Pardon the dramatic lighting — I got so absorbed in this activity yesterday afternoon that I forgot to finish and photograph it before the light was artfully low in the sky. When I posted about Into Mind the other week, I mentioned that it got me (for the first time, really) to stop and think in a very focused way about what kinds of silhouettes (or profiles or ensembles — whatever you want to call it) actually work for me. This is a step beyond my old three-outfits rule — that I’m not allowed to buy anything unless I can make three outfits I love using pieces I already own — and into the realm of making sure the things I intend to make will fit into my smallish wardrobe in a truly useful way. I still have some thinking to do about color (although being a minimalist does make that part simpler) and fabrics, but for right now I’m just thinking about literally how I dress and how I want to dress, shape-wise, which aren’t precisely the same thing.
Anuschka has a newer post up called 24 outfit formulas for spring and I do like that method of stating combinations — mine would be “slouchy jeans/pants with a floaty top” or “flares with a fitted sweater.” But for this to be of maximum usefulness to me, I decided to think of it in terms of the “bottoms” I’m partial to right now, and to look at how those work across the four seasons of the year. And rather than scour my Style board for combos I like, I decided to sketch them all out using actual garments I own or mean to make, so it’s as specific to my closet as possible. (Which I had a ton of fun doing thanks to the brilliant Fashionary Panels.)
What you’re looking at are my four preferred bottoms (base layers, foundations, building blocks)—
ROW 1: I’ve been wanting to learn to wear skirts and dresses for years — I’m such a pants person — but the Nashville heat is going to force it on me. What I have in mind is a simple floaty — not too full — knee-length skirt that I can make in the same fabrics as some of my forthcoming tops, for mixing and matching, as well as a sack dress or two that can be layered over in other seasons.
ROW 2: Shorts are challenging but, again, necessary in my new climate. So I’m embracing the narrow bermuda short. I have a pale camo pair I bought last summer, and I plan to buy another pair in army green. I’m loving the idea of them with simple woven pullover tops, from long-sleeved to sleeveless, as well as my knitted linen tank, instead of t-shirts or ribbed tanks.
ROW 3: My wide-leg trouser jeans are my favorites but I think of them as difficult to wear. The past several years, I’ve kept it to fitted sweaters plus boots with either a chunky sole or heel. Limited, right? Right now, they’re looking really good to me with flat oxfords or sandals and the same floaty little tops I intend to get me through the summer. And in the fall/winter I can add a shorter sweater — fitted or boxy, cardigan or pullover.
ROW 4: The slim/slouchy variety of jeans and pants I live in, which I find incredibly easy to pair with everything all year long. Androgyny is my happy place when it comes to getting dressed.
And then from left to right across the four rows is an example of how I might wear that bottom piece in spring, summer, fall and winter (except no winter for the shorts). The spring column is about light layers and bare legs/ankles with closed shoes or boots. Summer is all sleevelessness and sandals. Fall is a lot like spring but with heavier top layers — e.g., the woven raglan top in the spring shorts outfit get replaced with a raglan sweater; the vest becomes a cardigan, etc. And winter is for longer, heavier sweaters layered over the same tops from the rest of the year.
What thrills me most about this combination of things is that they’re almost entirely interchangeable. The fitted cotton fisherman sweater in row 3 (an L.L. Bean favorite of mine) goes with every skirt and pant. You can take any of the tops in the spring column and put them with any of the four bottoms, and so on. So that’s my challenge to myself, now that I have it boiled down to this level of simplicity: For anything I’m thinking of sewing or knitting, I want it to fit into at least three rows and two columns of this matrix.
Clearly this is hugely helpful in determining and prioritize what it is I’ll be making. I realized the other day that I have only one short-sleeved top in my closet at this point, whereas I’m in a pretty good shape in the sleeveless category. I also have several button-down shirts but only one that’s a long-sleeved, collarless, lightweight woven top like the one in the first shorts outfit (and it’s a loud pattern that almost never gets worn.) Also, I’d been planning to make mostly longer sweaters but I see now that shorter and boxier is better and also what I’m lacking.
So my next step will be to narrow in on a few different pullover tops, a skirt pattern for making in two or three fabrics, a dress and a couple of sweaters. And then I can work out what the color and fabric for each of those should be!
I can’t wait to see what patterns and fabric you select.
Looking at these silhouettes, I completely saw you in them…. I think one has more chances of success in dressing yourself when you can step back and see what styles you like and what you are likely to wear….
Thanks for the inspiration! It is exactly what I’m trying to do with mine…plan a wardrobe that is small and interchangeable using a visual tool. The pinning approach isn’t working for me so I’m going to give my shot at sketching.
Happy posting and knitting!
Yep. I need to do this. You make everything so clear and organized!!
this is my favorite kind of post! i love the way you did it! i am totally inspired right now!! :)
I much prefer shorter and boxier sweaters. I’m very much looking forward to see which patterns, yarns, and colours you choose.
Love it! We are mindlike connected! I was thinking about sketching and making my own handmade wardrobe just those past days! I’ve drawn 3 of them on my Fashionary :) nice to see yours! Love love love ’em!
You’re so very talented – I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler! I’ve worn skirts most of the time during the summer months for years – they’re much cooler than shorts – even in New England! I hope you find a few you love!
Do you have a good source for purchasing fabric? There are no good fabric stores in my extended area…only JoAnn’s which I detest! I hesitate to buy on line…I like to see the color in person and actually feel the fabric before it’s cut and I own it. I haven’t sewn anything for myself in years because of this dilemma – and I once sewed dresses, suits, even a winter coat. So sad…
I have the same fabric problem but I am tempted to buy on line from Fancy Tiger Crafts. Their blog always shows items made with their fabric and looks terrific.
I’m not very talented! Fashionary makes you look like you can draw — the figures are already on the page, so you just draw the clothes on top of them. If you saw my pre-Fashionary sketches, you would not be impressed. Like my handwriting, only I can really tell what it’s supposed to be! Fashionary sketchbooks and panels are here: http://www.fringesupplyco.com/category/paper-goods
Buying fabric is hard. I went to the local fabric store for the first time last night, which is either closing or moving, depending who you ask. I’ve ordered a few things online and been disappointed. So I need to start educating myself about the really good stores in other towns and make a point of going to them while I’m there. Fancy Tiger in Denver being a prime example.
Seems like many people share this problem, and it seems to come up regularly in the sewing blogosphere (where I increasingly lurk these days!). I’ve seen a number of sewing bloggers put together round-ups on buying fabric online (just two examples: http://www.made-by-rae.com/fabric-shopping-rae/ and http://curvysewingcollective.com/where-to-buy-fabric/). Some indie pattern designers will do round-ups of fabric options and sources when they release a new pattern or do a sew-along. I’ve taken to bookmarking any online shops that come up more than once when reading about people’s successful makes (I’ve gathered that’s sewist-speak for FO).
I think it’s a rapidly changing scene. The current issue of Seamwork magazine has a great article on the retail fabric industry by the wonderful Heather Lou of Closet Case Files (https://www.seamworkmag.com/issues/2015/04/good-silk-hunting), and every issue has been including a list of fabric options/sources — at a range of prices, yay! — for that issue’s patterns (which is probably applicable to lots of similar patterns, too).
Good job. That IS a ‘job’ but once it is done then you are off and running :)
Wow, such an inspiring plan! Can’t wait to see works in progress/finished items. :)
Our climate really does present some challenges, doesn’t it? Especially the humidity. You will no doubt be loving those linen tanks come mid-July. So breatheable! I finished my linen dresses, can’t wait to show them to you when I get back!
Can’t wait to see!!
This is such a smart approach! I just ordered a Fashionary today, and I think this might be my first step when it arrives. I’ve been thinking a lot about a smaller, more specific wardrobe lately, and this seems like a really well organized approach that doesn’t preclude some one-off pieces.
For the skirt pattern, I wonder if either Sewaholic’s Hollyburn or Victory Patterns’ Madeleine (shortened — there’s a line in the pattern for that) would work for you. Or maybe the Colette Patterns Zinnia? More skirts and dresses are on my agenda as well. I wear them all through warm weather, but I need to think about how to wear them when it’s cold. Short sweaters may be the answer…
When I started reading your post I was thinking something like “Yeah, this is a good thought, but nothing for me”. Then I continued reading and I realised along the way, that the pieces in my so called wardrobe are not combinable with each other at all but just a random collection of some clothes. Thank you for the inspiration!
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Bottom row, second from the left…that’s my favorite. Looks like you could dress it up or down and where anywhere.
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I found your blog from this post. I’ve been interested in wardrobing, specifically the Into Mind silhouette idea, for quite a while now. Mostly it feels so frivolous, but then I’ll be reminded how often women are judged almost solely by their appearance and it doesn’t feel so frivolous then. Thanks for the posts.