Nina Garcia #5 - Ballet Flat

My Nina Garcia project has come to a complete standstill.  Only because I'm stumped. 
Number 5 on her list of The One Hundred things every woman should have in her closet is.....ballet flats.

Brigitte Bardot and Audry Hepburn made them famous. Nina Garcia describes them as "the go-to shoe for those times when heels are out of the question".  This is where I'm torn. 

I thought about sewing a ballet skirt.  But the last time I've taken dance classes (and worn one) was at least 12 years ago. And I don't WANT to make a ballet outfit.  This is how I picture myself when I think of me doing ballet:

So then I figured I'd make an outfit similar to those worn my Audrey Hepburn or Brigitte Bardot.

Well, Bardot wore a lot of leggings.  Which look nice with ballet flats.  But which don't look so nice on my Polish dupa.  And, in Milwaukee, most women seen in leggings also wear baggy shirts, don't do their hair, and generally look like they've given up.

Audrey Hepburn, with her small nose and her pixie looks is just unappealiong to me and I don't wish to duplicate her look at all.  When you get right down to it, I don't like wearing ballet flats. My feet are too wide, for one.  And I walk fast so I feel like they're going to fall off.  Committed to my Nina Garcia project,  I've been stuck on how to incorporate ballet flats into this project. 

Then the Conductor and I went to a Wine and Harvest Festival in Cedarburg, WI and found a bead shop to poke around in.  I was pretty tipsy but I managed to control myself around the beads (I'll show what else I bought in an upcoming post). Anyway, I stumbled upon the perfect solution:

Aren't they cute!  Ballet flats as a jewelry charm!

I turned them into a bracelet.

So...technically....I now have ballet flats in my collection of The One Hundred pieces every stylish woman must own. I'm unstuck and moving on! 

Nina Garcia #4

It’s time for the next installment of my Nina Garcia project. I’m sewing all 100 of the things every woman should have in her closet, as outlined in her book The One Hundred.

Item #3 is Aviator shades. Aviator sunglasses were developed by Ray-Ban and modeled in 1936 after the fighter pilot goggles that Ray-Ban was making for the military at the time. Although Tom Cruise made them totally hot again in 1986’s Top Gun, technically Ray-Ban hadn’t been supplying the military with fighter goggles since 1982.

Ray-Ban’s typically start at about $99. But I found these beauties for $0.99 at the  99 Cent Store. This is another item on Nina Garcia’s list that can’t be sewn. But I made a cool top to wear them with.

This top is McCall's 3054 which appears to be out of print.  I hear "Ray Ban's" and I think motorcycle ride.  I thought this top looked like a cool get-up to go for a motorcycle ride.  The bike's not actually mine.  It belongs to my mom's husband.

The old man coming in through the door with his walker is mine though.  That's my Grampa Clifford making his Internet debut.  He asked me once, "Say!  That innernet thing....does that have anything to do with computers."  He's so cute.

By dumb luck, at a church rummage sale, I happened to find a cute little aviator shade pin too. You can see it on my left shoulder.

Aviator shades  one last time:

Nina Garcia #3

I've had so many projects to do that I didn't realize I was neglecting my Nina Garcia project.  I'm attempting to sew all of the one hundred must have items Nina Garcia, of Project Runway fame, describes in her book The One Hundred.  I just finished must have item #3 - Ankle Boots.

Um...but you can't actually sew a pair of boots.  I realized after I started this project that Nina's book details quite a few wardrobe items that can't be sewn.  So I'm going to have to fudge it a little with some of them and sew an item to wear WITH the must have item.

Nina talks about how ankle boots were first meant to hide under trousers until designers in the 80's started putting them on runway models.  "Everyone wondered," she writes, "why we had been hiding these shoes under our pants for so long." 

I can tell you why.  Because that's the only way ankle boots look good.  Look at this example:

This is one of the better examples I found.  I HATE wearing completely exposed ankle boots.  I hate (contrary to Nina's advice) mixing a masuline feeling shoe with a feminine looking out fit.  I also disagree with her claim that they are a great alternative to the pump.  Ankle boots with my business suits?  I think not.  You may as well just wear combat boots with a prom dress. 

But I love the look of ankle boots under a nice pair of trousers. 

I do not, however, love making pants.  I have two fitting issues with pants that, until recently, I was unable to find a good fitting solution for.  One, is my potbelly and the other is my Polish dupa.  (That would be a bubble butt for all you non-Polaks). 

But the project must continue so I set out to find a good alteration method.  Stumbling on an article in Sew Stylish magazine (Fall 2009 issue), I finally had an easy to understand answer!  I used a cheap grey linen look fabric as my muslin. 

Basically you take your front and back trouser pieces and at least 2 inches to the top.  I added seven inches.  Sew the front to back as usual. 

Then you try them on - - and custom fit the darts at your natural waistline.  Wow!!  It's one of those "I can't beleive I didn't think of that before" techniques.   After the darts, you cut off the excess top and finish your top edge.  (Precise directions vary depending whether pants have a facing, a casing, or a waistband). 

Here's what I got:

Amazing! As you can see, this method allows the pants to rest up at my natural waist and it totally accomodated my toosh and my belly. Custom fitting the darts allowed the tucks to go where I need them and eliminates them where I don't. Finally! Pants that fit around my waist!

And don't they look cute atop those ankle boots? 

But good thing these were only a muslin because look what else I got:

Say cheese!  The wrinkles here are called "smiling crotch".  It's a fit issue created when the hip width of your pants isn't wide enough.  The pants want more room so they pull fabric up from your legs.  The pulling effort creates the impression that your crotch is smiling.   

The Sew Stylish article does say.....all the way in step 4.....to take in or let out the sides before final stitching.  Putting this at step four isn't so helpful if your pieces are cut too small to begin with.  Next time, when I'm adding my extra inches to the top, I will also add extra inches to the side seam area.  Then I will also have room to custom ize the hips as well as the waist. 

For now, I'm grateful I found a fitting technique that's easy to follow and makes sense! 

And I have the ankle boots.

Next project:  Aviator shades

Nina Garcia #2

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.   ~ Alexei Sayle

I just finished item #2 of my Nina Garcia project. I’m sewing all 100 of the things every woman should have in her closet, as outlined in her book The One Hundred. Her first item was the A-line skirt. Item #2 is the Animal Print which Nina describes as “an element of danger in an otherwise safe outfit.” The key phrase is “an element”.


Recall high school chemistry class. You take several elements and string them together to make the whole compound. (Like H20) – two hydrogens added to one oxygen (the elements) gives you water (the whole compound). It’s the same with fashion. One nice top, one nice headband, one nice necklace and ONE animal printed skirt gives you the finished look. If you add more than one animal print anywhere in your outfit, you run the risk of being mistaken for a cheetah that’s escaped from the local zoo.  Although this wedding dress from intimateweddings dot com is just breathtaking:

An example of the right way to do animal prints is like this outfit I've had in my clipping binder for years. 
 

This would normally be “an otherwise safe outfit” - a flirty skirt with a casual top. But the fact that the skirt has an animal print really gives the whole ensemble just enough pop to be borderline dangerous. Here’s my version:

  I used my new favorite skirt pattern, New Look 6463 (which I lined) and a great knit shirt pattern, Vogue 7967.  (I know my eyes are closed but trying to take pictures of yourself is a drag). 

To achieve the neckline that my inspiration picture has I used a black belt buckle I had on hand:

The only downside to completing ths outfit is that I like to wear colors and prints seasonally.  Both brown and animal prints just say "fall" to me, so I'll have to wait a few months to wear this outfit.  Here's one last shot of the animal print number up close: