Sometimes Its Just the Shapes

The shapes of the clothes, that is. Instead of the shape of my body. I loved the shapes this tunic and these britches made, and how it was only tangentially related to 'my' shape. I only realized late in the afternoon that this outfit echoed the suits ladies wear in northern India. How feminine and ornamental those outfits are, how spare and worn out this one is! You know i'm the last woman who could resist pairing an ultra-feminine idea with an antique, ruggedly utilitarian one. Needless to say, i enjoyed wearing this look a lot!

Even more fun to pair beat up, oversized jeans with ladylike patent leather heels, pearls and hat. Where did i acquire this love of the perversely contradictory? I can only say it goes back as far as i can remember. It's no use fighting it!

I've been putting a fair amount of time into planning and sewing these days. After the wee spell of disorientation i referred to in my last post, i'm experiencing a feeling of, well - being oriented! I have a grasp of what i require to get dressed for my life in a smooth, enjoyable way. My closet is resolving into understandable categories. Some are more populated than others, but i have concrete pictures of what i need in order to bridge any gaps. Vague concepts about 'well-edited, functional wardrobe' are starting to come into focus as particular garments.

It's taken a fair amount of thinking, experimenting, and researching to get to this point. And who knows how long it may last! But taking the leap of developing a real functioning wardrobe for your own unique life, body, mind, and heart goes so much further than just buying a couple of 'top ten lists' and leaving it at that. It's a lot more intellectually challenging, for one thing. Even more challenging, you have to be honest with yourself about where you are, what you do, what you will commit to, your own resources, what works with your own body......the opposite of what the fashion industry sells us, come to think of it. "Buy this gee-gaw and be a different person, if only for a little while....."

Along those lines, i've cut out my first Sorbetto top. Wow! Here you see it pinned up, with a little strip of cream crepe de chine under one side of the center pleat (i'm trying to decide if i want to do that all down both sides of the pleat or just leave it plain). This is only very slightly altered from my suggested size cut out from the original pattern sizing. Really cute! Also comfy, and the slight a-line cut means no zips or buttons, just slide it over your head. Easy! When finished the top will have cream bias trim on the neckline and around the armholes.

If the material looks familiar, it's because i cannibalized a skirt i made a couple of years ago. I loved the skirt pattern, i love the print - but i just never wore the completed garment. Maybe the fabric was a little stiff? I kept the skirt in the bottom of the hamper and threw it in the washer every couple of weeks to soften it up, but still - nothing. Happily, the Sorbetto takes so little fabric i cut it out of the skirt without even needing to piece it. Yow! Yesterday i bought some cotton lawn to make another Sorbetto - with sleeves.

And yes, i've been living in these jeans. You know when you just are feeling one garment so much? How nothing else you put on is right?  It's wonderful to be in that type of thrall, well.........at least for the person in-thralled. The non-thralled? Maybe not so much. Which is why i'll be wearing something different next post. I promise.