25 Days of Giveaways from McCall's, Butterick, and Vogue Patterns

This just in!  Every day for 25 days, the McCall's Pattern Company (who own McCall's, Butterick, and Vogue Patterns) is giving stuff away.  For Free!!!


In order to qualify to win, you must be an email subscriber to Butterick.com, McCallPattern.com, VoguePatterns.com, or ClubBMV.com.  Sign up for their newsletter on any of those sites.

So, what can you win?  Yesterday's winner won a DVD by sewing guru Claire Shaeffer, while today's winner will win 2.38 yards of beautiful silver-colored crepe-back satin.  Stay posted to see what tomorrow's offerings are.

Do you want to know something fun? This is my best friend Laura on the cover of the Winter/Holiday 2010 Vogue Patterns Catalogue. Isn't she lovely? Laura and I met at a casting in NY aeons ago. We were roomies for several years-- first in Manhattan and then later in Brooklyn. Next time you go to the fabric store you can say, "Hi Laura!!!"

Theme in Pictures

I saw this picture on Ginny Branch Stelling's blog, and immediately thought how much I would love to have a home that looks like this one day:

The shot below is from a scene in season 3 of Madmen, and I must admit that the decorating in the kitchen also caught my fancy:

Here's one parting shot from the Life in Pictures Blog.  It's from an editorial by Bruce Weber, shot at Stella McCartney's country home.  How picturesque is this?

Cover Girl

One of my favorite clients to work for is the McCall Pattern Company, who also owns Butterick and Vogue Patterns.  Everyone there is wonderful, and I have been working for them for a while, so they feel like family.  I also always thought it was a perfect fit-- I love sewing, and buy their patterns frequently.  Moreover, my great grandfather, who died in 1933, worked at McCall's as a printer.  It feels like things have come full circle!

If you happen to be in a fabric store anytime soon, you can see me on the back cover of the Fall 2010 Butterick catalogue.  I am on several of the patterns inside the book as well.

In sewing-related news, yesterday after dropping my parents off at the Philadelphia Airport (they're off to Italy for vacation!), I took advantage of my proximity to the city to go to one of my favorite fabric stores.  After being relegated to the fabric-cum-craft stores in Delaware, it is indeed a divine experience to browse through the bolts of cloth in a real fabric store.  It is a strange thing indeed, but I derive true joy from examining and petting all of the different textiles and trims that they had on offer.

Just a peek in my buggy (that's the southern term for shopping cart, y'all) reveals some of the tempting delights that I treated myself to.  My modus operandi was to walk around and put everything in my cart that caught my eye.  Most of the fabrics I chose were wool, although I had a few satins as well.  I didn't purposely choose colors in the same colorways (the blues and the salmons), so I guess that is just what I am being drawn to these days.  I do have some projects in mind-- here's hoping that I'll be able to follow through.

XOXO,

The Model as Muse

Me at the age of 15 in front of my model collage. How many faces can you recognize?

I have always been obsessed with models. I can't remember when that infatuation started, but I think it had something to do with me being stopped by an agent (well, not a real one, but one who worked for John Casablancas) when I was twelve years old. The infatuation might also be related to the fact that I came of age during the era of the supermodel. Whatever the reason, I LOVED 'em. I wanted to hang out with them (you can't imagine how excited I was when I met my first supermodel, Niki Taylor, at the King of Prussia mall in 1998), papered my walls in pictures of them, and knew every possible fact about their lives. Sad, I know.

The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City seems to share my fascination; The Model as Muse Exhibit opens to the public on May 6, with a costume gala hosted my Kate Moss; Justin Timberlake; and Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour. Color me excited.

In related and thrilling news, the much anticipated May cover for Vogue has been revealed. It features nine models on fold-out pages. The issue is being released in conjunction with the exhibit, and includes all things model inside.






Inside the issue we find the incomparable Natalia Vodianova playing dress up as some of the great models of the last hundred years:








I simply can't wait to get my hands on this issue!

XOXO,

The Skinny Model Debate and a return to 1995

The most recent issue of Vogue with Kate Moss on the cover, the famous waif herself, has a short blurb about model Coco Rocha. She jokes around with designer Michael Kors, and hosts a luncheon in which the fashion industry's obsession with skinny size 0 models is discussed.

Coco confesses her own prior addiction to laxatives and the pressures to be thin in the fashion industry. This, of course, is written up in Vogue, which continues to feature super-skinny models. My girlfriend, an Australian model who was most recently working in Germany, reported to me how the girls there eat cotton and tampons so that they feel full and skip actual food.

I write all this because the other day, in the course of cleaning out our family basement, I came upon a bunch of old fashion magazines from the mid-nineties. Note that these girls have flesh, and curves. They are hips and busts and tummies. They fill a page, rather then disappear, and they're beautiful. I scanned some of them for fun.














While I was thumbing through the old issues of these magazines(all dating from 1995) I also stumbled upon some old pictures of now familiar faces. Below is Heidi Klum, Carla Bruni (aka Ms. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President), and Nicole Kidman (with Ronald McDonald hair).




Finally, I conclude with a few pics of Carolyn Murphy, who is today a very popular model. She has appeared on the cover of Vogue, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and in numerous makeup and fragrance campaigns. She is now a blonde beauty, with a tan, appearing as the all American girl. These pictures from her first season modeling show a dark, curly-haired girl with pale, pale skin. It is quite a transition to see what she has become.

Age Appropriate Dressing

I went to the mall with my fourteen year-old niece and it occurred to me for the first time that I might be too old to dress the way that I do.  Is there a rule for what is appropriate for one to wear at certain ages?  When Vogue does their annual "How to Dress at any Age" issue, why don't they ever address this question?  

When Morgan was dropped off at my house today, she had on a GREAT pair of skinny jeans-- just what I've been looking for.  When I asked her where she got them, she said that she had just bought them at the mall, and that they were on sale, so away we went.  We ended up at Delia's, which for those of you who don't know, is mostly a catalogue (but sometimes a store) filled with fourteen to fifteen year-old girls looking like, well, like high-school girls.  And here I was hanging out with someone who is fifteen years my junior, and I'm buying the same clothes as her, albeit a few sizes larger.  Moreover, en route to Delia's, we stopped at a shoe store where Morgan bought a pair of GREY CONVERSE-- the exact replica of a pair I own.

So, the question is-- how should a 28 year-old woman (soon to be 29) be dressing?  I felt kind of silly when I walked into the mall and all the teeny-bopper girls started looking at me like I'm competition and the boys checked me out.  Maybe the skin-tight jeans, long earrings, and tank tops just aren't appropriate anymore.

But, then again, when I pointed out to my niece a pair of shoes I thought were cute, she exclaimed, "Ew.  You like old lady clothes."  Hmmm.

I found the recommendations below in an article about age dressing at the timesonline.co.uk.  It's okay but not that helpful in resolving these all important questions. 

Age 16-25
Experiment while you can. Don’t dress too old (note, not like Katie Holmes and Kate Middleton) and enjoy being girly (later on it just won’t work) with bows, frills and quirky layering. If you’re not girly, then you can still push your look to the extreme, whether you’re an indie, a punk or an emo. Don’t be too calculated and enjoy the freedom to be mismatched — it’s not a time to worry about subtlety.

Age 26-35
You can still have fun with clothes, but this is the time to learn how to take young fashion into the workplace. Look for belted cardigans, mix tailoring with soft fabrics, invest in one nice piece of jewellery and buy a good, but not too flashy, handbag.

Age 36-45
Girly no longer works, but don’t go too far the other way. Start tidying up the look with clean lines, but you can still go casual in nice jeans and a good cashmere knit. If by your mid-forties you can’t give up the short skirts, then wear them with opaque tights and flat shoes. Buy a good winter coat and don’t scrimp on the shoes and bags.

Age 46-55
Go for good quality separates that really flatter your figure. Wear simple blazers, stiffer fabrics for added structure (crisp shirts, pleat-front trousers) and dresses. Sleek and pulled together is the look. Avoid cheap, gimmicky jewellery and accessories, as well as “amusing” hair colours. It is worth getting your colours done to learn which shades suit your complexion.

Age 56-65
You can still follow trends, but learn to do it more subtly. Accessories are a great nod to a trend, a patent belt lifts an outfit without you having dramatically to change your look. Choose longer sleeves for covering the arms, and if your waist isn’t what it once was, then look for shapes that skim rather than cling. Grooming becomes more important — make sure that your hair is neat.

Age 65+
Have fun with large statement jewellery and find your glamorous side — printed silk scarves, luxurious blouses, simple wide-legged trousers and elegant evening wear. Look for opulent fabrics such as silk and velvet. Dress up the accessories, it’s amazing what a sparkly clutch bag can do for a simple outfit. Here.