Happy New Year everyone! Not that many people read this, but it’s nice to assume one has a bit of an audience sometimes 🙂
I haven’t been up to very much lately. Snowy days at work (with minimal to no attendance from colleagues) have made my days incredibly boring, and so I end up lacking energy at night. When you’ve been sitting on your bottom all day doing non-creative things, it’s difficult to wake up from the daze and get cracking with things. So I haven’t really made anything since… well, since finishing the Marilyn dress before the holidays.
I am already plotting upcoming things. There is a white / pink / black shift dress that I’m going to make (I already have the fabric, just need to find the time to make it) I’ve also done a bit of a wardrobe cleanout (only a tiny bit) and in the process gotten rid of my only red dress (non-evening). So I’ll be looking to replace it with one of my creations, probably in red cotton jersey. I also want to make something bouffant at the bottom and drapey at the top with a corset-like waist, again in cotton jersey (probably with another fabric, internally, for support).
And of course there’s all of those trousers and skirts that I have to figure out how to shrink! I tried with one pair of trousers, and even though it seems I got the principle right (it shrunk all right) I got the measurements wrong, and now have to cut open the seam and do it again. No big deal, as I did it first tentatively by hand, and this was meant to be a test. But it’ll be good to know if I can manage to make them all fit the smaller me, as that would be a substantial saving on the wardrobe spend.
Speaking of savings. I have to give amazing credit to the fabulous (if tiny) Woking Hospice Charity Shop where I invariably stop to look at the prettily decorated windows, and often go in to peek at the new donations being sold on to a better future. I walked in one lunchtime in early 2010 and came out with 4 amazing items!! One beautiful pencil skirt in gorgeous soft & thick leather, a pinstripe work dress with short sleeves (BNWT), a wraparound top (abstract blue & black roses on a white background) from HOBBs, and a multicolour cotton jersey dress probably from something similar to Jordi Labanda. All of these for £35!! I’m still hopping around with excitement! And I’ve already gotten several compliments on the leather pencil skirt (the perennial naughty-but-nice item).
As for the London sales… I went around, but I can’t afford to spend anything on designer things. See, 50% off £800 is still £400! I’m interested from 75% off onwards, with 90% being a favourite. And even then, I can’t afford soooo many things! And you were wondering why I sew! It’s because I can afford to have funkier more detailed (or simpler) things for a lot less. And they’re exactly what I want. Anyway, the one purchase that I am incredibly happy about is a purple cardigan I got at Anthropologie. It’s a fairly new store, and I fell in love with it on the first visit. Beautiful things, every last one of them. Not always worth the price tag, but that’s what the sales are for! A 100% Wool cardigan with frills on the front, poofy pockets and a slight tailcoat-inspired back that cost £118, I took home for £30!!! And it’s SO beautiful! I’d be itching to go back and get me one in black also, but then I’d have 2 identical ones in 2 colours and that’s just silly, right? (someone has _got_ to say “no” here!)
Well, that’s it for the update. I’m trying to find time to shrink trousers (as I don’t own a single work-worthy pair that fits anymore), find time to make that pretty shift dress in white/black/pink, and decide what shape I might want to give to the red dress I’ll make. Still only at sketching stage in my notebook! But as a Vogue subscription was part of my xmas present (to myself), I’m looking forward to getting more and more ideas. First stop, king of reds, a glimpse of Valentino’s collections of the past decade. Wonder if I’ll find something there! *GRIN*
As for 2010, I wish that it may dress you in luxury. And I do not mean furs and silks and leather if you don’t care for those (or perhaps care too much). But anything that you wish you could afford, but right now cannot. I hope that you can find a way to make it yourself, get it from a friend who no longer needs it, or buy it at a charity shop. Don’t forget those!! I’ll be donating lots of clothes now that I’ve gone down a couple of sizes, and there’s plenty of people doing the same (whether going up or down…) So go on, have fun with needles, threads and friends. Luxury isn’t to be had only at Harrod’s or Selfridges’! Well… except for Ladurée macaroons, that is!
Brightest blessings to all, and to all a good year!
