Frumpy Chic

I am all for a less "put together" look, but there are days where I feel down-right Frumpy, with a capital F. The other day I wore slippers and jeans to work, no hair do, no make up. I was so ill, and Mr. R, bless his heart said I looked cute... "Frumpy chic". Which led me down the fashion imagination path. Is there such a thing? Would it indeed include slippers and a hoodie? Probably not... But I found some "frumpy chic" looks I thought I'd share.

Kate Hudson in a very layered hippie look I adore it, would have been better with a looser hair style...

Eva Mendes in a dress that would have looked good if she didn't have such a magnificent chest... great print and great heels, bad neckline? The guys behind her still look pleased :)

This is my favorite! I want this dress and the height to be able to wear it! Some one said that it looked like she had two saddle bags on her hips, I think the drape of this dress is grand!

This is Lily Cole, she was a model for Rimmel for a long time and then she was "Scrumpy" in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. She was honestly my first thought when I heard frumpy chic only because I am in love with gypsy hippie fashion and that movie was visually and fashionably amazing and, well... her character's nickname rhymes with frumpy. Any way, I love this dress, loose and flowy and a great print. I would have gone for a different shoe. It really does make all the difference.

This is not the kind of frumpy we were going for. Nicole Kidman in The Hours... stringy hair, flour sack dress, and a cigarette... not chic. (I bet she's even got slippers on)

So what do you think? Can there be a frumpy chic?

When can I call you my own?

I have been recently wondering about how much one has to alter a pattern in order for it to be considered and original design. This brings in to light a great many questions such as: “What exactly are the copy right laws?” “How original am I really?” “Who can really claim rights to the blazer?” and the more nihilistic “Can one really come up with anything NEW?”

I also struggle with the fact that in the fashion industry very few people do it all. Sure on Project Runway you see the designers running around frantically buying fabric, drawing sketches and sewing their little fingers to the bone at all hours of the day and night to make whatever crazy garment the judges can dream up as a challenge, but rarely is this the way it works in the fashion industry. So why is it that I am sitting in my living room trying to do just that? EVERYTHING? From design concept, to pattern creation and mass production. No wonder I’m losing my mind trying to think of something new…

But really what it boils down to is how many variations are there of a basic concept: skirt, pants, or shirts? I mean really, isn’t a blazer still a blazer no matter how big the lapels are or how straight or narrow or how many or what shape of pockets? Garments are essentially all the same. They endeavor to cover the human form in a pleasing and/or utilitarian way. So once the basic shapes are learned garment construction is much like the act of writing. Once one learns to write the alphabet words can be made into any variants on the original 26 letters of the alphabet from Hemingway to Whitman, from Dr. Sues to Shakespeare. In that way once the basic shapes of garments are learned you can make a t-shirt or a ball gown, a suit jacket or a sweater. The combinations may seem endless but I still refuse to buy into the old wives tale that chimps with typewriters could eventually produce Shakespeare. No chimp in my sewing room would ever produce Dior.

Monday Rant....

I have to start the week off with a rant about a certain frustration I found this weekend.

Now you all know my love for Mary Kate and Ashley and their high end line Elizabeth and James. This weekend I came across a video of their appearance on Good Morning America promoting their new line called Olsenboye that is available at JCPenney's. I know... I know... what a name, right? And then... they brought out the models.... it was awful. AWFUL I tell you! I know it is a juniors line, but cripes! it was like a bad day at the lake from when I was fifteen. And what is with the 'boyfriend' clothes? Gertie brought my attention to another article concerning that, but I digress.

Now in the video I watched there was only four outfits and I did find the little blazer to be nice if only in shape. The color really leaves something to be desired and the little crest is a cheap little pin that looked like it was about to fall off...




So I went to do a little research of my own. I drug my hubby to the local mall too see if the line was already available and I had just been living under a rock (which I had..). Low and behold there it was... in all of its teen-agey glory. It was so awful I wanted to cry... bright pink bubble dresses, ripped 'boyfriend' jeans and shorts, faded jean jackets, cropped graphic tees...



All of this from girls, nay, women with more creativity and taste (let us not forget connections also) than I could hope to have in a life time.

Now I know I'm trashing on this line, when honestly this is quite fashionable and accessible to young teen girls. I will say that the shoes were something I would consider wearing...




but they were made by Steve Madden... (cheaters) Now, I just wish they would make an affordable line more accessible to the twenty something women who need to look fashionable at the work place and don't have the nine hundred dollars to be spending on a fitted blazer or three hundred dollars for a cardigan. Give me Elizabeth and James for a fraction of the cost, I guess is what I'm asking. I will even sail the sea of sale racks at my local JCP to do it...



oh MKA... Why have you forsaken me!?!?

Weekends Pt. 2

The weekend before last I started a new method of sewing… Assembly line! I did all the things I would normally do one pattern at a time, for all the patterns I have been planning on making. I wrote down all the notions I needed, picked fabric, cut out the tissue, etc. for all these…



I then started all the ones that needed to be sewn with black thread. Penguin was a huge help…



It has proved very successful as I now have two new shirts and a dress made in just one weekend… Outfit posts to come.

p.s. I have another tutorial I made while finishing up my dress...