Sew Wrong

Random Bits

While I’m awaiting my fabric delivery from Gorgeous Fabrics, I’ll share some little tidbits from the fashion world today:

Lela Rose Resort 09


Love, love, love this dress! Very cute and feminine, but a little sporty at the same time. You might be able to meld the top of Simplicity 2925 or Butterick 5179 to the skirt of an A-line dress to get the same effect, and then piece in large bands of fabric for the cranberry and black sections. I’d use ribbon for the skinnier black sections and the waistband. And pockets! How adorable.

According to Women’s Wear Daily, British chain Topshop will be heading across the Atlantic in October to open their first US store in NYC at 478 Broadway. The store is supposed to look and feel identical to the original British store, no Americanizing. It’s a very similar fast-fashion concept as H&M in that there is a constant turnover of styles, but the pricing scheme is higher. Prices will not be adjusted for the American audience, which is used to getting items marked down or on sale. I’m really curious about the quality of the garments that are going for the prices they are on their website. The fact that the turnaround time on putting new fashions in stores is so limited makes me wonder if the quality is a notch higher than H&M or the same, just more pricey. I’ve gotten some great bargins from H&M, but most don’t last more than a season or two.

You can read more of the article here.

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Orange Crush

This little heat wave, for some reason, has me craving the color orange. Heck even today I went to CVS looking for orange nail polish! I’ve never been a big fan of the color on me, but I think it really reflects the current feeling outside: blazing wicked hot! Here’s some finds that feel like the weather outside.

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Monique Lhuillier Resort Collection

Photos courtesy of wwd.com

I am in love with the new resort 09 collection from Monique Lhuillier. The gowns are just gorgeous and ladylike, with an almost understated elegance. The top three above are my favorites, but you can check out the rest of the collection here.

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To the Max

I’m absolutely in love with all the maxi dresses I’ve been seeing for spring and summer. I saw this Alice + Olivia butterfly dress a while ago in an ad in Vogue, and I just found it on Pink Mascara last night for sale

It’s such a cute look, but are maxis more for evening wear than day wear? I feel that if I was to wear one during the day, I might look a bit overdressed. I’ve seen some patterns that would make really nice maxis:

Funny enough, mini dresses are in now as well. From one extreme to the other!

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The Dress is Dead?

Article from the New York Times (might have to sign up to view)

While the big-shots of the fashion world have declared that as of the end of August the dress will be “out”, (And pants will be the new “it” item. How exciting.) I will still be parading around in my dresses, like many of the girls I see on campus on a daily basis. What’s funny is that there are quotes from retail analysts and consultants saying that they believed 2007 to be the year of the dress, and that sales of dresses have been growing steadily since then. I know when I was an intern last summer at Big National Department Store Chain, the dress department in our store always performed the best in terms of sales in the entire Women’s division, even performing better than all the stores in our district. When the first warm day of the year rolled around last week, if you were on campus or downtown didn’t have a dress on, you stuck out.

I think women are having fun with the dress, and I don’t see them letting go anytime soon for a pair of boring, masculine trousers. Sure, pants are great for fall and winter, since it’s usually too cool to bare one’s legs to the elements and probably when it gets too cold my dresses will go to the back of my closet. But for now, I’m savoring my dressesl

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