Australian winter... makes us dressed our best!

In St.-Petersburg in Russia where I came from we used to say: "summer was hot and dry. It's a pity I was working that day". Here in Brisbane we can say: "winter was really nasty, and it took the whole weekend!"

Australian winter allows us to dress our best, to take out suits, jackets, even boots and coats... sometimes. And I think this is really great.

Not bad look, I think. What we have here:
-flowery top from H&M, $20
-pants from Cotton On, $15 (special)
-booties from Ecco, $100 (approx., I don't remember)
-JACKET made by myself

This is not a regular jacket. I made it when I studied Haute Couture sewing techniques  It was a Chanel-type jacket course and it was taught by a New York fashion designer Yana Brink (Yana Brink).

Soft fall of the fabric is the main idea
of hand sewing 

Fabric is an Italian mixed one, wool + silk, and it is absolutely gorgeous to touch.
Pattern has been draped on a mannequin.
A lot of hand sewing, it is Haute Couture! 
Buttonholes were made by hand, of course.
The main idea of hand sewing is softness, tenderness, free falling of the fabric.

The more I look the more I fall in love

The details are not the details. They make the design.

                                               Charles James

Charles James is one of the brilliant world-known fashion designer of the previous century. British born, he is known as "America's First Couturier".

He is a true master of cutting and making the details really important. 

  

This photo was published in WMagazine in 2011. 

Sewing starts with...

 Sewing starts with the proper fabric.

I prefer natural fibre almost always, except some special occasions.
But for everyday wear and everyday comfort natural origin of your material is essential. 

 Everyday garment shouldn’t look plain and simple. Let's use print of the fabric, try some geometric and free forms, add lace of the same colour...

And don't hesitate to put your jacket into the washing machine - cotton lace is OK with washing, if it had passed pre-sewing preparations.

 No symmetry here.
Non-symmetrical hemline and neckline. And embellishments as well... Wait! At least sleeves are the same.

 Helen, who ordered this jacket planned to wear it with black leather skirt.

Retro - mood... and thoughts

 One can say that retro and vintage are always in trend. What is the difference between them, after all?
There's one rule: vintage is 50 and more years old, so it covers 50th and 60th of the previous century. Then retro comes onstge.
Stylists advice: if you desire to look retro, its better to quote not your personal youth decade, but take one decade earlier. You won't look old-fashioned in that case.
On the left photo - Julia demonstrates my dress and small jacket with retro features -  it is double-breasted, with round buttoned lapels and puffy short sleeves.

Photo by Kseniya Sytina.

And two photos of my red satin dress for beautiful Tatiana on her Vintage party - reasonably bouffant skirt (just a couple of petticoats of soft tulle), white bow on the back, small button on the neck.
I think that the main facet of any Vintage look - is personal fitting of the dress, especially top. It covers the forms of your and only your figure, and it matches your individuality. A sign of custom-sewing.

Red Suit

Red suit (dress and jacket). My work is  clothing and styling.  Photo - Inna Gilyarova (2009). Here is only dress...

Красный костюм  (платье и жакет). Моя работа - сам костюм и стайлинг. Фото - Инна Гилярова (2009). Здесь представлено только платье.