Sewing Resolutions

I made a couple of sewing resolutions this year in an attempt to curb my rampant fabric spending and improve the quality of my pieces. Mostly, these are little things like only sewing bound button holes or, on sheer pieces, loop closures for buttons (preferably fabric-covered) and hand-finishing everything, also known as not being lazy and resorting to the machine for hems.

Love the colours!

There is, however, a big one I'm working on: a (somewhat seasonal and activity-based) capsule wardrobe. Chanel spoke about two suits being all you need, and while I like to consider myself as adhering to her style philosophy, I'm really not. So this year, I'm working on a plan to control my wardrobe and fabric spending. I find that as I'm getting older and settling into work, what I want is not more clothes, but simpler ones that can go with each other and with everything else.

Pleats, I can't handle it

Of course there's a trench

I'm drawing inspiration from several places: this article from Fashionising is a look into the road fashion has been taking since the GFC, when everyone started curbing their spending and opted for quality over quantity. I remember reading an article in Elle UK (my absolute favourite fashion mag after Burda Style) when I was in London a couple of years ago about this same idea.

I love the drape

The Vivienne Files is an amazing blog about capsule wardrobes and creating them around colours and what suits each individual. Vivienne puts together the most amazing capsules using Polyvore and her ideas are so inspiring. I love her use of colour and her take on the 'classics' and how to adapt them for yourself.

This dress and...

A couple of years ago I bought the book Dress For Success by Edith Head, the most amazing Hollywood costume designer who worked from the 20's to the late 70's and won 8 Academy Awards for her work. Next time you watch a movie from the 60's and love the costumes of, most likely she designed them. The book itself shows its age, particularly when talking about finding a husband, but it has some incredibly useful features, such as sample wardrobes and THE colour chart of all colour charts. Edith talks about how to plan your own wardrobe, starting with looking at what you do.

... the matching coat

The Erdem Pre-Fall 2012 collection is another inspiration for me. It looks like a capsule collection on it's own. The way the prints and colours work together are genius, and I love that you can mix and match virtually every piece in the collection.

So this is the beginning of my plan, looking at these sources of inspiration and plotting out the who what when where and why of myself and how I dress. Wish me luck!