Tulip Pants and Looks with them

New model - tulip pants. If there is tulip skirt, why not trying tulip pants? They look like trousers with the fly-off front panel, and this panel is gathered in pleats, like tulip skirt is. Idea of such trousers came to me when I've seen this fabric with wide stripes of tiny flowers, like garlands. I just couldn't stand the temptation to arrange these stripes or garlands in different directions so they can meet each other and part, and create diagonal lines, like lianas or other rainforest plants.
Another feature (unfortunately not seen very well on the photos) is that there is no left side seam there. Fly-off panel is one detail with the back part, so pattern of the fabric is not broken, and no extra bulkiness added. Last is really good for hot weather, bulky seams are really annoying in summer. 

Old Photo Pick - 1

One dress a month... One ritual a lifetime. Some people just don't like custom sewing. No, they wouldn't mind a new dress, but the process is killing them as they say. It is soooo much time!.. Fittings! To tell you the truth, average fitting session takes about 15 minutes. Well, there is measuring one, one fitting session, and voila! - on the third time you get your dress. Or trousers, or jacket. Sometimes there is the second fitting session required, but trust me - in this case you'll spend years more to find dress for you in-store. 

Upside-Down Wardrobe

What does your wardrobe consist of? How many ‘tops’ (blouses, shirts, t-shirts etc.) and ‘bottoms’ (skirts/pants) have you got?

Some ladies prefer to wear dresses - you don’t have to think about combinations. Put a dress on - and your look is ready.

Style theory teaches us, that we need 3-4 ‘tops’ for each ‘bottom’ to make an easy-to-combine wardrobe. That is, for example, for one skirt you need button-down blouse for office, sequinned top for party, t-shirt to go out quickly and a jacket for cool days. You can mix and combine these garments, add scarves or printed stockings, and get a new image twice a day.  Sounds really cool!

But at the same time we can make vice-versa wardrobe and turn out closet upside down. Imagine… 30 skirts. All different. All suit your shape and personality. All deliver a message you want. All made of fabrics you’ve chosen yourself. 

What kind of top do you need for this skirt? The basic one. The simple one. The one that is not demanding. Easy to care about.  The skirt has made a statement already. 

Style in brief: prints, colours and textures

Here are some good and bad examples for you. I did my best to make experiments as pure as possible, keeping the same pose, the same background, the same hair do and make up. This is to get clear view how appearance can change in different colours, prints or even textures.

Shoes painting, colour styling and… personal philosophy

Have you ever painted your shoes? Made them another colour with any medium?

I did it twice! And quite successfully, so there is nothing impossible if you want to change the colour of your footwear. 

First time was a few years ago. I needed my black shoes to be brown. Back there I had a period of my personal style when I avoided black at all. I created mostly harmonious looks in warm hues, from top to toes. 

Burda Magazine Facing Fashion of the 1960th... How did it look like?

Burda Moden 02' 1969

Burda Moden 02' 1969

This is my new source of constant joy. What do you feel looking at these fashion models, especially on the faces?  I am overjoyed. Burda magazines for me mean not only patterns - as patterns I can do myself. It is life mode, mood, world view, philosophy, - all about how ladies of the time saw their ideals and expressed themselves. 

Burda Moden 02' 1969

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I love these happy faces of excited schoolgirls! Fashion of the late 1960th is wonderful - hilariously bright, everything is short and cute. 

Looking at these faces… I bet they really had a youthquake happened to them.

Personality vs. Famous Model

My brother Valentine in St.-Petersburg is a teacher of Lindy Hop dance style. He said once that trousers like Fred Astaire's was his dream. Well, dreams need to come true, and I decided to make him a Christmas present. 

I searched for Fred Astair’es  photos, and came to the following:

-he had different trousers, I couldn’t pick one particular style

-his trousers don’t always fit well… More likely quite opposite

-any trousers would be Fred Astaire's if there was Fred Astaire inside them!

The Power Of Things. 

Do things influence your feelings?

   Do things have power upon your life? 

   Do they influence on your mood, feelings, emotions?

   What makes you get up in the morning?

Diana Vreeland said, that it was her style, that made her get up in the morning. Style made her go downstairs. 

What is style? What does it consist of? Really, style consists of things. 

I love Fancy Nancy kid’s book series. It is about a small girl Nancy who loves tutu skirts, bows, ruffles, pens with plume, lavender hankies, and - fancy words. She says ‘foliage’ instead of ‘fall’ and she decorates her book report with beads and yarn braids, otherwise it wouldn’t do. She is funny and she has true and clear style (small girl style, of course). In one of the books she has to make a composition of one hundred of anything, and: one hundred socks is ugly; one hundred macaronis is impossible, because few kids already made it; one hundred hair bands or bracelets is not working, because she has only eighty... Finally she founds one hundred bright pebbles, and makes a verse with the sense of her composition. 

Beautiful things make us say beautiful words and express beautiful feelings? May be it is too strong to say, but I think, there is some seed of truth here. 

Fancy tea mug or the simplest and cheapest from the supermarket? The simple one will do, but fancy mug is pretty and  ergonomic. It does ‘click!’ when closed, it is spill proof, it has hot pink lid. And you won’t make ordinary tea in it, you’d prefer oolong with mint. You keep it in your hand and you feel good… By the way, you can put on your favourite ring or bracelet, which has been hidden in your treasury box for years.  

Start with one garment...

Beautiful ring or bracelet will make you pay attention to your hands. And accidentally you will place your hand cream to be accessed easier, and therefore - apply it often. Oh, are your nails all right? What about toes? Oh, you have to polish your shoes, don’t you?  Step after step, you don’t know how it happens, but you start speaking style. This is a wonderful journey, and the best thing of it - that you created it yourself. True style comes form within, everybody knows it. But to ascend from the depth of your soul it needs little helpers. Just tea mug and hand cream. Or where it all started? 

Style consists of things. Start with one fancy garment, and it makes you feel different, think special, go the same way with a better posture. A lady with such  grace and poise can’t wear old piled room socks at home. She puts them straight into the bin. 

Imagine Sunday early morning, 6.30am. Beautiful morning, and all the house is sleeping. You have cup of tea and time for yourself. You have time for your hobby. Let it be… calligraphy. You are looking with delight on your fine writing, and this cheap shabby cracked calligraphy pen in your hand…  What is wrong here? 

Things are simple. It is just a tea mug. Just a calligraphy pen. But they can easily move you on or stop you at once. 

I think it is OK to be influenced by things. The point is to make things work for you, inspire you, help you  every day like reliable and fancy friend. 

How many  fancy friends have you got?

This is a beauty case made with lots of beads.

* © All photos are made by me. And beaded things too.

Sewing is...

Sewing is...

... hard work and deadlines.

Fashion means modern?.. Fashion means old!

We know that fashion has circles, and old-fashioned trends return onto the stage in a new mood, new trendy colours, and usually with a slight changes in form, though recognisable.  Stylists don't recommend to keep your old clothes because it might become fashionable again - it won't. It will be different, it will be made in new fabrics and tones, in a finer and lighter silhouette.

Alonso Sánchez Coello (1532–1588)
Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia at age 13
(1579, Museo del Prado)

It is so exciting to discover something medieval in a modern dress! Or a tricky facet dating back to the time of French Revolution...  It can be easy with the garments which are very similar to their historic prototypes, such as Roman sandals, tunics, Greek style dresses etc. I tried to find just a few hints which show that modern designers take their inspiration in the past. This is much more interesting to research!

Zac Posen 2014 Pre-Fall

I love this dress! It has extremely exciting pattern - with lots of convex lines to suit the model. Designer achieved accurate fitting due to precise drawing, not because of elastic fibres. Main thing that these two dresses  have in common - they suit the ideal figure of their time. In Holland of the 16th century opulent clothes fitted the girdle on the torso with flattened bust and belly and bell-shaped skirt, which was considered to be the perfect feminine figure.