9. A bargain is only a bargain when quality is part of the package.
10. Before you reach the cash register, hang the garment, spin it around, and spend two minutes to do the 6-Point Quality CheckTM ; zippers, hooks, hems, seams, shoulder pads, and buttons (Always ask for extra buttons!)
11. Remove drycleaning plastic but keep the paper shoulder -- covers on each garment.
12. Use plastic or wooden hangers -- no wire (except on cotton dress shirts).
13. If you wear only 30% of the clothing in your closet, start weeding out the deadbeats. If not worn for 6 months, move it. 12 months retire it.
14. If a garment has been lost by your drycleaner, it should be returned or replaced within three weeks.
15. If a garment is admittedly damaged by the dry cleaner and cannot be repaired to your to your satisfaction, you are entitled to a "like" replacement or a cash settlement within one week.

looking forward to this

This is a preview of a movie about Neapolitan tailoring.  Not quite ready, it is now in the final editing phases.  I'm really looking forward to when I can watch the whole film! 

O'MAST from Kid Dandy on Vimeo.

positive despite the negatives

The high temperature for today was -5 degrees Fahrenheit and the low for tonight is -13.   It's all we can do to keep the work-shop warm.  I'm happy to already have motivation to work because usually when it's this cold, I'd like to stay in a fetal position, wrapped in a very warm blanket.  So, needless to say, I've got enough projects in the pipeline to keep me up and at'em today despite the freezing frigid cold.  ...and I mean SPRING!  Yes, I'm designing and making sample garments for the Spring and plan to show them off to a few retailers here in Denver.  I'm finally taking the proactive approach to designing clothing because I'm putting myself through the learning phases of "entrepreneurial manufacturing for the retail market" and that means, designing for seasons of the future.  I'm probably still behind, but because I'm starting small, I think I'm okay with only being one season ahead of the seasons.  

This tulip dress is one of a few styles.   The feature I'm especially excited about is the pockets.  When a girl goes out in warm weather, she might want a place to stash a few things without carrying a bag (think - "free from baggage").

Here she is!  Medium, 35" bust, 29" waist.   

Emily's yoga jacket

 

Thank you, Emily, for commissioning this purple version of the Urban Yoga jacket.  I had a great time making it especially for you and I hope you enjoy it as much! 

um... no thanks.

If I make dresses that look like this...  maybe someone would have the heart to ask me why.  And then, maybe I'd think twice about it.  At this point in my life designing clothing, I hope both of these possibilities would come to pass, but more so, I hope I never make dresses that look like this.  (One exception:  costume production).

Found this dress on the internet during random browsing...  Yes, this is a style available as a contemporary product.

All I can flatly say is, "wow."

Also, this is the first time on this blog that I am writing with a critical voice.  I'm considering not completing the post.  No, I'll go ahead and publish it as an example of what I don't do.

buying fabric

If buying fabric were easy, my job would be all play!  It's true - buying fabric is kind of agonizing for me...  It's not because I don't love fabric and wouldn't love to have all the fabric I could ever have.  The problem is 2 parts - 1. my budget is tight (tight is good for a lot of things... except my budget) and 2. there are so many choices for fabric out there awesome and awful, and I often feel I have to sift through it ALL before I find the good goods.

I'm happy to say that Pickering International, an eco-friendly and sustainable fabric supplier based out of San Fransisco made my day today!  I've been looking for sustainable and/or organic fabrics since I won the grant for $500 I said I would spend on said fabrics.... and it's been a journey.  Learning about the fabric - from bamboo, recycled plastic, hemp, organic cotton, etc. etc. has been awesome and I'm even more inspired to use the fabrics I want to use!  Finding a good supplier of these fabrics (there aren't many) was challenging, but Pickering meets my expectations and more with some beautiful fabric choices.

So, my budget is amplified by a nice grant from YES PLEASE MORE AND I've got 2 handfuls of gorgeous fabric choices!  How great to avoid sifting through too many choices of not enough quality and to be more easily able to purchase what I need! 
Yahoo!

p.s. these photos are fabric swatch images from Pickering International, Inc.'s website.  Top:  hemp/organic cotton Indigo denim, Middle: hemp/silk charmeuse, Bottom: soybean & organic cotton blend jersey