I can't believe it's the beginning of June already! (How many times has that sentence popped up on your blog reader in the past few days? Heh.) I'll confess I was going to add my week collages of outfits to the end of each blog post and I only managed to do that for the first week - I'm choosing to blame the time of year, since it prevents taking photos in the evenings after work - but really it's more likely how busy I've been at life in general... I even missed some blog posts this month! For the last three weekends I've had events going on, which has been awesome but has really cut in to my sewing and blogging time...I've missed you guys!
Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been participating, though - and today's the day it all comes together. I love having the blog as a catalog of past makes, but it's also useful to see what I am and am not wearing - it helps me make style decisions and figure out what was successful and what wasn't. In that vein - today, I don't have a finished make for you, but rather an analysis of the things I've made so far!
This time last year, I was just finishing up my wardrobe architect project, which for me was basically just the creation of a set of basics that could carry me through the year. I wanted to switch gears to more adventurous and complex projects, since I no longer felt stunted by my lack of things like jeans that fit and plain black t shirts. In this goal, I feel like I've succeeded. I finally mastered my collared shirt pattern, I made a few more pairs of more unusual jeans, a couple of super strange projects like my rain jacket and that backpack I still haven't blogged - and even tackled a vintage vogue coat pattern. Overall, a good year I think! The real test, though, is figuring out what was successful from that bunch. Let's get to the photos, shall we?
In Week 1, I didn't think too much about what I was wearing. I did manage 100% me-made on almost all days, with just two RTW bras and one pair of socks thrown in there. What I noticed after week 1, though, was that every SINGLE day except one was some combination of Ginger Jeans + T Shirt + Cardigan... This is, of course, my uniform - and I'm not sad about it, exactly, but I, a girl with a sewing machine and a world of beautiful fabrics at my fingertips... I couldn't help starting to think that I could do better. Also, the exception was only the exception really because I finished that jumpsuit the night before (it'll get it's own blog post soon, I promise!)
In week 2, I set a mini-challenge and decided I wouldn't wear my beloved uniform. Instead, I tried to branch out with different combinations and wear some of the other things in my wardrobe (As you can see, I failed on Friday). This worked well, except it stressed me out in the mornings a little bit because it was too cold to not wear cardigans, and my cardigan situation is lacking when it comes to matching those more unusual items. Noted.
In week 3, I decided I was putting too much pressure on myself and went back to my uniform, but tried to pull as many non-uniform days as possible. I felt like this worked well, and the weather warmed up so the cardigan situation turned out to be less of an issue. Also, I flat out repeated the jumpsuit AND the black shirt/gingers/coat outfit... but the repeats were a Friday and Saturday, so nobody in real life knew. Just you guys, now ;)
Week 4 surprised us all, and unleashed a cold snap of obscene proportions in Auckland. Guys, there was frost on my car this week. That happens about once a year in this area. I had to abandon attempts to continue wearing anything that wasn't designed specifically with warmth in mind. Not only did I go back to jeans, I ended up with my long sleeved merino shirts, cardigans, sweaters, and coat all week. I also wore a pair of RTW merino leggings under my jeans most days.
There were a couple of standout players this season, besides the obvious all-star Ginger Jean brigade, Merino T Shirt squad, and that brown-grey square sleeved cardi that I am not ashamed to say I wear an average of three times a week - my Vintage Vogue coat finally had her time in the spotlight, and I literally could not possibly be any more enraptured with that thing. Honestly. I was a bit worried when I finished her that with the 3/4 batwing sleeves she'd be a bit drafty, but throw her on over a cardi (and she fits over the bulky ones) and she provides exactly the right amount of additional warmth while still letting me use my arms. Literally, A+ all around. Her majesty the queen of coats.
So what's the verdict? Me Made May was just as helpful as I thought it would be, but I also can't help but think that I'm not quite happy with my wardrobe yet. I do like lounging around on the weekends in sweatpants, and don't get me wrong, I love my Ginger Jeans, but Me Made May has confirmed a nagging feeling that I've had- I want to dress up! I want dress pants, and silk shirts, and show-stopping coats to wear to work. I want to turn the occasional head and not wear things that are just versions of RTW. I seem to have ended up with a very cohesive 'casual' wardrobe, and I want to take that right on through to a dressier version. So that's my goal this year! I want to keep my sewing more intentional, and more unique, and hopefully keeping those two words in mind for my projects this year will send me on a path to my ideal wardrobe.
Oh, also - somewhere in there I've got some wedding dresses to make. I can't wait to catch you up on my progress! (and progress there has been!)
I wanted to go through a list of everything in my wardrobe that didn't make the cut this month - and reasons why - but I started writing it and it turned into a monster, so I've decided to save that for a separate post. I always think it's so valuable to see how other people's me-mades last in the real world (both the successes and the failures) so I'll be contributing my own thoughts to that topic in the next few weeks!