I make no secret of the fact that I love to create. More and more lately, I’ve released myself of any mental shackles that might feel a bit intimidated by a project, and have adopted a, “why not just try it?” approach to my sewing. Given we have had months of isolation behind us and what looks to be many miles of isolated road stretching in front of us, no time like the present to just give things a shot. Segue to my latest sewing project….
Truth be told, I hate the rain. Now, don’t get me wrong – I know we need it. Without rain, life as we know it would pretty much not exist. But, I still can’t help but sigh when I wake up and see grey and gloom outside my window. Rain is not a friend to a suede shoe or an appliqué prone to color bleed. So, in the middle of a two week bought of nothing but grey skies and soggy sidewalks, I decided to turn the weather into inspiration.
This past week was a pretty big one in the Dressed household – Mr. D and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary. This level of togetherness usually involves a fair degree of extra (especially because the Mister and I are no strangers to going ALL out). However, circumstances being what they are, we had to scale the celebrations down several (thousand) notches. But, perhaps that’s the measure of true love – when you’re just as happy with a quiet night in as you are with fireworks and fanfare.
You know the old cliche, the Grass is Always Greener? Well, never is this more true than when peeping at another vintage lover’s wardrobe. No matter how much you love your closet, your eye can’t help but wander to the next wardrobe over and start gawping at the covetable, lush contents within…
As much as I’m a gal who likes to take risks now and then, there are always certain old favorites I come back to. It’s no surprise why, no matter how far I stray, you’ll see me inching back to circle skirts, nipped waists, border prints. I mean, tried and true exists for a reason, and there are a lot of cases where one just shouldn’t mess with perfection. And nothing says perfection like the perfect appliqué skirt…
The USDA recommends eating between five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day as part of a balanced, healthy diet. I don’t know about you guys, but my isolation dietary habits has been pretty shocking of late. I’ve always been someone who tries to eat healthy (I actually crave salad more than sweets. I know, I’m weird). But, all bets are off nowadays, as the only thing on my mind to crave right now is comfort: pasta, cheese, warm glorious homemade bread, and wine (ohhhh the wine). So, while I’m sure the USDA (and my waistline) are looking at…
I grew up in New England, where differentiated seasons abound. This means we plowed through 2 ft snow drifts in winter, melted in the summer heat, and watched the world bloom around us in spring. But, my favorite season was always fall. One of my most vivid childhood memories was always of that first crisp fall weekend, where my family and I would make a trip to the apple orchards to find the most perfect pie-worthy apples to commemorate autumn.
Like most vintage-loving ladies, I have a sewing and tailoring pile that goes up to the sky. If you’ve been collecting vintage for a certain number of years, you come to learn that with great beauty comes great responsibility: a vintage wardrobe requires a lot of care. Ripped seams, unravelling hems. Learning to sew was definitely one of the best skills I ever gained in terms of managing the garments I love so much. But, over time that skill can become a curse, only to turn around one day to find I’ve collected pieces that “just need a little nip…
A lot of my skirt designs have been based off of true vintage pieces that are so swoon-worthy, yet so elusive, I couldn’t wait another minute before making it mine. Occasionally, I will come up with an original design – sparked from my everyday wanderings, an inability to find just what I’m looking for, or based off of some crazy desire for a skirt that lights up. But this latest creation came from an off hand comment from a lovely friend and one of my very favorite handbag companies…
You never know what’s going to draw you to a certain piece. We all have a penchant for something. Some of us swoon for 1940’s shoulders, others for border prints, others for 1970’s flare. Regardless of how you choose to adorn yourself, there will usually be certain things that catch your eye in a garment that instantly make you start to style it about 8 different ways in your head.