Tuesday, October 6, 2009

What I like, the new Vogue Patterns

There have been plenty of negative comments about the new Vogue patterns, and some of it is definitely justified, but there were some good things too. I like how Vogue patterns are drafted. I used to sew them almost exclusively, and made a ton of designer patterns back in the 80's. I remember fondly my Karl Lagerfeld black silk sheath dress, an Emanual Ungaro dress in a gorgeous wool challis (the moths got to this one), a Geoffrey Beene jacket that I wore to death, a Bill Blass black and white linen sheath that was gorgeous. Do I have them? No, I am not a saver, though I really regret having letting these go. I made Anne Klein, and Issey Miyake. I made a Calvin Klein suit for my son's Bar Mitzvah from Calvin Klein fabric that I found at the now gone Trebor Fabrics. I made non designer things too, but these stick in my mind more vividly, probably because I remember where I wore them. I still make Vogue patterns, but I discovered Burda World of Fashion about 10 years ago and fell in love. There are also more independent pattern companies these days, and I am a big fan of Hot Patterns.
Back to Vogue. The Cynthia Steffe dresses appeal to me, the black one in particular would fit me, as long as I add a few inches.

V1150
I like exposed zippers, but for this I'd probably buy a Riri zipper with the satin tape and skip the fake leather trim. It definitely needs a few inches for my body!

V1142
If you remove that drape the pants are a very nice cut, but the drape? Not so good. BWOF had a pair of pants like this a few months ago and was similarly slammed. The blouse I really like. It's different but wearable as long as it's made in the recommended fabrics.

V133

This is not a dress for my lifestyle, or even my figure, but it is very current with those shoulders and I think that for some women it will be very flattering.

V8618
I cannot resist one slam. I am not a big fan Marcy Tilton's mixed fabric or decorated clothing. My aesthetic is more minimal and structured. This is just a mess. Dropped shouldered tops are so unbecoming on anyone who has narrow shoulders or a large bust. Sure they are easy to fit, but all that extra fabric at bust level just adds pounds. If you are thin it hides your body and adds pounds too. Who want to look bigger anyway?

Will I buy any of these? Maybe at the next sale, but I have a lot of patterns to work my way through first. I've finally altered and fit all my patterns for the Wardrobe contest. I know that I am a bit behind, but with all the patterns fitted, the sewing should move along nicely. I need to finish cleaning up my cutting table; tracing and altering a lot of patterns creates a huge amount of paper scraps!

7 comments:

  1. I like that Cynthia Steffe pattern too. I agree that you would definitely need to splurge on a fancy zipper on a piece like that where the zipper is a fashion detail and not just a function thingy.

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  2. I am all over the Guy Laroche dress...

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  3. I like the Cynthia Steffe pattern as well. And a couple other ones. As usual, it's a mixed bag. They can't please everyone :)

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  4. Have you looked at the line drawing of V1143 by Guyh Larouche? If that jacket were in an issue of BWOF--people would be drooling all over it.

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  5. I don't mind the drape on the Issey Miyake pants but prefer the cut of BWOF version. That blouse is rather nice, but I don't think I need a pattern for it. other than the Guy Larouch dress, most of it is just underwhelming.

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  6. I actually missed the Cynthia Steffe dress but I do like it, and the Guy Laroche 1143 jacket as well.
    I will also be buying the 2 new Chado Ralph Rucci patterns because I fell in love with his first ones so I'll continue collecting them :)

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  7. I just bought a Cynthia Steffe dress pattern V1151 and it is just amazing. It's my first project, and if successful (currently making the dress), I might by the V1150 too! looks just amazing!

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