2019 was an interesting sewing year; having watched Janice at
The Vivienne Files build six wardrobes around six Hermes scarves for the previous three years, I decided to get a scarf and, following her choices based on the scarves she chose for 2019, build a wardrobe over the course of a year based on my own scarf.
I didn't have to make it all; I allowed myself to pull garments that were already in the closet or purchase something if I couldn't get it made. I found a wonderful scarf on sale at Nordstroms in the fall of 2018, Hightower by Ted Bakker London, and pulled a color palette from it to use as the basis of the wardrobe and we were off:
Note that I re-did the monthly outfit combo pics for Jan - May from the original lay-it-out-flat pictures I used to the composites that I used the rest of the year. I will say this... putting the composite pictures together has REALLY made me appreciate the work Janice does to get her wardrobes up for her readers. It's not a quick process at all...and I didn't even include links, or new combinations each month. It's a bit of work!
The first four months of the year I ended up staying pretty black and white; a blue jacket and a green t shirt were the only two out of eight garments added to the wardrobe that weren't either black or white, and I did make everything these first four months; partly because I also used these garments in the annual Stitchers Guild sew-a-wardrobe contest known as SWAP (Sew With A Plan). My greatest difficulty was finding shoes. I began a dance with Zappos that basically lasted all year...they sent me stuff, I stuck my foot in it and then sent it back. Short duck-shaped feet that have...issues...do not lend themselves to fashionable shoes. For January and February I pulled shoes from my closet but for March I had nothing that would work with the culottes. I ended up with a pair of all black Keds. Sort of worked. But in the spring I was diagnosed with Achilles Tendonosis, and the dr told me to avoid flat shoes. After wearing the Keds to work one day, I realized he was right. They just don't do what my feet need. Later in the year, I found a pair of wedge black espadrilles that were the shoes I wanted for that outfit all along. The Taos Moc Stars from the April outfit, on the other hand, are wonderful shoes with excellent support and I bought a gray pair as well, which doesn't work with this wardrobe but has gotten a lot of wear just the same.
The other problem I had was trying to alter up patterns to get what I wanted. March and April both came down to the wire because I spent a bunch of time working on a pattern that just needed way too much work before ditching that and going with something that was easier to fit.
May to August was a mix of me-made and purchased garments. I'd added the white pants from Lands' End to the wardrobe in early spring and they came in handy with the striped tops in July. The white SAS sandals are some of the most comfortable sandals I think I've ever put my foot in. They were in the shoe rotation at Disney in the fall and, even though my feet got tired, they never got sore. The denim dress was a major pattern overhaul that I actually stuck with. I'm glad I did, but I almost wish I had made the dress sleeveless so it could double as a long vest. I will be honest, though...I haven't gotten up the nerve to wear the skirt and boots yet. Maybe I just need to give myself a deadline...like, I should make myself wear it to work next week. I think it's a sharp outfit...I just have gotten completely out of the skirt habit. OK, Lisa...wear it next week!
In the last four months of the year, taken all together, I struggled to get any personal sewing done. We traveled a LOT, and as soon as we got through all our trips, the Christmas costuming hit and didn't quit until the production on December 22nd. I didn't actually make any garments for September, October or November, and two of the December garments have been in the closet for a number of years already.
I would say that the least used purchase here was the white puffer vest...probably the weakest fashion addition to the whole wardrobe. I've found that I really don't like my arms un-insulated so I'm not a good candidate for a puffer vest. My hubby loves them and uses them for outerwear quite a bit, so I bought that one a couple of years ago but found I just didn't wear it much. But I could pull it from the closet for the September wardrobe. Had I had time, I think I would have made myself a non-insulated fashion vest to wear but, alas, I had not the time. That's another wardrobe item I need to work to use. If my office wasn't so hot (it's been averaging in the upper 70's for the last couple of weeks...old boiler system) I could maybe wear it but the thought of putting something warm on to work in is rather wilting at the moment, lol.
I ordered the heavy coat from Lands' End during a 50% off sale back in October, and literally about two days after it arrived the bottom fell out of the temps and we were in the upper teens. I wore it, was toasty warm, and was very glad that the wardrobe challenge kinda pushed me to stop procrastinating and just get the coat. We've had one other cold snap that made it useful since then, but I don't think we're going to get much more winter now.
As I mentioned in the December outfit post, the silver top doesn't really fit with the palette; that shade of gray is not in the scarf. But by that time I just needed to get something dressy that would work with velvet pants and it does that, hands down. So I'm living with a little faux pas.
So, here are all the garments (save the heavy black coat), arranged by type. A black check is something I made specifically for the wardrobe, a red check is something I bought specifically for the wardrobe. If it's not checked, then I pulled it from the closet (and it could be something I bought or made at some point in the past).
Just for full documentation, I'll add the accessory collection picture too:
I probably should have indicated here what I obtained specifically for a month's outfit and what I pulled from Things I Already Had, but I didn't think about that in time. MOST of the accessories were things I already had, to be honest, but there were a handful of things that I got just for a particular outfit. Mostly shoes, lol, I think 5 pairs. Two necklaces and a couple of pairs of earrings; one bracelet. Um, yeah, I think that's it.
It was a great exercise and succeeded in getting me some options to wear with the post-menopausal body that I don't recognize anymore. I did make myself stick as closely as was reasonable...and maybe even a little closer than that at times...to Janice's posts. Were I to do it again, I would probably give myself more leeway. I don't think I would push myself to add a pair of different shoes with each wardrobe (to be fair...she did skip shoes on one month's outfit last year). The March outfit (black culottes, green T, heavy scarf and black Keds) was probably the biggest stretch for an 'outfit'. It looked and felt awkward; it might not have had I been able to source better shoes and a lighter scarf. I
have worn the T and the culottes multiple times...just not together, lol.
But it was a good exercise in discipline. And I might do a slightly scaled back version with another scarf...later, lol.
I really, really need to spend some time on maintenance in my sewing areas; they are 100% trashed at the moment. And my serger needs some work. And I'm hearing rumors of a costumed Easter something, too. So who knows when I will have time to do any wardrobe sewing...lol...
