New Year, New Wardrobe: Week Three

Looking at my everyday wardrobe as well as my inspo from week one and pinterest boards, I can see that I have three basic silhouettes that I enjoy wearing: mid-thigh to knee-length a-line dress/cape/coat, a full knee-length skirt with a defined waist, and slim ankle pants with a boxier top half. Here\’s a few examples from my closet:

Last week\’s slim pants and boxy jacket fit under that third silhouette, and there are even more of the other two on my blog: any of these fit and flare dresses, or this mid-thigh a-line look. I\’m drawn to these shapes so it make sense that I would have some of them living in my closet already. Another separates option would be this outfit featuring a full skirt

As far as patterns go, for dresses, I feel like I really hit my stride last year and found two patterns I absolutely love: Simplicity 4475 is a raglan sleeved fit-and-flare 60s dress, and Simplicity 6820 is a raglan-sleeved swing dress which I made here, here and here. I said in my end of year/#vintagepledge round up that I could make ten more version of my fit-and-flare dress and I really think that\’s true–so watch out! Honestly, I feel like my dress pattern collection is big enough that I can find everything I need to hack together an endless array of dresses, and I should really only buy dresses with one-of-a-kind details… starting tomorrow. (Or really good illustrations. Or, or…)

Finally, tops. Every year after Me Made May I complain about my lack of tops and pledge to make more. Looking at what I wear on a daily basis, I\’ve determined that this should be really easy, since I only wear like, four types of tops!

1. V-neck tee shirts. I have very little interest in making these, and I\’ll probably continue to purchase from a sustainable producer like Grana or Everlane. I\’d also like to phase these out somewhat–I don\’t think they fit with my inspiration words–ladylike, feminine, vintage? No.
2. Layering tanks, for wearing under crew-neck sweaters and cardigans. I already have my holy grail tank pattern, and I have little interest in making sweaters and cardigans (although I do have the seamwork astoria that I\’d like to try out if I find a great fabric).
3. Oxford cloth button downs, of which I have a large collection with some dating back about 10 years (and looking a bit worse the wear of it). Unfortunately, I don\’t really like sewing these–I\’m looking for an alternative option that is less fiddly.
4. Boxier-fit items like mariniere shirts, crop tops and cable-knit sweaters. I\’d like to build my collection of these (well, I may be set for crop tops)! I have my eye on the Toaster #1, and just have to get some appropriate fabric!

I also have the idea that I\’d like to add a fifth type of top to my everyday rotation: a blousey version of #4, preferably in a drapey fabric, to wear tucked into full skirts. I made a black rayon bettine top which I like, but don\’t love, so I\’m still on the hunt for a perfect pattern.

What are your tried and true silhouettes? Are there any you have sworn off entirely? And do you have any very simple woven blouse suggestions for me?

xoxo,