I’m not sure why I didn’t blog this pair of corduroy dawns with the black pair, so here we are – with another, basically identical pair of trousers!
The fabric was also from Fabric Godmother, and I also made them over a year ago, last Jan/Feb kind of time.
I always make the size 4 in the dawns, and have to take a couple of extra cm off the back seam at the waist as I have a sway back. I also always make them with zips, instead of the button fly as I just prefer it. I do slightly wish I’d hemmed them a bit longer – at the time I was thinking slight shorter would look cool, but now I think a longer wide-legged trouser would be more my vibe (more on this later!). I’ll check how much of a hem I took up and maybe let them down a bit.
Since I made these, I have actually tried a new jeans pattern, and I’ve sewn some more smart trousers for work – though judging by my track record, you won’t get to see them for a year, lol!
I feel a little out of touch with the indie sewing pattern world at the moment, because I have the basics covered with patterns I like and have made a lot! The only designer I usually check out new releases for is Helen’s Closet. Have I missed any really great patterns recently? Or new pattern designers?
Back in January I went to the Chanel exhibition at the V&A and it was really good. I’ve been to a few exhibitions at the V&A and I did enjoy this one. I actually didn’t know that much about Chanel’s fashions besides the obvious jacket and loose billowy trousers/loungewear she invented, so this was pretty eye-opening for me.
(disclaimer – I have not edited the below photos (as there are too many!) so apologies if they are a little wonky or badly lit.
This is one of the earliest surviving Chanel garments, from 1916! It’s the Marinière Blouse and is made from fine-gauge silk jersey, a fabric that was previously used only for underwear.
This dress is from 1919, as necklines were starting to go down and hemlines up. I didn’t think that Chanel would have made such intricate and pretty clothes – goes to show what I knew going into the exhibition!
I was surprised and fascinated by all of the intricate seaming work on some of the clothes – like this criss-cross of seams across this dress. She also had a fairly neutral colour palette, even quite early on (but with some bright colours thrown in, as you’ll see). I love how the seam on the body follows into the seam onto the pocket!
I love how she used the dress fabric on the coat lapels. And how the flowers have been cut out and sewn onto the neckline and hem of the dress.
And this dress had had flowers cut out and sewn on the top to make them 3D!
I don’t really wear dresses any more but I love this one, from 1934. I think the 30s was so glamourous, in a kind of effortless way, with the bias cut skirts etc.
A relatively early wool suit, from 1924-5. This is the kind of vibe I expected from Chanel to be honest. Though of course it makes sense that she also did more glam stuff and evening wear – her clients needed outfits for all occasions presumably.
Chanel often used embroidery on her simple silhouettes. It’s very difficult to photograph black clothes in exhibitions but I did manage this close up of some embroidery on a black dress from 1923.
There was, of course, a room dedicated to Chanel’s perfumes. I love how the design of the bottles has never really changed! And I’m not gonna lie, I really want this travel set from 1936!
This selection of evening wear from the 30’s looks so floaty and swishy and cool. It makes me want to flounce around in them! I guess the only limitation of an exhibition like this is you can’t see the clothes worn by actual humans, or in motion.
This black beaded dress even mentioned that motion was key for Chanel. It’s a shame they couldn’t put a video of the dress in motion. I understand some of the garments might be too fragile to be worn, but it could have been gently shaken so we could see the beading shimmering in the light as it moved.
Another dress I would have liked to have seen in motion…
I did wonder how they would tackle Chanel’s less than stellar behaviour during the Second World War, but there was a room dedicated to her conduct. The exhibition was sort of chronological so it came after this room of 20’s and 30’s dresses, but before the room of suits (which obvs was thematic instead). There were documents and a lot of explanation of what she did during the war.
There was a whole room of Chanel suits (though I only took videos really, which I can’t upload here – I’ll share them to Instagram, if you follow me there). It wasn’t quite as impressive as the room of toiles in the Dior exhibition, but it was nice to see them side by side and to see how the design did subtly change over time. And I love the pink stands!
Who could forget about the Chanel bag! They’re not my cup of tea, but iconic nonetheless.
Quintessentially 60’s suits! It was interesting to see where in her career she maybe pushed the envelope and where, as later in her career, she was more following fashion’s trends and silhouettes. The 60’s seemed to be very shiny!
Chanel returned to black dresses throughout her career. I like this one with the gold stripes.
Of course, this trouser suit is definitely an outfit I would want to wear!
More shiny 60’s!
Shiny 60’s evening trouser suits! Just so shiny!
And a shiny dress from the 60’s. Apparently she was very into lamés – and it shows!
I kind of loved this massive pop of colour right at the end!
Overall I really enjoyed the exhibition – and I learnt a lot! I did buy the book too, so I’ve got plenty of reading material and inspiration still to come. I found myself marveling at how something was constructed or patterned, or at the hand beading work involved in some of the garments. I also felt like this was a good sized exhibition – I’m sure it’s sacrilegious to say so, but I felt the Dior one was a bit too big. I found myself overwhelmed by the end, but not with Chanel, it was just the right size.
Did you manage to see the exhibition before it closed? What did you think?
Last year the V & A had an exhibition called Fashioning Masculinites which was all about the history and evolution of menswear, using art as well as clothing to illustrate the changes and themes. I managed to go in pretty much the last week and I’m so glad I made the effort as it was super interesting.
Like some previous fashion exhibitions I’ve been to, the clothes were arranged in themes rather than purely oldest to newest. So the first room was all about underwear – the shirt started off as underwear and evolved into more visible, but still underneath other layers, and then into outerwear.
I liked how much the exhibition touched on gender expression, including displaying binders alongside boxers and briefs.
I also appreciated that it wasn’t just British/European fashion, but clothing from other countries too, like this Jama from India. It’s hard to believe it’s over 170 years old too, it looks brand new!
in the underwear room there was some discussion of Victorian prudishness, and I particularly liked this leaf that was made to cover up the genitals of a copy of Michelangelo’s David! Lol!
But I think my absolute favourite thing in this first room was this trompe-l’œil Jean-Paul Gaultier jacket. When you stand close to it, it just looks stripey, but stand back and you’re treated to a very sculpted nude male body!
I loved how the exhibition made it clear that dressing flamboyantly is nothing new, and has been happening for centuries!
I couldn’t believe how intricate this breastplate is!
So below it looks like 2 versions of the same cravat, but in fact the brown one is carved from wood! It was once owned by Horace Walpole, who used to wear it to greet guests to his house. I’m not gonna lie, I kinda want a wooden cravat/tie now.
The amount of work that must have gone into the fabrication on this jacket, was pretty astounding!
And this outfit is even more ornate – and it’s been toned down!
Below you can see a modern garment that was inspired by the above outfit. This is why I especially enjoyed the way the exhibition was arranged. It made the connections through time much clearer to see.
OMG this was one of my absolute favourites! I kind of want to try to recreate it for the Dressmakers’ Ball – but obviously I wouldn’t be able to do that amount of beading/embroidery so I’d have to find some suitable fabric I could use instead. Either way I think I definitely want a cape, even if I don’t recreate this actual outfit.
So beautiful!
There was a rainbow section, where the outfits were arranged by colour, which I particularly enjoyed – because who doesn’t love a rainbow of clothes!?
This suit was worn by Harry Styles – I had to wait a while before I could get a photo of it because it was definitely one everyone was taking photos of, and a lot of people were taking photos of themselves with the suit.
I particularly enjoyed the juxtapositions in this section.
So good! I would wear either of these outfits!
I love the green tartan suit, below.
The section on how military uniforms have inspired fashion was especially interesting – like we know when a detail is ‘military inspired’ but seeing them side by side made it even clearer where those influences came from.
I freakin’ love this photo – and they used it for the cover of the exhibition book, which I think was a great choice. I did treat myself to a book – and because it was like the last week or so, it was reduced – score!
An actual outfit worn by actual Nelson!
There was a quite large selection of tuxedos and black suits – but they were pretty much impossible to photograph! They had on worn by Gary Oldman on the red carpet – complete with the glasses he wore in the pocket!
I couldn’t not include a slightly crap photograph of a Marlene Dietrich suit, though.
After the black suits and tuxedos – through history and as fashion on the red carpet – there was then a small display of how men’s evening wear has evolved somewhat for the younger generation.
It was very cool to see this Gucci dress worn by Harry Styles in person! I mean I’ve seen the photographs from Vogue, but actually seeing all the detail and layers and work that went into making it was pretty amazing. Whenever I see proper couture clothing, I realise why the ateliers are the best in the word and why the designers are so sought after.
Another Billy Porter outfit – I remember seeing this for the first time on the Oscars red carpet and thinking it was amazing. I still think it’s amazing. He really does have genuinely great style!
The last outfit in the exhibition was a dress from Drag Queen Bimini Bon Boulash, who was one of my favourites on her season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Who couldn’t fall in love with her with lines like ‘the nipples are the eyes of the face’!
I do really love going to fashion exhibitions – they always give me so much inspiration and knowledge I didn’t have before. I think the next one I’ll be going to (hopefully, if I can get tickets) is the Chanel exhibition, also at the V&A. It opens in September I think.
‘In 1985, Caroline Rennolds Milbank wrote, “The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture’s rise from its 1960s ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable.”‘ (source)
YSL is credited with introducing the tuxedo for women, calling it ‘Le Smoking’. I was actually tempted to make a version of the original 60s tuxedo for the Sewcialite Soiree (for which I made a mustard corduroy suit instead) but decided if I got hot and took the jacket off, I would look like a waiter!
I personally prefer the version above over the version below, but both must have been equally ground-breaking in a time when a lot of women probably didn’t even wear trousers, let alone a suit.
‘At the age of 17, Saint Laurent moved to Paris and enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, where his designs quickly gained notice. Michel De Brunhoff, the editor of French Vogue, introduced Saint Laurent to designer Christian Dior, a giant in the fashion world. “Dior fascinated me,” Saint Laurent later recalled. “I couldn’t speak in front of him. He taught me the basis of my art. Whatever was to happen next, I never forgot the years I spent at his side.”‘ (source)
‘Although Dior recognised his talent immediately, Saint Laurent spent his first year at the House of Dior on mundane tasks, such as decorating the studio and designing accessories. Eventually, however, he was allowed to submit sketches for the couture collection; with every passing season, more of his sketches were accepted by Dior. In August 1957, Dior met with Saint Laurent’s mother to tell her that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him as designer.’ (source)
‘In 1957, Saint Laurent found himself at age 21 the head designer of the House of Dior. His spring 1958 collection almost certainly saved the enterprise from financial ruin; the straight line of his creations, a softer version of Dior’s New Look, catapulted him to international stardom with what would later be known as the “trapeze dress”. Others included in the collection were dresses with a narrow shoulder and flared gently at the bottom. At this time, he shortened his surname to Saint Laurent because the international press found his hyphenated triple name difficult to spell’ (source)
Saint Laurent was fired by the House of Dior in 1960 after less than stellar follow up collections but sued them for breach of contract and won. He then set up his eponymous line with his partner Pierre Berge.
One of Saint-Laurent’s most iconic designs must be the Mondrian dress (which had a resurgence a couple of years ago thanks to the Sewing Bee). It’s so completely 60s! I do love it. Maybe I’ll make a version one day?!
‘In the 1960s and 1970s, the firm popularised fashion trends such as the beatnik look; safari jackets for men and women; tight trousers; tall, thigh-high boots; and arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for women in 1966, Le Smoking. The 1965 Mondrian collection was particularly renowned. Saint Laurent also started mainstreaming the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.[citation needed] Yves Saint Laurent brought in new changes to the fashion industry in the 60s and the 70s. The French designer opened his Pret-a-Porter House YSL Rive Gauche in 1967 where he was starting to shift his focus from Haute Couture to Ready-to-wear. One of the purpose was to provide a wider range of fashionable style being available to choose from in the market as they were affordable and cheaper.’ (source)
Quite a while ago Fabric Godmother had this amazing sequined fabric and I had to snap some up!
And my immediate thought was to make a bomber jacket out of it – especially after googling to find inspiration pics and finding out that loads of designers make sequined bomber jackets.
Sorry not sorry for all of the photos, I’m in love with this make and want to wear it all the time!
The pattern is McCalls 7100, which looks terrible from the styling on the pattern cover, but is actually a great bomber jacket pattern when you look at the line drawing. I actually had this pattern in my mind for if I ever decided to make a bomber jacket after seeing Sew Dainty’s lovely floral version.
I made the size small and made no changes – it’s only semi-fitted and I didn’t want it to be skin tight, though I don’t think I’ll be able to get a thick jumper underneath!
The ribbing I got from my local sewing shop, along with the zip. I’m not sure I love it as much zipped up, but I’m glad there is the possibility to zip it up. I used a pack of cuffs for the cuffs (obviously!) and 2 packs of ribbing for the hem band and the collar. Luckily this pattern comes with a pattern piece for the collar so there’s no guess work involved.
This jacket is not lined, but since the sequined fabric was see-through I underlined it and bound all the seams with a matching binding, also from my local shop. The lining fabric was (I think) from Minerva Crafts. I think the colour was peach as I kind of wanted it to look almost like my skin tone was showing through, but the fabric was a but more pink than I thought it would be – but I think it looks okay.
The binding isn’t my neatest work every, but it serves the purpose of enclosing and hiding all the raw edges.
I really like the detail on the front where there is a square of matching fabric either side of the zip before the ribbing is attached.
I went for black ribbing, zip and pocket flaps (which are made of some mystery black fabric I had in my stash) because the lines on the sequins are black and I thought it would be the most neutral colour to pick out of the sequins – and the easiest to match in all the different bits.
Do you every make something and think ‘this is bonkers, I love it’?!? I have! And I’m so glad I’ve got something silly to wear to cheer me up in the dark times we’re currently living through.
I think that’s why I love sewing so much – you can make something you can imagine in your head into a real garment you can wear. And I find what I wear can really affect my mood – if I wear something colourful or that I feel really reflects my style and what I want to present to the world then I’m in a much better mood than if I wear something dull (or have to wear 8 layers of clothes to be warm enough to be at work!). Do you find that?
sewingmachinations.com 
