Monday, July 27, 2009

Burda, Formerly Known as Burda World of Fashion

August Burda arrived today and I am underwhelmed. The added crafts have been the topic of discussion on several blogs. 16 pages of crafts, most of them rather tacky at that. Some are embellishing rtw pieces some of them are home decor and one page is 'use up those scraps" in some not very creative, contrary to their caption, DIY Fabric Accessories and they have it on page 6. My least favorite 'fashion' crafting is on page 21, the 'Flutter Effect" Fake leather fringed and attached to a rtw tee shirt, a scarf and a pair of boots. If I wanted craft projects there are a lot of magazines out there that already offer them and do it a lot better than Burda. I won't even discuss their strange tea party crafts.
As for the clothes, well I am not particularly enamored of them either. It's even harder to see them and we can't even go on line and see a different view as they've discontinued that.
I hate that it's usually only one garment in an outfit that has a pattern and it usually isn't the piece I like! I have over 10 years of Burda magazines and I have never in all those years done any of the crafts. They've changed the magazine a lot, but strangely they have left the carnival costumes and next month the annual Alpine Folk Style! yet again. Does anyone make anything from either of these costuming sections? I certainly haven't. We also have 'DIY trendy DIY folklore accessories to look forward to next month. I am due for renewal and I think that I will only pay for 6 months and see what happens.
Feel free to express your opinion on the new Burda. Rant if you want to, and if you disagree with me that's ok too.

On the sewing front, I finished a dress before we went away and when I get photos of it I'll post a review. Yes. I made a dress. I really like the ease of it. Of course it's kind of hard to wear a dress when I am out working, but I also work at home without ac, so a cool easy dress is just the ticket.
I made this Vogue Tom and Linda Platt design.


Seth doesn't love it, but I do.

14 comments:

  1. Nancy, I made that dress too. I haven't photographed it yet. It is the most comfortable little dress I own!

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  2. You know already how I feel about BWOF, aweful direction they're taking. The dress looks so comfortable, share pictures soon.

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  3. I really like this issue, except for the crafts. They don't even do this well, so why are they bothering? Teacups dripped with paint? Oy,,,,,,

    I like the jackets although everything seems a little too trendy for me to put my personal efforts into. That trench with the cape-y type epaulates and flounce hem is just awful, IMHO. The little cape jacket with the tie, on the other hand, I think is fabulous. Would I make it? No, too trendy. I guess if there is anything in this issue I would make it would be the soft lovely blouses. My 2Cents.

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  4. Love the dress,please post pictures.
    My BWOF arrived today also. I love the soft flouncy blouse and the pea coat. But that is it. The tea set crafty ideas....um...nope. So far I have back issues of BWOF that I will be using for my coat/jacket inspirations this fall,and a vintage coat pattern .....so far I am a little disappointed with my first subscription to BWOF.

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  5. I haven't got the August issue yet but I won't be interested in the crafts. And I wasn't so keen on the last two months either...sigh.

    Love that vogue dress - looks very cool for a hot day. Actually I am starting to like the look of Vogues more and more.

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  6. STOP STOP STOP stop showing me patterns that I adore. There is only so much time to sew...but I will definitely squeeze in that dress.

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  7. I can't help but throw in my cents here.
    To me, your opinion as you've expressed it today, is (and I mean that in the most respectful way possible to you personally) a typical example of American Big Babies' Ignorance. [That’s not my term but the description in an American author’s book; can’t think of the name, but if pressed I could come back to you on that]
    As I am sure you are aware, I would like to remind you that Burda (spoken, btw, "booh’r-daah," not "burr-duh", as in Miss Aenne Burda of Germany, whose story is an interesting one in itself- check it out) is a magazine originating from 1950ies (=post-war) Germany and it is, to this day, still a German magazine which is simply translated (just about word for word, mind you) into English (and about a dozen other languages) for English speaking consumers.
    Bearing this in mind, you will understand that the editors, who are Germans working in Germany, are foremost trying to cater to German tastes and German seasonal events. This means European fashions (the subscription for which y’all are willing to pay $$), but also costumes for "Fasching" which is a religiously based fest before lint (Feb/Mar), and, as you put it, Alpine Folk Style in Aug/Sep for the Munich Oktoberfest (another tradition, limited to the Southern part of Germany, i.e. Bavaria, but there a big deal).
    As commercialism (and many American residents living there) will have it, in recent years Halloween has made its way into the German business market. Which probably accounts for the re-hashed Fasching’s costumes in early fall with added Pumpkin and orange/black theme.
    Sewing your children’s (and your own) costume for Fasching is somewhat of a tradition in many German families (Isn’t that nice, from a sewer’s perspective? And so much cooler than the plastic-fantastic store-bought stuff), and the same probably goes for the Dirndl which is worn on the “Wies’n” during Oktoberfest.
    So your request to cut out those costumes and Alpine Folk Style patterns in Burda is alike to asking an American company to cut out the Pumpkin Halloween stuff, the Western style shirts (yeehaah!) and the tacky, tasteless prom dresses (from a humble European view, perhaps?) which are so popular in the US. Make sense?
    Now, I do realize that many Americans - usually the one’s who have never been outside their borders, are oblivious to the fact of different cultures and traditions (a deeper discussion of the results and consequences thereof could be discussed elsewhere). But maybe if you tried to keep in mind the origin of this magazine you would not be as upset about the patterns you don’t like.
    And if you can’t look beyond them, there’s always the letter to the editor and, if all else fails, cancel your subscription and sew good old American patterns from “the big four,” which, btw, often release patterns that are less than thrilling.
    From my personal experience I can tell you that I sigh wistfully whenever the fall/winter patterns are being released, being that I live in a climate where there’s about 340 days of sun, temps around 100, and winter never really kicks in save for a few brisk days. Hence I have little use for coats, jackets, tweedy trousers and turtle necks.
    I hope I did not rant too much. Just wanted to offer a different (my) perspective. Cheers!
    Ariana

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  9. Hmm, quite the comment above! Welcome to the world of blogging, Nancy.

    I got my Booh’r-daah Style on Saturday and while I saw several attractive things there's nothing I'm chomping at the bit to make. I'm sure I'll revisit this issue in a month when I'm more in the mood for fall sewing.

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  10. Mea culpa! You are right, I do forget that Burda is a German publication and that its perspective is very different than my American viewpoint.

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  11. I like a bunch of the clothing patterns in the magazine but, like you, none of the crafts. My favorite (not) of the crafting is the pile of crocks with paint all over them. Well, hot damn, I can make something that looks like that!!! I must be an artist. I still like my Booh'r-daah (smirk) but I really hope they put in less crafty crap.

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  12. Yuck Yuck. It's why I get annoyed when half of the 'blog of the day' blogs are craft blogs. Boring. On the other hand, I love it when they do travel blogs...

    I'm sorry your Burda is letting you down I know how much you used to enjoy it.

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  13. "Annual Alpine Folk Style"? Ahem. It´s a German magazine. Germany has something to do with alpine folk style, doesn´t it?
    I think that whether one likes or disklikes the direction Burda is going is a matter of demographics; I´m 25 and German and love the new issue. Okay, the craft is stupid- but Burda always had craft topics. Until the 1980s they had recipes, household tips and short stories in it, too. The 1960s issues even featured sections (sometimes over ten pages) with store-bought clothing! Actually I found this to be the most sewing-focused issue in the magazine´s 50 years spanning history. But I understand that the turn the pattern design has taken might disappoint a less trendy sewer.
    Hanna

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  14. I was underwhelmed by this one, but I was already prepared for that when I saw the previews. The craft sections seem to be more extra than anything, sense there is just as many patterns in there so that doesn't bother me. No - I don't plan on making any of them though, either.

    Maybe enough feedback like this will have them reconsider this new direction.

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