Friday, August 31, 2012

The new me - sewing clothing... the plunge

Medieval English Woman's Costume - Women's Clothing in the Time of...





Probably not the best choice for a new me to wear around town, even if it looks comfortable.  Might be nice inspiration if I ever get a chance to join the SCA.

The quest is to re-vamp my entire wardrobe this winter.  I don't wear a lot of different clothing as a rule, so here is what I imagine a person like me needs:


  • 2 winter skirts
  • 2 light weight skirts
  • 2 pairs of trousers
  • 4 to 6 blouses or other tops that fasten and look good over or under things (short sleeve and long)
  • 2 cardigans
  • 1 pullover
  • 1 semi-formal dress, not too fancy, can be worn with blouses or cardigan in the winter or by itself in the summer, probably black
  • 2 to 6 under-shirts like tank tops that can be worn for warmth or as part of summer garb.
  • 1 winter coat, one spring/fall coat
  • unmentionables


Now, personally I really like wearing vests, however, I find it really difficult to get one that fits well and looks classic.  For me a vest should just blend in, creating a nice backdrop for the rest of the outfit.  The only time it should be the star of the show is if you knit it (and preferably spun the yarn) yourself.  But that's my opinion.  I have to feel comfortable in this new wardrobe of mine, so I might as well be honest with myself.


I look at this list and it seems very daunting.  It's not just the amount of time it would take me to sew these clothes (or buy them) or the cost of materials - a few of these things I already have - but rather the sheer difficulty in getting them all to match each other so that I can simply pull random things out of the closet, put them on and not worry about colour or style clashing.

I already feel like I'm being smothered by the weight of all these clothes.

Maybe this task is too big.  Maybe I'm just not made right to have an easy to use matching wardrobe.  Heaven knows how I could go about affording it, clothes are pricey enough here, especially if you buy ones that will stand up to wear and tear, but sewing my own is not as coast saving as it might seem.  Fabric and thread are often more expensive than pre-fab clothing.  As I don't wear synthetics, I'm doomed to paying far too much for my cloth.

Sewing is more for filing in the gaps that the main stream shops cannot fill.  If I don't have to sew, I won't.  But often there is an article of clothing that I would like to have but I cannot find it in cotton, only synthetics 

Feeling very overwhelmed and self concious about my image now.  I should stop thinking about how terrible I look and crawl back into my little ball of self denial.  Maybe this project was a bad idea.


1 comment:

Josiane said...

I would feel totally overwhelmed by the idea of revamping my entire wardrobe starting from scratch, too! Would it feel better if you reduced the scope of the project, or took it very slowly, one piece at a time? If there's a piece (or a few pieces) that you like in your wardrobe already, maybe you could start builing from there, by just finding another piece that would match this one...
In any case, I hope you can find a way to make it work for you.