Ah, fall, the most glorious of seasons! Here are some fall trends to get excited about while we enjoy the cooler weather and color changing leaves.
Plaid, plaid and more plaid! Wear just a touch or try head to toe. Plaid is the print of the season.
Wide legged trousers are a classy look for fall. Ladies of the 1930s and 1940s loved this look because they were chic and comfortable.
Fabulous suits are great all year round but there is something about fall that makes me reach for these sharp tailored ensembles in glorious fabrics like wool and velvet.
All things leaf related are fabulous additions to your fall wardrobe. Go subtle with leaf jewelry or go bold with an all over leaf print like this great vintage dress.
Layers are a key feature of fall looks especially as we near the end of the year. This is the perfect time to play with mixing and matching colors, textures and prints. Play around with different combinations and push yourself.
This past weekend, I decided to do another wardrobe purge and start another Project 333 capsule wardrobe. The idea behind Project 333 is to pick 33 pieces that make up your wardrobe and wear just those pieces for 3 months. Not included are workout gear, underwear and sentimental jewelry that you wear every day like a wedding ring. I also opted not to include any jewelry because I don't wear much jewelry so it's not as big of an issue for me as clothing is. The rest of your clothes gets boxed up to be revisited after three months.
The first thing I did was to unbox all of my old clothes and pile it all on my bed. After not having it for three months, would I be ready to let go of some stuff? Yes! I also had a better idea of what kinds of pieces I needed more of and which kinds I could have had less of. I really did a great job of building a great mix and match 40s wardrobe in my summer capsule but I really missed having the option to have a more relaxed casual look.
I'm really realizing that my ideal of having a 100% authentic vintage look every single day is not really what I need or want. So I'm going to mix it up a bit and do some vintage with a twist looks. And I'll revisit it all again in three months if I want to swing more towards authentic vintage. The great thing about fashion is that it's not meant to be static.
So here are my 33 things for October, November and December. (I'm starting a few days early because that's when I had the time to come up with it.)
1-8: I have 8 tops three of which carried over from my summer capsule.
9-14: And here are six skirts-three old and three new. The two center ones are going to get refashioned in to pleated rather than gathered skirts and I'm going to take a bit of the fullness out because crazy 50s volume is not great to wear on an everyday basis.
15-19: I've got two sweaters which are the same two from my summer collection. I have added two new jackets. Jackets just say fall to me and even though it's no where near chilly enough to wear them outside right now, where I work is very air conditioned and I'm hoping it will cool off nicely by December. I've been watching a lot of capsule wardrobe videos on youtube and looking at wardrobes on pinterest and I've noticed that a lot of them include scarves, even in the summer. So I've decided to include on in mine even though I don't really wear them except for warmth. If it doesn't work out, it'll be bye bye scarves.
20-24: Four dresses and my 1930s beach pjs because I love them. I decided to include one Christmas dress because I adore Christmas. :D
25-28: These two dresses I love but don't quite fit right. So they will be refashioned into skirts. And I have one pair of jeans and my Freddies capris.
29-33: Four pairs of shoes and one purse. I'm not sure this purse will make it all the way to December but if I switch it out for one later I'll be ok with it. I'm still in the mood for this summery purse right now.
So I'll definitely have a different look from my summer wardrobe. I can tell I'm more into a 50s look but with a modern twist. So yay for spicing things up!
I've been trying to plan out my fall and winter sewing projects. There are several stash busting projects I'd like to sew up and a few others that will materialize if I find the right fabric.
I have some light weight navy wool that I had earmarked for a 40s winter suit. When I checked, there was less than I thought so I may end up with a skirt and a vest instead. We'll see. I'm thinking of one of these two patterns for the skirt but haven't decided which yet.
I want to make a blouse from the remainder of my Egyptian fabric. I think this lovely 30s blouse pattern will do nicely. The 30s had some really cool blouses and I think I need some more in my wardrobe.
Speaking of the 1930s, I'm going to make this pattern out of some lovely plaid suiting. It's definitely more of a summer pattern but made up in fall colors, I think it will be perfect for a Florida fall.
There are a few other 1930s patterns that I'd like to make for fall. I think my issues with previous 30s makes were picking fabrics with not enough drape so I'll be keeping that in mind for further fabric shopping.
And this is the lizard who was watching me right outside my sewing room window. There is usually one on that tree but this guy was staring at me.
Fall has been pretty much amazing this year! Which is great because this will be my last midwestern fall. Usually we only get a handful of nice days and we're already in sad dead winter already but fall lingered longer this year!
So I grabbed one of my favorite dresses to play around in the leaves! This all started with last weekend's wedding when we shot some great shots in the most amazing pile of orange leaves.
We were on a time crunch so I didn't have time to sneak outfit pictures in the leaves but I soooo wanted to run and play in them! It didn't help that the weather was perfect.
So I just had to find some leaves to play in! Not having a yard, I don't have to rake up leaves but I don't have piles of leaves to play in either.
Thankfully, we found an obliging tree behind the condos next door. It wasn't quite a pile but they were deliciously crunchy!
Yay leaves!!!
You might notice something else new-glasses! A while back, I won a free pair of glasses in a giveaway and I choose these red frames. When they arrived, I wasn't quite sure they were me so I didn't wear them a lot.
But I decided new things are good and I wore them out. And they are pretty much awesome! I still love my old glasses for vintage looks better but options are always great.
With the big move fast approaching, I can't help but thinking about adapting my current wardrobe to a drastically different climate. So instead of giving into my desire to sew all the wool things, I'm trying to prepare myself for a Florida winter which I'm hoping is sort of like an Ohio fall. (Or rather what an Ohio fall would be like without the roller coaster temperatures but with a beach.) So here's a look at some of my favorite fall outfits that I'm hoping to rock this winter.
I know it's the middle of summer, but fall will be on us before we know it! My husband and I have a busy fall wedding season and then we'll be moving so I'm hoping to get a head start on my chilly weather sewing! Here are some things I'm hoping to sew!
Blouses! On an unrelated note- check out the tiny watch hanging off the blue skirt on Advance 8511
I love a slimmer skirt for fall and winter to keep your legs warm!
I could not resist this adorable 50s pull over pattern! I need one in plaid flannel!
Another great winter pattern! I've got some teal corduroy for this!
I'll be pulling out the Wearing History WWII Home Front Overall pattern to whip up some jeans! :D
As much as I wish I could live somewhere like southern California or Florida where I could wear pretty summer sundresses most of the year, I do not. I live in the midwest and it gets cold! And the weather is often uncooperative.
What happens in March is that the weather will be gorgeous for a few days and then go back to cold and rainy/snowy for a few weeks. At this point in time, I was so over winter especially since last winter was super mild. In an attempt to combat the winter blues, I set out to sew up a chilly weather appropriate dress and promptly purchased two lengths of corduroy from Jo-Anns (on sale too!)
This dress is the result of one of my fabric purchases! It's short sleeved so it won't be good for the dead of winter but it's going to be great for spring and fall days that are chilly in the morning and during early winter.
Fabric: 3 5/8 yd red corduroy ($4.50/yd), 2/3 yd black wool blend crepe (leftovers from another project) Pattern:Simplicity 2851 Year: 1949 Notions: Buttons (from Costume College $1), zipper ($2), belt is from a previously made dress First worn: April '12 Total cost: ~$20 Wear again? Yup, I love it! It's very comfortable and much warmer than my summer dresses. I love the length and flattring late 40s silhouette. The only thing I don't like is that it's a lint magnet!
I really want to make up this pattern in the other view in a more summery weight fabric but this dress is just perfect for posing in front of the old red storage barns!
The weather has been miserably cold lately and I've been dreaming of beautiful fall days! So, I dug up some unblogged outfit shots for a fall daydreaming post!
This is an outfit from a 2012 fall wedding. It was gorgeous out!
There is nothing funner than twirling in a circle skirt among the leaves
