The Wardrobe Architect Week 12: Adding accessories

Exercise

1. Make a list of requirements for your accessories. List what you consider to be functional accessories and decorative accessories, and what your requirements are for each.
2. Decide how many of each to include for the coming season. How many of each do you need for your current capsule wardrobe?
3. Add accessories to your capsule wardrobe. Be sure to look towards what you already own before window shopping!

Functional accessories

• Shoes: Comfortable, able to withstand some mud and dampness. Mostly flats, hopefully boots too. Got sone chucks and flat sandals. Enough for this season
• Glasses:
• Bags: Backpacks! Best for my back. Some small purses for going out. Got them.
• Hats: Will it suit me? I like the idea of hats....
• Belts: Some for wearing with pants, some for wearing at the natural waist with dresses. Need a new (brown) belt for trousers
• Scarves (for warmth): Very big, very warm Got enough
• Gloves: For Winter, they should preferably be knit  and be long enough to cover my wrists. Spring/summer so no gloves needed
• Sunglasses: Not sure about those. Got one but I nned glasses so I need some with sight.
• Legwear: Warm fleece-lined tights in Fall/Winter. Nylons and Leggings too.I have 2 Leggings, 3 nylons

Decorative accessories

• Jewelry: Earrings and necklances
• Scarves: Silky/flowy scarves in pretty colors for tying up my hair in the summer or wearing around my neck in the Fall/Winter.

Personal Croquis

After my recent purchaise of the Colette Sewing book, I followed a tutorial from the oh so helpful internet.

Front and back.... I guess my pictures were a little too hight... That´s why my legs look so short.
But all in all a fairly mercyless view of myself. I´m a 44 in the upper  and a 46 in the lower body.
From the back I can see the x-shape better than from the front.

I´m medium to high contrast and have warm coloring. my color typ could be autumn.
And I love all those colors of the autumn palette!

So, next time I need planning sheets like we got them for free from the wardrobe architect challenge I can use my own croquis.

Wardrobe Architect week 11 (belated again!): Planning the pieces

 

So, for the last 2-3 weeks I have thought about that topic. What do I have, what to I need, what is REALISTIC that I manage to sew in the next time?
I think the last point is the most important. I love planning but I´m neither a fast sewer nor a uber-skilled one.

Siluettes:

1) A-line skirt with tights, Shirt and cardigan/pullover
2) Jeans/trousers (straight to slightly flaired) with pullover/jacket
3) Shorts with tights, shirt and pullover
4) Dress with tights and longarmshirt plus cardigan/pullover

1. Shop your closet

Okay, hands down: I have a huge amount of Tshirts and longsleeves but very few clothes for my lower body. 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of leggings 2 skirts. None of them me- made :(

2. Find the holes

As stated above.... lower body clothes! And some me-made warm pullovers/cardigans. I freeze very easily and want some me mades here too :)

3. Shop for inspiration

I windowshopped pinterest board, sewing blogs and my fabric stash :)

4. Make a list

1 x trousers  ->Sewaholic Thurlow pattern, dark blue jeans fabric
1 x Shorts    -> Sewaholic Thurlow pattern, grey curtain fabric or dyed jeans
1 x Skirt      -> teal coloured "Amy" pattern by farbenmix
1 x dress      -> green velvet Vogue dress
2 x Pullover/cardigans/Blazer-tingies ? Okay... NO IDEA WHAT TO SEW HERE!
One option would be a "Lucille" sweater and a renfrew mod cardigan. Then I have to buy fabric....

Of course I won´t punish myself if I sew some tshirts to test some pattern, but this doesn´t belong to the wardrobe architecture!

Wardrobe Architect Week 10: The capsule wardrobe colors

 

So, here we are again!

Colors... I love playing with colors!

Personally I based my seasonal colors on those which are already in my fabric stash.
For I have a loooot of black fabric, this color is still in my palette but in the long run I want to replace it ( by charcoal).
Charcoal is my second neutral and chocolate brown and jeans my nearly neutrals. For statement colors I chose teal and aubergine. I looooove everything teal at the moment!!!
 Just today I came home with a pair of lovely teal vans-like shoes. <3
And some grey ones.... I really just have winter boots and summer sandals, so I needed to buy some nonetheless.

Next week we decide what to sew! I´m soooo excited!

Wardrobe Architect Week 9: The capsule wardrobe

Goes well with my Project 333 plans, doesn´t it?

"What is a capsule wardrobe?
A capsule wardrobe is a small, manageable subset of your wardrobe, and it usually is something you can plan seasonally (twice a year, or perhaps 4 times a year).
A typical capsule wardrobe consists of between 20 and 33 items, depending on who you ask and what kinds of items you’re including. It doesn’t have to include every single thing you might wear for the season, but it is the foundation for the rest of your wardrobe. The idea is that once you have the capsule wardrobe figured out, the rest is gravy."                  - coletterie.com/wardrobe-architect-week-9-the-capsule-wardrobe

The method

The idea is simple. And I’d like to give big thanks to the blog into-mind who goes into much greater detail on these topics and really pulls apart these concepts.

1. Choose one to six silhouettes for the season.
2. Create a color palette.
3. Break down your silhouettes and colors into a list of pieces.
4. Organize what to make, what to buy, and what you already own.

         - source: see above!


This week we start with silouettes for the spring season :)

I might select 4:

1) A-line skirt with tights, Shirt and cardigan/pullover
2) Jeans/trousers (straight to slightly flaired) with pullover/jacket
3) Shorts with tights, shirt and pullover
4) Dress with tights and longarmshirt plus cardigan/pullover


I´m easily freezing so I need my clothes to be warm. Plus I need variety....I can´t stand it when it´s allways the same.

Wardrobe Architect: Week 8 Hair and Makeup

I´ve been on delay with this series....

In week 8 we talk about beauty, hair make-up etc.

There are some questions to help:

1. What hair style has been most flattering and comfortable for you? How did it make you feel about yourself? Did it invoke any of the words you came up with in our core style exercise?
2. How much makeup are you comfortable with? It could be no makeup, or a full face with contouring (and all that jazz I could never figure out). Or it could vary day to day.
3. How does your makeup and hair reflect your personal style? What do you feel they say about you and your aesthetics?
4. How much product do you want to own? Do you like collecting products, or would you rather just have a few essentials? How much bathroom clutter are you ok with?
5. What requirements do you have for the products you buy? Do you stick with all natural products? Are there ingredients you avoid?
6. What colors feel best near your face? How do they relate to the color palette you created?
7. What colors never look right near your face? What colors have you tried and given up on before?
8. How much time do you realistically want to spend getting ready in the morning?
9. What types of scents do you gravitate towards? Do you wear perfume? Other scented products? What do you feel the scents you like communicate about your personality?

I like my hair fairly long. Although I recently cut quite a bit off it´s still below shoulders. This way it´s easier than my before waistlong hair. I also have bangs which balance my face really nicely.

I don´t really wear a lot of make-up. Most of the time it´s just lip balm and maybe mascara. If I feel fancy I use a bit of lip gloss or my only lipstick sometimes I use nude eyeshadow.

This styling is easy, down to earth and I can spend my time for more appealing things.... sleeping longer and a nice cup of tea in the morning for example.

I don´t own much make-up. Some essentials are enought! Same goes with cleaning products.

I avoid animal testing and try to buy natural make-up and vegan stuff. Don´t like all the strange stuff to go on my skin!

I like green, brown and a little black near my face. Never much black eyeliner... makes my eyes tiny and me looking tired.

Reallistically I don´t spend more than ten minutes with getting ready for breakfast.  I want to incorporate to moisturise my face in the morning. I allways forget it!

Scents are a troublesome topic here. My boyfriend and I are really sensitive to scents, he more than I am. Often, my citrus scented deodorant is too much for him so scent when he´s in bathroom after me.
And let´s not talk about scented candles :(
But I like a little drop of perfume from time to time. Try to use it, when he´s out or we are at open air.

Wardrobe Architect week 7: Prints and Solids

"Exercise:

• Examine your favorite clothing. Pick out the 10-20 most worn items in your wardrobe. What percentage of them are printed?
• Pick your prints. Write down your most beloved styles of prints. Be sure to look through your closet and your fabric stash.
• Update your moodboard. If you have a moodboard, try adding in examples of prints you favor.

Discussion:

What are your favorite types of prints? And are those the ones you find yourself buying?"
 wardrobe-architect:prints-solids

________________________________________________________________________________

-My favorite  clothes are mainly tops. Mostly solids with ca 20% prints.

-My favorite prints are horizontal stripes, dots and plaids but in subdued combinations. Grey and black stripes, dark green and black plaids.

- My moodboard is updated here:
http://www.pinterest.com/frlfroestelig/core-style/

I find myself mostly buying solids. My favorite print by far are dots! And I love buying them.

Wardrobe Architect Week 6: Color Palette

So, now we organise the color list we made.
I accidentally wrote "accent colors" instead of "statement colors" but that´s ok I think.

Here we are. It doesn´t suit me best but black makes a loooot of my closet.

Neutrals and statement colors (aka accents) are fairly balanced, but I hardly have Nearly neutrals! So I misplaced some colors.... White is in real a neutral, but not too flattering and practical.

Wardrobe architect - Week 5 Color story

So this is what made me do the other four weeks in one day.... so I could start wih this one!
When I think about color the first one to come to my mind is.... teal!

I automatically get drawn to it! Last year I bought fabric JUST because it was teal... I love this color.

I feel most comfortable in black and jeans blue, the dark kind of jeans blue.
Then I like berry colors, preferably dark ones and aubergine.

I played a little with adobe kuler and here is what I came up with....

 curry, some kind of too bright red, lilac, chocolate brown (?), and teal
With that curry I stepped waaaay out of my comfort zone!

 

Then I tried darker colors.

Aubergine, teal, grey/charcoal, burgundy (?) and a rich, dark green.

So, which colors to use? 

I like the curry but on me? Let´s say maybe.

The dark brown looks lovely too.

I love all the colors from the bottom, so they are all in.

Plus added from my actual wardrobe: black, white(maybe trade for cream!)

Wardrobe Architect week 4 – Proportions and Silhouettes

This week in Wardrobe Architect we have been asked to think about how the shapes we picked in week 3 can help us build up silhouettes that work for our style and shape.


I tried Polyvore, but It´s not so nice.... proportions don't seem quite right. So I added some pics from my Pinterest board.

Winter/Autumn
 Silhouette 1

Full skirt, with tights, boots, blouse and Cardigan (Picture: The Hollywood Sew)
Silhouette 2

This I actually wore today with clothes from my wardrobe: Shirt with Blazer, jeans and boots.
Can opt the tee for a longsleeve or the Blazer for a cardigan.



Spring/Summer
Silhouette 1

Buttoned up skirt, either with Blouse (long or short sleeved)
or with tanktop and button down shirt (picture: yesIlikethat)

Silhouette 2

A-line skirt, with tanktop, Cardigan and "Chucks" quite casual, depending on Skirt!

Silhouette 3

A-line or full dress with skinny belt and flats. I can`t walk in heels, especially since the sideways at the University aren't in best condition. Feel the belt is nessisary for the fitted waistline. When cold, add cardigan. (picture: dollyclackett)


The pictures of the ladies are their rightfull ownage. I use them as inspiration and do not get money from it. All right to the mentioned owners.

Wardrobe Architect Week 3: Exploring shapes

So, this day is about shape. The exercise ist to rate some shapes whether you like them or not.
Got to http://www.coletterie.com/wardrobe-architect/the-wardrobe-architect-3 if you haven't already and get the worksheet... it´s super helpful.
This is the second page of mine and it speaks very clearly of what I like.

I don´t own the worksheet, all respect goes to http://www.coletterie.com/wardrobe-architect/the-wardrobe-architect-3!

With sleeves I´m more the all-or-nothing-type of girl :)
With necklines.... well, I think v-neck suites me best and I like the cleaverage created by a scoopneck. Turtleneck doesn't look too good on me ( I look like a neckless turtle ;) ) but it´s warm and comfy.
So... it depends :)

Wardrobe architect: Week 2 Defining a core style

 

WARDROBE ARCHITECT
DESIGNING AND BUILDING THOUGHTFUL ATTIRE
Exercise #2
DEFINING A CORE STYLE
When you are wearing your favorite clothing, how do you feel (e.g. confident, sexy, poised, powerful, etc)?

Grown-up, stylish, elegant, comfy,  proportioned, free, confident, warm

When you’re wearing something that is not quite right, how do you feel? What are the feelings you want to avoid about the clothes you wear?

itchy, frumpy, unsecure, locked in, squeezing out
Who do you consider to be your style icons? What is it about them that appeals to you?

I think I see sewing bloggers as my style icons. Especially those, who often wear skirts and dresses.

Cat by Allures und coutoures for example : http://allures-und-couture.blogspot.de/ 

Or Schildi.... http://schildiswelt.blogspot.de/ 

My latest discoveries http://yesilikethat.wordpress.com and http://chainstitcher.blogspot.co.uk/ do belong to my inspiration too.

What are some words that describe styles that you like in theory, but are not quite you?

colorful: I don´t feel very secure in too bight colors

puffy: Although I adore the lolita style, I´m not very happy with those overly puffy skirts, sleeves and similar.

skinny: I like fitted clothes but I don´t like them to clinge on my body... I need some space and air to breath.
Uncover the styles that make you feel like yourself and attach words and images to them.

Simple, chic, 

Look over your answers from last week on history, philosophy, culture, community, activities,
location, and body. List at least 15 words that you associate with your answers. Think
about descriptive words, moods, and feelings you associate with these things:

Fun, practical, mysterious, dark, casual

ecological,special, handmade, unique, balancing

lady-like, cozy, fitting, timeless, warm
versatile
Look over the answers to all of the questions above. If you had to narrow your list to only
3-5 words to describe you, which words would you choose?

Simple, Cozy, Lady-like, versatile, Fun!

VISUAL EXERCISE:
Collect 15-20 images that represent these 3-5 words for you. You could create a pinterest
board, a folder on your computer, a moodboard, or a collage. Be creative and have fun!

Wardrobe Architect: Crafting a small wardrobe that reflects who you are

http://www.coletterie.com/wardrobe-architect/the-wardrobe-architect

Another "Do-Along". One Year of wardrobe planning.
Updates weekly, this even I can do :)

I have to catch up a few weeks ( 5 weeks), so let´s start with week 1.


Exercise:

History - How has your personal history informed the way you dress? When did your tastes crystalize? Have they changed over the years, and why?
When I was in middle school I wore just jeans, loose Shirts and wide pullovers. I wasn´t the "girly" girl. I became interested in fashion when I discovered the goth subculture in highschool. But I couldn´t effort it or it didn´t came in my size so I started trying to sew for my own.
The first garment was horrorble *laughs*.
I was never the popular one so I could develop my own sense of style and what is cute or not.
Lately I´m in University where you can where whatever you want. So I´m free to find myself again.
I´m still sewing from time to time and have a loooot of fabrics that don´t mix and match or fit my style ( or I bought too less for a specific garment). To avoid spending money useless in the future I´ll plan thinks out now.


Philosophy - How does your philosophy, spirituality, or religion affect your aesthetics and buying habits? Or, what aspects of those things would you like to see reflected?
I think quite ecologically. Sweatshops and cotton with pesticides scare the Sh** out of me. So I try to make ecologically and socially reasonable decisions with clothing as much as my wallet let me.



Culture-How has your cultural background shaped the way you look? How did the aesthetics and values you grew up with affect your tastes as you got older?
I was a goth for the past..... maybe 9 years. I still love the goth fashion and culture. And I don't want anybody to  say that goth was "just a phase" to me. It´s still in my heart but it´s not always the thing that suites me best :(

Community - How are you influenced by the people around you, including friends, family, and other communities you’re involved in?
I live in my small University bubble :) You can wear whatever you what, noone will complain or even notice! My friends and family are very kind ,too. They give their honest opinion if asked but still let me decide for myself. I´m really lucky.

Activity - How do your day to day activities influence your choices?
I´m mostly doing studiing, going to the library, playing pc games and other sitting activities like reading and (lately very rarely) sewing. In Spring and Summer I often go by bike.... to the University or doing errands etc. So long, flowy maxiskirts aren´t the best choice for me. ;)

Location - Does the place you live inform the way you dress? How does climate factor in?
I live in a capital city with a lot of styles and fashions.  Summers are hot ( 28 to 35 °C) and winters cold ( -10 °C), so I have to have different wardrobes for the seasons.


Body - In what ways does body image affect your choices in clothing? What clothes make you feel good about the body you live in? What clothes make you feel uncomfortable or alienated from your body?
Well, we could talk a lot about body, can't we?
I´m tall (177cm) and curvy and I like my curves. I have a nice, defined waist, my upper body is my favorite part. Lately I found out that I could easyly buy shirts and pullovers but have really problems finding trousers or jeans.
I often wear bootcut jeans, tees with prints etc. Comfy but boring!
My most loved clothes are my longarmed shirts. Comfy, warm, easy to wear and easy to dress up or down. I like skirts with leggings or thight underneath. In summer, I need capri thight under my skirts or my upper legs get wound ( I don't have a thight gap).

So, that´s it for week 1. Coming soon: Week 2 - Defining a core style.