Friday, July 23, 2010

Burda Style, or Why Do We Have to See the Previews on the Russian Site?

August Burda Style Magazine formerly known as Burda World of Fashion, affectionately referred to by the  initials,  BWOF should be arriving in our mailboxes before too long.  But long before it arrives we look to the internet for previews.  We used to be able to go to the English site for our previews in English.  As most of you know that's no longer possible.  Instead, the first to post is usually the Russian site.  With the other language sites you can at least read the words even if you don't understand them.  Not so with the Cyrillic alphabet.  They have it up even before the German site has it up.  Finally the French site has their previews up.  With my high school French I can at least understand  some of what's written.  I finally read the note that the English editor wrote and posted on the old English site.  She seemed rather stunned not to be doing it anymore.  I'm still puzzled by all that's happened.  How many English readers do you think are out there?  Certainly more than German I'd think.  Anyway, enough of that and on to patterns.  Lots of people loved the July issue with it's girly, drapey  clothing  Meh.  I am looking for fresh takes on sportswear.  That's what I sew and wear.   What's in the August issue that I like?
I love this leather skirt.  Maybe not the best length for me, but that's easy to fix.  I love the details including the exposed zipper.  This vest is a definite favorite of mine.  I've been looking for a vest with lapels and this fits the bill.  It's not too fitted which makes it work over a sweater in the fall.

 
It's easier to see it in the technical drawing.   I love most of the Plus Collection.
Very elegant and mostly flattering like this lovely camisole.



I've been looking for a good trench pattern with a single breasted lapel.  I can easily add the details I want to this basic  coat.


But now we get to the iffy garments. These pants are certainly trendy and on Burda's version of a plus sized model, even look good.  But on any of us with a stomach?  I don't think so.  
This skirt is not much better.  In fact the whole looks is kind of sloppy.  Not a good look if you have extra pounds. 


 It doesn't hurt that the whole plus group is in my currently favorite gray palette.   With my white hair I find that  grays are really flattering.  I also like the shoulders of this collection.  They work for my narrow shoulders and full bust much better than most other styles. 
What do you think?  Is there anything you just have to make in this issue?

8 comments:

  1. I've also become a fan of grey as I age. It's the new black for me.

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  2. I like gray too and I'm only 24. It goes with everything and isn't as harsh against my pasty white skin (or as the Koreans say, AMAZING BEAUTIFUL WHITE SKIN).

    Agree that the last plus size look is far too sloppy. Forget body type, the last thing you want to come off as is sloppy in the office. Okay, second to last. The first is probably slutty. :-p

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  3. Ah, I'm so sorry for all those who are disappointed with the new Burda site. But then, I'm German. Growing up Burda was one of the big two. The other was "Neue Mode" which is nowhere today. The really exotic stuff were Vogue and Butterick. Most places did not acutally carry the patterns, just the catalogues. If you wanted a pattern you had to fill in a little form with your address. You had to pay the list price! And wait 2-3 weeks till your pattern arrived.
    I knew that Burda had big ideas when they went into Russia like a flash after the end of the cold war. I would not be surprised, if there were more Russian readers than either German or English ones.
    I could not be more surprised when I saw the humble beginnings of burdastyle. That indy vibe, the free patterns... If I thought about it at all, I thought wow, they are trying to tackle the US-market and they're doing an impressive job.
    Strangely enough, since the start of the burdastyle site I have occasionally bought a Burda magazine. Before that I would not have touched it with a bargepole. But I still think, that most of the issues have patterns that derive from a very economic number of basic blocks.
    But Burda being a huge publishing holding, I'm not surprised, they changed their site. Although one still cannot see a reason, why they should make a secret of their technical drawings outside of Russia.

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  4. I guess Burda's Russian office is more efficient than the other ones.

    I agree wholeheartedly with people who like grey better than black. My hair is very dark still (a cold dark brown with a few silver threads) and I like charcoal grey as a basic color. I have a charcoal ring around the other colors in my eyes and charcoal goes with everything IMO.

    I am very curious to see if anyone reviews those two pleated garments - the skirt and the pants. I thought the skirt looked very good in the flat photograph, but not on the model.

    IMO the only "new" pants shape that would look good on a plus size is a pair of very drapey and silky "genie" pants with normal crotch, a waist yoke and worn with high heels that are not too chunky. Something more fitted on top. Sort of luxe boho.

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  5. I have to agree that many of the patterns are retakes on basic blocks. Which is probably why many sewers have become disillusioned with Burda lately. This is apparently true for most of the big pattern companies though too, or we wouldn't be seeing so many 'new' patterns that are only slightly different from last seasons. Vogue may buy the rights to designer clothing, but they draft them on their slopers for the patterns we buy. They post the original designer fashion, but the patterns don't have the same fit as the original. Which of course isn't possible for them. The thing I still like about Burda is the fit, so I guess I like how their basic sloper fits me. It's more economical for me to subscribe to the magazine than to buy single issues, which I used to do when I could go to Borders and get them!

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  6. I now stalk the French Burda site for the magazine previews. I'm very disappointed in the new English Burda site. It doesn't give me any of what I visited the old site for. I like the skirt in the plus offerings, but I'm afraid it might call attention to my belly.

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  7. I agree with you on the plus-sized clothes. I noticed the Russian site has a preview of the Fall/Winter Burda Plus. I have a subscription because they usually have new designs not included in previous BWOF issues. The Fall 2010 issue is going to recycle some designs, though. I'm a bit disappointed about that. But some of the new plus designs look promising.

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  8. Like the patterns you show. Must look into this issue. Sigrid

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