Obsessed with Embellishment

For the most part the red carpet parade at the Oscars was pretty much what I’ve come to expect. Starlets, old movie stars, previous winners, industry types - the tabloids will cover it better than I ever could. Nothing really made me crazy, fashion-wise, although the level of glamour was uniformly pretty high. Penelope Cruz, who is always one of the best dressed women in Hollywood, looked great as always in a fluff of Versace, Ann Hathaway was adorable in Valentino, and I loved the wit behind the brooch over Catherine Deneuve’s Gaultier heart, stabbed with a saber and trailing symbolic blood.

But - then Cate Blanchett showed up and I gasped in amazement! Her Armani Prive gown was a masterpiece of couture embellishment and color! The deep, rich gunmetal color was gorgeous against her pale skin and I’m convinced the inspiration for this magnificent gown was the Art Deco bronze & ivory figurine “Starfish Dancer” by Chiparus The above photo of Cate really doesn’t showcase the gown as much as I’d like, but in HDTV it was easy to see that it was heavily encrusted with beading, crystals and even mirrors. A stunning work of embellishment, just like the original Chiparus bronze from the 1920’s. Nice work Cate!

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This is a great skirt – it’s a short version of the HP Classix Nouveau Trouser Skirt, and is based on the same sloper. I really love the jacket too, and will probably make this up again as a suit in gray – a color that showed up quite a bit during Fall ‘07 Fashion Week - with a contrast lining on the hoodie.

This skirt is a 100% stash reduction project - I literally didn’t buy a thing; the fabric, thread, beads, lace, lining, interfacing, zipper - everything - came straight from my stash. That felt really good!We’re going to an Oscar party tonight, so I’ll wear this pretty much as you see it, with brown fishnets. Oops - I need to press the hem a little more - just noticed some ripples.

This time I thought I’d try a hand picked zipper. Lately I’ve been hand finishing my projects because for some reason it’s easier to get my brain around that than it is to do all the steps to machine finish every detail. The lining is hand fell stitched to the zipper tape – honestly, sometimes it’s just simpler to just do a bit of handing sewing instead of wrestling with it on a machine. Plus I like the smooth look of hand finishing. The top stitching works, but I’m not convinced the beading really does. On the first try I just had the seed beads, but it made the zipper look eerily like a chest surgery scar, which was a little freaky. So I added the bugle beads. So the beads may come off at some point. Maybe I’ll do the pick stitches in the same brown topstitching thread I’ve used on the seams.

The lace edging on the lining is something I’ve done before on skirt linings – a friend said it’s a sort of a fin de siècle look, and I like the hidden luxury. A more detailed review of the pattern itself is on PatternReview.

So – I really like this result, it’s a great Hot Pattern!

Lately I’ve fallen back in love with dresses - they’re so easy to wear! You just put them on and off you go. A while back I made the HotPatterns Plain & Simple Shirtdress out of a fine wale corduroy and I wear it almost once a week.

Marfy has three great sporty dresses for Spring ‘07, and it going to be hard to decide which one I like the most.

All three of these would be great in a cotton pique, linen, denim, seersucker, or a twill.

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This style has really great lines, I love the slanted inset pockets on the skirt and the button front. The machine embroidery concept for the skirt looks kind of dopey, and instead I’d use one half of a metal tooth zipper as an edge trim for the pockets. I might also replace the button front with a nice Riri zipper, and again use the extra teeth to trim the edges of the inset pockets.

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Reminds me of my fave HP Plain & Simple Shirtdress. This would be killer in a dark wash denim with snaps and rivets as fasteners. Another great combination would be white linen with brown topstitching. I’d wear this to work with a tight cap sleeve T-shirt underneath and in the fall I’d wear it over a long sleeve body suit and tall boots.

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Now, the only thing I don’t love about this style is the dowdy length on the skirt - do you know any woman who looks good in a hem that hits right below the knee cap? I’d raise the hem for sure to right above the knee, and other than that I love the 70’s neckline and all of the zippers (Riri again would look fabulous), snaps, and topstitching.

Every once in a while, and this is as predictable as the tides, questions about intellectual property issues such as trademark and copyright crop up on sewing message boards and forums. And just a predictably, people who are not attorneys seem compelled, for some inexplicable reason, to dispense legal advice.

Now granted, anyone can offer their personal opinion on a legal issue. But the whole notion of “I’m not an attorney but I play one on a message board” is not only unethical - it’s illegal.

Dispensing legal advice is practicing law, and to practice law you need a license. And if you are not licensed to practice law, then keep your legal advice to yourself and stop using forums and message boards as a bully pulpit to dispense information you have no right to dispense.

I am not an attorney - although I do have a paralegal degree from a university program acredited by the American Bar Association. I work in a corporate legal job and I have several years of experience in intellectual property, contract and licensing. Ethics are a huge part of the legal profession and a huge consideration in my career and my life.

If I was on the receiving end of sewing message board legal “advice” I’d view it with the utmost skepticism and I certainly wouldn’t rely on it for being anything more than the uninformed, albeit interesting, opinion of a regular joe. And if I had a real concern I’d certainly consult an attorney.

Over on Sewing Divas I posted a valentine to Isabel Toledo’s new collection for Ann Klein, and the love it-or-hate it reaction pretty much reminds me of the reaction to Karl Lagerfeld’s first collection for Chanel 2+ decades ago. Something tells me this type of controversy is a good thing for Isabel’s future at Anne Klein.

One accessory from the show I lusted after where those Ghillies. I’ll admit they seem to be a love it-or-hate it shoe style. Diva Ann doesn’t like them at all, but I really do, and I have a pair in beige suede that’s has been in my closet for over 10 years.

You can bet I’ll be wearing them again this year after I sew up my versions of Isabel’s designs for my fall wardrobe. Ghillies are a great walking shoe, super with pants and adorable with the right kind of skirt. Nanflan reminds us that Anne Klein has a shoe line, so hopefully Isabel’s runway version will soon show up on Zappos.

But until that happens - Behold - the John Fluevog Darjeeling Ghillie! A big thank you goes to Vivienne for pointing out this really fun shoe.

I’ve been taking the commuter rail to work for over 6 years now, and I have to say, the people watching is excellent. One thing I’ve noticed are several common fashion archetypes that turn up again and again and again, season after season. Working in an urban environment and taking public transportation means is that appearance matters because thousands of people will see you. And if you think no one pays attention to how you look - well think again!

So here are my current favorites:

Captain of Industry as Caddy Shack - This is usually a middle aged executive who’s probably a partner in a law firm or he’s a fund manager. Basically, a guy who makes a lot of money. He’s wearing an expensive cashmere coat, carries an expensive Coach briefcase, and on really cold days - he wears a ratty baseball cap. What’s up with that? Why not a nice tweed cap one of those fabulous fur hats that Russians wear? Anything except that greasy and faded Red Sox cap!

Michelin Mom - Every time I see a woman dressed like this I wonder if she ever looks at herself in the mirror. This is generally a woman my age (late 40’s) who is 5 feet 5 inches tall or less (my height), she’s carrying about 25 extra pounds (not me, thankfully), and she is nonetheless wearing a quilted down coat. When the weather is dry she wears running shoes, and in wet weather she wears the adult version of those puffy little kid nylon boots. The only people who should wear quilted down coats are coeds who weight less than 120 lbs. And no one over the age of 7 should wear those puffy nylon boots.

Indiana Jones on the Stoughton Line - This guy is the reverse of the Captain of Industry yet he has the same problem. He might work at a university or he could be in high tech. He’s wearing a Timblerland ski parka with a Fedora. Why oh why do men think this casual/formal dichotomy works? It doesn’t.  His briefcase is somewhere between a messenger bag and a man purse.  The zipper on his parka is embellished with three years worth of tatty lift tickets so he can illustrate in a subtle way just how much money & time he spends on the slopes

Fashion Sherpa - This can be a woman of any age. She is loaded down with more than one bag; often a handbag, a tote bag AND a briefcase! My back hurts just looking at her. Sometimes this look is combined with Michelin Mom, which is just too painful for words. More often than not, the tote is a canvas L.L. Bean boat bag, which looks silly anywhere except on the deck of a boat, on the beach, or in the trunk of a car.

Mr. Beancounter - This is a guy who wears a crumpled and shapeless trenchcoat that looks like it hasn’t been to the cleaners in at least three years.  Often carries an ancient old hard sided leather briefcase.  Wears galoshes.  He works for the State and been taking the commuter rail to work since the 70’s.  He has a pension you would kill for.

Pet Lover - This is a cross-gender look, and for kicks I sometimes try to identify the breed of cat or dog that has deposited several ounces of hair into it’s owners wool coat.

VPN Crackberry - Another cross-gender look; this person is loaded down with technology.  They are soooo busy at work they need a rolling briefcase to schlep a laptop and 100 lbs. of paperwork home everynight. They like to “work” on the train and when they’re not getting their ya-ya’s from an inscrutable 1,000 cell spreadsheet, they multitask with their PDA and listen to iTunes, which are always turned up way too loud.  You’d be surprised how many grown men & women still listen to Eddie Money.  They always have at least one phone conversation per trip, which is always the same, “Hi, it’s me. I’m on the train.”  Really - you and 800 other people.

A final note on accessories. Rolling briefcases belong only in airports. They do not belong on the commuter rail! Aside from the fact that anyone who has one looks like a copier repairman; if your work stuff is that heavy than you need to put your bag on a diet. I don’t believe for a minute that all that stuff is really necessary. And I’m tired of tripping over your bag when you park it in the aisle.

So that’s my take on commuter rail fashion this winter. I feel much better now.