Meeting up in London with some fellow 7 Steppers

Sunday 1st July

I'm on the train on the way to London to meet up with some of the 7 steppers (7 Steps to Style) I have got to know online - and Imogen Lamport, the founder, who is here from Australia. Her blog is Inside Out Style. https://insideoutstyleblog.com
where you can get all the details of the different programs.

Last week, LNER took over the running of the trains on the previous Virgin East Coast line. I was a bit concerned that my booking made with Virgin might have gone wrong but I needn't have feared. I always do fear though! I booked first class advance for a bit of extra luxury - the only downside being that my train time is set rather than having an open ticket. That of course gave me another concern - getting to the train on time as David can't drive me. Again I needn't have worried - the taxi arrived in plenty of time and I was able to relax on the train for 20 minutes before it left. At weekends first class doesn't do the excellent weekday menu, sadly, but I am going for lunch so that's not an issue. Plenty of drinks available (no, I'm not referring to alcohol!). The train livery is still Virgin. Outside too though I think some have changed

I've been catching up on some posts and blogs as I haven't had time recently. That's calming my nerves. I'm both excited and nervous about the meetup! I'm looking forward to it. I think.

It's interesting that you can almost immediately tell who wants to talk and who doesn't. My first seat companions did but they got off at York - my new fellow traveller doesn't. I realise I'm glad about that. Generally, I like to find out about other people and am happy to talk - or to sit and write blog posts!

Down the carriage, I can hear some people playing bridge; I don't know how many of them there are. I’d like to join in. I won't of course.

I still haven't completed the personality style analysis as I'm humming and hawing over some of the questions. That and the fact that I have difficulty choosing from a menu (often regretting what I chose) and like to keep options open might suggest one direction but other aspects are firmly in a different direction. Now, however, I'm not sure how much of my need for decision making (yes!!) was to do with business need rather than my personal style. I find it fairly easy to be adaptable and have learned lots of ways of functioning over the years. Be interviewed on national radio? Sure! (Terrified inside and regretting acceptance). Give a talk? A lecture? Okay! (Help!!) Meet a group of people I've never met irl? No problem (only minor anxiety). Last year I accepted an invitation to a weekend sewing session in a small group and to stay overnight with the organiser - I didn't know any of them and only the organiser briefly online. That was fine, I enjoyed it and have made friends. My motto is ‘have car, will travel’ . Having said that I'm a ♋ cancerian (do any of you believe in that?) and a home lover (I'm always desperate to get home) and very soft centred, easily hurt but with a harder outer shell.

Our train is delayed as there is a broken down train ahead so that has caused delay. Fortunately I got an earlier train than necessary so this might work out well. We're near Newark.

We might be stopped for a while - they can't tell us yet how long. But I'll wait a while before putting on my makeup. Oh, we're moving!

What else will I say at the moment? I feel unprepared clothes-wise and style-wise for today's meetup. I've put on weight and have nothing that fits well. It's hot in London so I'm wearing a blue patterned summer dress. It's lined and a little less loose than I'd like! With being up at my mother's helping her move, I haven't had time to get my hair trimmed. Oh well! This is more the real me! Make up will help.

I've remembered to bring my colour swatches. We're shopping after lunch. I'm a RTW Faster so am not intending to buy anything but I would if I saw the ideal item! It would need to be at least a 9 out of 10. I'm sooo short of clothes and just haven't had time to make. I have fit issues and there is still no TNT on the horizon. Losing this extra weight is going to take a while - easy on, difficult to get off. I neeeed clothes!

We've just been told the delay cost us 30 minutes so that is pretty good timing to meet some of the others. There are still some FB messages going back and forth so I have been able to say that I will be at the meet point.

Last night we heard that one stepper coming from Austria had a problem due to her flight being cancelled. I hope she makes itIf everyone makes it, we will be 13 in number. Are you superstitious? I'm not, really.

I'll carry on with this post on the way home.

I'm on the train. On my way back home. I'm glad as I feel quite tired. I have a lovely seat. Just the right temperature and wi-fi.

There were 13 of us. Daniella made it from Austria. I met up with 4 others in King's Cross and we walked to the Granary Square Brasserie and bumped into Daniela on the way. Because it was such a hot and sunny day, they were going to seat us outside. However, we were in favour of sitting indoors with the air conditioning and plenty of cold drinks. One of our party, Alison, is in a wheelchair and needed suitable facilities

It was lovely to chat to people I ‘knew’ but had never met. I had never had my signature colours done because I felt my photos were of such poor quality. I took advantage of Imogen and had them done live; she also confirmed my colour and value contrast and body shape. I have quite a few signature colours - I'm very lucky. Not everyone has so many.

This is my swatch. They're not ask signature colours but there are quite a few!

A signature colour is one that enhances eyes, lips or skin. One of the pinks tones in with the lip gloss I wore today.

Because I have colour in my eyes and skin, I can wear two colours rather than the neutrals plus one colour I previously thought.

It was very interesting seeing the colour swatches of the others there and comparing and contrasting. Some shades overlap, of course.

There was a lot of talk of personality types. I'll work on mine next week. I have a better idea now. Imogen had previously said to contact her but I didn't have time and didn't want to take up more of her time today.

You won't be surprised to learn that by the time we had eaten and chatted and got the bill sorted (thanks Tracey) people were getting ready to return home or to their hotels. No shopping. Well it means I haven't broken my fast!!

Ruth and I had a bit of time to kill before our trains so we sat with a cold drink and poured over the latest issue of Burda and discussed sewing until it was time to leave for our trains.

It was a long and expensive day but worth it! I'm playing in a golf league match tomorrow (the last of the season) but I have time to settle, get to bed at a reasonable time and even have a long lie if the birds and sunshine allow! I will have to wear the golf trousers I showed on my last blog post but hopefully I'll manage to make a nice pair of trousers - I've set September as a target.

I've just moved coach as our air conditioning broke down. This coach is much cooler. I've decided to post this blog if I can - I've never done it entirely on my phone! I didn't ask permission of the others to post their photos.

Plans for 2018

Plans for 2018

Comment - I had major problems with formatting the text - the end piece is awful but no matter what I do, I can't correct it - it just seems to get worse! At first it was lack of line wrapping but in this post, it's to do with bullet points. I trust you will overlook this!! I don't want to remove the post altogether.

RTW Fast

I have joined Goodbye Valentino’s 2018 RTW Fast. It’s easy for me not to buy RTW as it doesn’t fit - far harder for me to sew things I need. I’ve bought so very little over the last 3 years - the only thing, other than bras etc, that I can remember is my MOB outfit for Helen’s wedding in summer 2016 - I had planned to make my outfit for that but ran out of time - but still have lots of ideas and some beautiful fabrics. I tried to go sale shopping in advance of starting the fast on January 1st  - the only thing I actually bought was a cup of coffee! There were a couple of ‘nearlies’ - a cashmere pullover which was maybe a 7 and a dress which was maybe not the right size but I liked the fabric. I decided not to try either. Reference to ‘7’ - if each item of clothing you are contemplating buying is rated out of 10, you shouldn’t really buy if it’s less than an 8! That takes into account appearance, style, colour, fabric, fit etc. Obviously, if you’re desperate for something, you might have to become less discriminating and might drop to 6. This was not necessary for me so I declined purchasing.

7 Steps to Style

I am a member of 7 Steps to Style and evolve Your Style and will be trying to ensure that I stay true to my best colours and styles.

Patterns and garments

I will be working on creating blocks/slopers as already started and TNTs from commercial patterns. I will choose a small selection to work on.

Fabrics

I intend to use up (or at least break into) the special fabrics I have in my collection - dupion silk, other silks and lovely wools. These were bought for MOB possibilities. However, I am happy to buy good quality fabrics for projects as they come up. I’ve made more mistakes over unsuitable fabric than I can tally up. No more!!

MAGAM
The year will be largely devoted to sewing for me. If time is short, I will prioritise my sewing rather than that for others! I’m so selfish! (David says it’s time I was doing this as I sew for others and do very little for myself) I will try to put in a garment each month for the MAGAM challenge hosted by Sarah Liz - but I won’t sew something ‘for the sake of it’ eg for a contest or challenge.

Garments planned

I plan to make pieces which work together, based on a navy neutral and a grey (or just possibly burgundy) secondary neutral.

I have reread The Vivienne Files, Starting Out and 4 x 4 and plan to base what I do loosely on that.

As there are quite a few garments here, I decided to link into #2018makenine. As far as I can see, it’s simply to post plans for 9 garments over the course of the year. No penalty if you don’t achieve 9. Only thing is, they seem to be largely Indie patterns and I will mainly be sewing with the Big 4or my blocks if I can get them sorted.

I’m going to jump into my sewing this year with a repeat of the kimono I mad for Joanne. I modelled it as Joanne wasn’t available and really liked it. I have enough of the fabric left. It’s not quite in my colours - it’s black and wine, but I still have wearable black trousers. It’s an easy make. It probably needs a suitable top underneath - the black top I used for the photos was too drab.

This is Joanne's but I think I have enough fabric to make another

I modelled it

Trousers/pants - these will either be based on commercial patterns or my block. Perfecting a pair of trousers is my key aim for 2018

·        Navy trousers - at least two pairs. I wear trousers almost all the time. Maybe 1 in heavier and 1 in lighter fabric for our version of summer. I might use my block but I think it could be easier to get Vogue 9189, which comes in tall (as well as petite and regular) to work.

• Burgundy or grey trousers. I have burgundy wool suitable for trousers but I’m not sure I have any grey.
• I can’t afford to make too many pairs as I MUST lose weight.
• I may try to make Style Arc Barb. I have the PDF with 3 sizes so that might work.

Jeans

·        I’d like to make a pair of jeans for myself. Not sure as yet which pattern I would use. Possibly McCall’s 5894 ‘The Perfect Jean’ and I’m sure I have another and of course, my block. I don’t have any Indie patterns for jeans. I have some denim I bought to use last year. Navy with stretch. Also, David wanted a pair of grey jeans and I bought the fabric - I might have to requisition that!

McCall's 5894 The Perfect Jean by Palmer/Pletsch

Jackets - commercial patterns

·        The Chanel-type jacket is navy based and will work with these. The jacket also has black, blue, pink and white in it, colours I’ll be able to pick out in accents. I’ll finish that by the end of the month and I should be able to post a completed version then - too many things going on in January to think I could be faster than that. It's my mother's 90th birthday this coming week and the whole family is getting together to celebrate. All this hand sewing is SLOW.

·        The Grainline Morris jacket - probably in cobalt/royal blue boiled wool. However, I’m still not convinced that the fit is quite right. So I might not do this at all. I would like a really casual  jacket.

Cardigans - x3

• I’m not sure what patterns I will use here as yet. I have a couple of Style Arc patterns and I haven't tried this brand as yet. These will be worn with trousers and top, a style with which I am very comfortable. So one will be navy. One perhaps grey. And I’ve just purchased online a double faced navy/grey wool - this may be for a heavier jacket. I will wait to see how it feels when it arrives. I also have McCall's 6844 which I’ve used before. I made a peplum version that time but would forgo that this time.

McCall's 6844 - I'e made this previously and it's very popular

McCall's 6966 - similar but less popular.

Style Arc Abby. I've never used SA. This is a single sized paper pattern and I don't know if I have the correct size!

Blouse/tops/tunics

• I intend to use natural fibres to make two, maybe three tops, if I have time. I have a number of RTW tops that still have life left in them so I don't need to go overboard. These will go with navy trousers and some with burgundy or grey. I have plain navy silk, though not much so maybe just enough for a tank; a lovely navy based silk; a baby blue crinkle silk (might be too pale for me though) and maybe a couple of other navy based prints that I bought when I was going to do PR’s wardrobe contest last year. It would have been great to do but I can’t sew that fast!
• Navy silk tank - probably using the pattern I drew up last year.
• One other item that I recognised was missing from my wardrobe was a plain jewel necked long sleeved tee shirt type top dressy enough for use under my blue checked jacket. I’m not sure what fabric this would be - preferably natural, preferably with some stretch (are the two compatible?) and in a fine smooth luxury fabric. Which pattern? I'm not sure - I don't think I will/I won't use the Cashmerette Concord though.

Special occasion

• Dress and indoor type jacket (I haven’t decided on pattern to use as yet). I will use Royal blue dupion silk.

Shirt dress

• I’m not quite sure which of my commercial patterns I’ll use. I have got a lovely fabric which has blues and greys and an almost peach-skin surface in mind for it. Also some classic chambray.
• I'd also like  to make a casual every day dress in ponte de Roma - I could perhaps use the PR Winter Street Dress which I have made previously

I've made this 3 times previously, or is it 4? I've made the required modifications to the pattern (which were many!)

For others

Although I have said I plan to be more selfish this year, I also have some items to make for my family

• Alison - I made a dress toile but hadn’t seen her in it and she told me she had gained a bit of weight. At Christmas, we were able to confirm I could go ahead with the dress. She had thought that as what I had sent her was a ‘toile’ she couldn’t wear it but I confirmed that she could, provided she liked it. The skirt part of the dress is a thicker fabric than the original but Alison confirmed that she liked that. I don't have the fabric for this dress as yet. A navy background rather than black is the plan. She has to wear black at work, but navy is her preference. When she tried it on for me, it was clear that the sleeves aren't right - I’ll ask advice about that when my classes restart next week.

• Joanne - I will make her a pair of shorts. She wants black, as before.

Shorts identical to previous ones. I have the pattern. I’ve made it twice previously. It fits. It shouldn't take too long once I start. I’ve ordered the nicer of the two fabrics I used previously and the lace trim  - from Minerva fabrics.

• Helen - a green silk dress. I’ve said she needs to buy the fabric for
  

  this herself. She has much better opportunities to buy as she lives in London.
  I got the last lot in Goldhawk Road and though that takes her over an hour to
  get there, that’s still far less than it takes me! I remember they had a nice
  green at the time I bought the red silk.

  
  

The long-awaited red silk dress. The green silk dress should be identical 

Also, the tartan skirt using our family tartan that has been on the cards for a couple of years now. Helen still hasn’t chosen the style - so that might be for her birthday or Christmas in 2018:

Style 2 - not our tartan

Style 1 - not our tartan

• David - graphite jeans, another pair of brushed denim jeans and a checked shirt. I have all these fabrics. I also have fabric for a jacket but don't think that will see the light of day! David is in no hurry for any of these.

  
  

  
  
• Grandsons - not sure really about whether to go ahead with shirts and gilets as contemplated.
• Probably not!
• Crucially, I plan to track my fabrics, patterns and makes rather more thoroughly in 2018 than I have done up until now!
  
  
  
  We had a number of trials in 2017, which I won’t go into, and hope that 2018 will be better from that point of view. We are hoping to downsize and move in this coming year so that will have an impact on sewing time available. I will take into account availability of classes/sewing tutoring available when we are deciding where to move to as I will really miss what I get just now.

Colour - the third step in 7 Steps to Style - part 1

This is a pictureless way overdue post; it has been in draft for many weeks. 

Colour has always been important to me. I recognised early in my life that there were some colours that I shouldn't wear. Not always for the most obvious reasons. One of these was orange during the Orange Walk (orange and turquoise were the seasons colours) ;  another was green for similar reasons - at that time,  when I was young,  there was a lot of  bigotry dressed up as football support; one team was green and white and Roman Catholic, the other was blue and Protestant. I was challenged on many occasions (what team do you support? - 'None' wasn't an acceptable answer) and attacked on one. I detest bigotry.

Another was the mortification of being so tall that I was made a daffodil in the school play. Green and yellow. Not my colours. Yet in my late teens, I had a yellow unlined, thin cotton blazer that I loved. A better shade of yellow! 

I wore whites for tennis and  badminton but recognised that they didn't suit me; it didn't really matter much,  though, as this was the required kit.  Black drained me. I still disliked and avoided green. All greens. 

When I got married, as I have posted in an earlier blog post,  I wore ivory as I didn't suit white. I don't need to say more here. 

35 years ago,  I had my colours done by Colour Me Beautiful in a group activity. This was great as there was feedback from everyone in the group. My 'best colour' (a beautiful blue) was recognised by everyone. There was no doubt I was a 'summer' - in those days there was no subdivision. I was given a fabric swatch of colours; there was even a green that was good for me. The trouble is, I was stuck with what the shops actually sold. One year the 'in colour' was lime green - so not me. I didn't dressmake in those days, although there were far more fabric shops. I'm not sure how fashion affected the availability of colours in fabrics in those days, but assume I would have had a greater choice. I've lost the fabric swatch somewhere in my many moves over the years. 

Fortunately, work involved a uniform,  of sorts. In the first few years,  a white coat,  then in later years business type suits with blouses. The suits were never lime green! I favoured navy.

Towards the end of my career,  I became more casual.  I had achieved everything I wanted to and no longer needed to impress on the basis of a suit which didn't work for my normal work. There was an increasing split between the clinical side (suit far too formal to communicate appropriately with young people - what message is it giving? - trousers and top ideal; jeans would have been okay if I'd been younger but young people hate their elders trying to be trendy if it's not their usual behaviour) and the management side (suit expected). I decided to move back from the management side - I'd done my stint.

My trousers were usually black or navy. Not exciting but a good basis for tops of various colours and styles. Black really isn't my colour but it's so universal. It's okay keeping it away from my face.

Cool v Warm
So far, using colour swatches from 7 Steps to Style, I have confirmed that I lie on the cool side rather than the warm side of the spectrum. I tend to suit silver and white gold jewellery rather than yellow gold, which isn't surprising when my hair is silver grey. My reds are blue reds rather than orange reds. Blues are pretty good. Blue allows green to be worn, though I don't like it - yellow greens are awful on me. Black, yellow and orange are virtual no-nos.

Bright v muted

I suit muted, smoky or soft rather than bright colours. That is, colours with more grey in them. This is common with age. The brighter colours that I loved may not be the best suited to me as I age. My makeup colours will also be softer. I don't dye my hair but if I did I'd need to be careful about the shade.

Light v Dark

The third component is light v dark. I am light. That is I suit lighter rather than darker shades, on the whole. My favourite colours are darker, though, sosome adjustment needed here. 

Contrast value

I have medium value contrast. This is because my eyes are quite dark and my hair fair.

All these factors need to be taken into account when considering the best colour, tone and shade to wear.

Sublime v Serene 

I was sent two sets of colours to test.  Sublime v Serene.  Each of these sets had a subset of neutrals and a subset of colours. I saw both colours and neutrals in both of the sets that would suit me. I eventually managed to post photos of me holding the cards,  to help decide,  via the Facebook forum,  which of these sets of colours was more appropriate for me.

I am a serene person! 

Interestingly,  the cards had some greens and I was able to identify virtually matching shades in my wardrobe - I found a long sleeved tee shirt,  a jumper and a short sleeved T-shirt.

Signature Colours Identification overdue! 

I am way overdue to post photos to further refine my best colours. Unfortunately, I've been unwell and my skin has been looking rather green and sickly! I'm beginning to feel better now,  and the weather has picked up, so I hope I will manage to do this next step soon, once I'm back home. I'm helping my visually impaired mother with her paperwork; she is moving house to a more appropriate one level flat. 

I will take my best colours into account when making new clothes. Anything I make will have to work with multiple garments and there will have to be a clear need. One of the first things I want to make is a well fitting pair of slim trousers. I think grey is my black. Grey goes nicely with a lot of colours.

I think burgundy (or marsala?, Pantone colour of the year) is likely to be a suitable neutral along with grey and navy. I have lovely pieces of wool in burgundy, grey, navy - and black.

But that's me jumping ahead again! I reckon I need to post this post as part 1 because it's been sitting in draft form for weeks! Then I'll post part 2 when my signature colours are identified,  with the help of the Facebook group and of course Imogen. 

I feel I can't post pictures on my blog on this topic as I'm not sure about copyright etc. Am I allowed to post a Pantone colour?  I'm not sure about Imogen's swatches. Does purchase of these mean that I can? I assume not. 

Some thoughts arising from step 2 of 7 Steps to Style

At first,  this didn't seem so difficult. After all, I know my body! At least,  I thought I did!

I've always had difficulties getting clothes to fit. I'm 5'11" and while I may be shrinking down with age, it hasn't happened significantly yet! I was 5'10" by age 12 and that was extremely difficult for me. I towered over girls and boys alike - it wasn't until I was 18 that boys,  some boys, became taller than me. Can you feel my pain?

I'm afraid I can't insert many photos as I cannot change them to jpeg and it seems that Blogger only detects jpeg - or at least it doesn't detect Tiff. DH will work on this.



Young teenager around 14 I think

At 12, growing up in a fairly small town, though within 20 miles of Glasgow, I had UK size 7 feet. Stilettos were in fashion - not suitable for school or for someone who wished she were smaller! However,  girls' shoes only went up to size 2. So boys' shoes it was! Clumsy and laced.  No Internet in those days!  I remember my delight when one range of shoes - Stylo - started making girls' school type shoes, slip on, no laces, that fitted me!! Trousers were half length...  Skirts were too short...  There were no tights until I was in my later teens and they were expensive, so kept for church, so short skirts were a problem. There is no doubt that children now are taller, of course. My two older daughters are not as tall as me but my youngest is taller. My children don't have problems getting trousers that are long enough or buying shoes. Then,  they're happy with waistbands way below the waist and so on. I'm not.

I remember my mother commenting that at 5'8½" she towered over everyone in her generation (except my dad 6'1½") and had to squeeze her size 6 or 7 feet into shoes that cost a fortune and were too small. Wages were low but relative prices were very high, shoes costing several weeks' wages. She always towered over her generation but felt dwarfed by the girls in her year when she went to college in her 40s.


17 I think

Me at 19

 My particular problems of length and shoe size of my younger years are no longer really a problem - trouser leg length goes up longer than I need and shoes are available in big sizes, in a range of widths and styles.  LTS, which caters for tall women,  points out that they grade everything to suit a tall lady,  not just hem length. This is important because my extra height (and I'm pretty small for LTS!)  is not just in my legs. I'm longer from neck to bust, from bust to waist, have a longer crotch depth and longer legs. The extra length is not just in the legs.  Mine isn't completely evenly spaced. My torso is relatively long and my legs relatively shorter. What that means is that I can't just buy regular trousers and take the hem down. I don't particularly like the LTS styles,  unfortunately, and I can never get them to fit... but they have the theory correct.



Age 23 not long after I got married

Also age 23

I've made things more difficult for myself by getting firstly older and secondly fatter. So many styles in the shops are geared towards the younger wear and throw away generation.  They're not for me. Naturally, I'm looking for styles to suit me now, not my younger self. I have no wish to be seen as mutton dressed as lamb. A lot of the styles just don't suit.  Those that might, don't fit. Dresses with waistlines - waistline too high, skirt too short - and no hems these days to let down. Sleeve lengths too short, so jackets and blouses don't fit. Bust darts too high etc.  

Being older, my figure is drifting south and I've put weight on. I have a tendency to put weight on around my hips and thighs. More recently, I've found I've also put weight on my tummy, never a problem before now.

So I started with a slim (but never skinny despite the refrain at school...), tall hourglass figure. When at school, I was athletic - swimming, netball, badminton,  hockey, tennis and golf at different times. As I was academic, gradually these were given up,  apart from badminton, as I needed longer to study. I didn't ever have the slim athletic figure associated with sports. My hefty thighs and 'childbearing' hips were always the thing I liked least about my figure. At times, my fashion choices were quite dramatic - and my minis were very short.



With my parents at my graduation

Graduation age 23

University years (6) and my early career years, in particular, led to some weight gain because of lack of exercise and poor eating habits. My very long hours and irregular eating patterns were not body friendly. Lack of money as a student and lack of time when working, not to mention a lack of social outlets, meant that fashion was never as big an issue with me as it was with many of my peers.

When I got married (sorry I can't get any wedding photos to post), shortly after I graduated, we did so with only 18 days between the decision and the ceremony, although we had intended to get married 'one day'. (In those days,  couples did not live together before marriage; we lived 100 miles apart and in fact that continued for the first 18 months of our marriage because of work commitments.) I chose to get married on a bank holiday Monday, which no one in their right mind did, as this meant I was able to get church, minister, organist, photographer, cars and reception venue of my choice without the two year waiting list for more popular dates.  I suppose many people must have wrongly considered I might be pregnant because of our time scale. I wasn't and we didn't have our first child until 6 years later.

 

There were only two flies in the ointment. The first was that in those days, flowers were not available on Mondays (in those days everything was closed on Sunday) My town had 2 florists. The first could not help other than by using artificial flowers. The second could get flowers but could not say what they would be;  they asked for some idea of colours. I went with them and my flowers were beautiful.

 

The second was my wedding dress. I went to a wedding dress parlour to look and to buy. I indicated I didn't suit white and wanted ivory or cream. The assistant poo-hooed this idea until I tried some on. She then moved towards her small stock of not white. I liked the 👗 dress I bought from the start. It was simple, not frilly and suitable for our small scale wedding. However, it was a little short. The sales assistant could get one made longer but it would take 12 weeks!  I bought the dress I tried on and wore flat satin pumps dyed to match my dress.

Not an official photo and doesn't show shoes or dress length

I bought a short veil that I was not going to cover my face with. My dress and accessories were not expensive, as we just didn't have any money,  though we were fortunately not straddled with student debt, as my daughters are now. Getting married had never been something I dreamed of. My cousin got married and my mother was sick of hearing endlessly about plans over the course of more than 2 years and suggested at that stage she'd give me money to elope rather than go through that again. The idea suited me nicely. However, my mother couldn't go through with it for fear of public opinion. A big issue in a small town in the 70s.

There has never been mention of dressmaking in all this because there wasn't any,  really, although I did find a dressmaker to make my 'going away' outfit. I took up sewing for our home - curtains and later baby duvets etc. I did knit by hand and later by machine. I had some other artistic interests but not dressmaking.

I did actually sew a dress for myself while pregnant with my first child as maternity fashions were so awful. Mine wasn't much better but I did use it regularly - a simple pinafore to fit over tops and blouses. Otherwise,  I was still able to buy RTW.

I think the issues that led to RTW not working for me were the combination of me getting older and wanting to move away from young fashion while fashion focuses on the young and weight gain which led to an emphasis of my figure quibbles. At work I wore business suits, shirts, blouses and tops and these I could get.

For leisure,  I play golf which has a whole wardrobe associated with it!. My clothes are neither the most fashionable nor the best fitting but they're fine. Until my dressmaking improves so that I can make well fitting cropped trousers, that is.

I took up dressmaking to try to create clothes for the weekend, while not golfing, that fitted. Casual but not sloppy (I have plenty of clothes for the garden and decorating etc) and smart casual. My business suits no longer cut the mustard.

 

Obviously, the average pattern is aimed at a shorter woman than me. It's not surprising that I have to make alterations and adjustments to get garments to fit from these (though when I first started sewing I perhaps thought it was just finding the right pattern). I wasn't really expecting to find that I had high and asymmetrical hips, a bit of a sway back or a pseudo sway back. I knew that my hips and thighs were larger than my waist and chest and that I had to adjust for that. So,  a pear shaped figure. My high hips have also meant that if I buy say trousers, they could fit in thighs, be too big at waist but tight in the high hip area.

In 7 Steps to Style, there are a number of figure categories.  An 'X' which is an hourglass. An 'A' which is a pear. An '8' which I thought was probably me - a rough hourglass with high hips,  bigger on top than a pear. And of course, other shapes, which are unlike me.  To my shock,  I was categorised as an 'H', suggesting that I had no waist to speak of. There were clothing suggestions for each figure type,  designed to focus attention away from less desirable areas towards the more. I don't empathise with the suggestions for me as an 'H'. Several styles are suggested that I have always actively avoided e.g. double breasted jackets and coats and jackets with empire waistlines. Hopefully I'll lose the  H label when I start to lose my excess weight. In addition, there are suggestions for spectacles and hairstyles based on face shape and footwear based on frame size.

There wasn't too much new for me in terms of suggestions  - the big shock was the realisation that I have allowed recent events,  over the last 6 months or so,  to cause me to lose track of my weight gain and figure change. That's going to change. I'm not likely to actively use the clothing suggestions until I have lost weight.

Next step is Colours.