Moving Your Wardrobe from Winter to MayApril 24, 2026 And it's about time. We've had the strangest spring, so I've had a very hard time in getting into the mood for warmer weather. I'm still wearing my beautiful black coat for goodness sakes.
I mean, it's a great look, but it's still cold here! My peonies are blooming, and it's still high of 62°! But I'm looking forward to changing to summer. And I have a few things along the way to help me. When in Houston a couple of weeks ago, we did snoop around and some RTW shops, and hit Carolina Herrera, which is always a great place for classic clothes.
Lots of black and white and lots of white ground with black spalsh. But we saw a gorgeous polka dot with colored flowers very similar to this piece. This will make a perfect top for summer a la Carolina Herrera.
This is going to make a great transition piece and screams summer. To the right of it, you can see some other black-and-white prints that are also classic but "splashy." Yeah, I know that sounds impossible, but leave it to some great designers like
Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta to come up with solutions for the impossible. There's nothing that sings "resort" and summertime better
than a Breton Shirt. Even Ralph Lauren can't have a spring/summer season without a Breton shirt.
So who am I to defy another classic designer?
I couldn't wait on this one, cause it is spring after all (even if it's still cold).
I actually won't wear these pants till it gets just a little warmer, but this is going to be one of my summer go-to outfits.
But I did get another Breton-esque stripe a la Cary Grant in "It Takes A Thief." This can be more of a very quiet stripe. I swear Edith Head outdid herself in that movie, of course, the script with all the gorgeous clothes was a costumer's dream
(especially the costume ball at the end)!
Another inspiration from Ralph Lauren is this great contrast collar/cuff shirt.
This has always been a classic for Lauren. I remember making one like this - one of my first shirts with set-in sleeves and collarband with set-in collar, that looked store-bought. When my husband at the time came home and asked where I got it, I said
I made it, and he was duly impressed. So the beautiful red cotton iridescent that I got is going to have these contrasting cuffs just to remind
myself that I can still do this.
Here's the beautiful white, that I've already made the pre-requisite white blouse for summer. This is the gorgeous Egyptian, long-staple cotton that is as smooth as glass. It's in a sateen weave which makes it even more elegant.
Another nice iridescent that I love using is a light tan/brown fabric that I got specifically for pants.
If this looks slightly green, it's not your monitor. The colors here really do lend themselves to a green look. The tan (a muted yellow) and black (made with lots of cobalt blue) make a dulled/muted green. This is something Armani used to do all
the time. His fabrics would look one way up close, another way about 2 feet away, and still another 6 feet away. I can see why he would do this. His classic pants and jackets were classic, but to keep them from becoming boring, he would use fabrics like this to add more depth and interest.
And nothing looks more classic than a small plaid pant (this one is stretch - with a nice 25% stretch too - so I'll do the Sailor Sue from StyleArc in this one), but this will be a great classic look for summer. And in the fall, I can transition this with a
black shirt and jacket.
So far, this is what I'm looking at to do the transition from winter to summer:
- Already have the new white shirt
- Red iridescent cotton with white collar/cuffs
- Already have one Breton Shirt
- Have fabric for another more subdued Breton shirt
- Irridescent fabric for nice classic pants
- Armani-esque light-weight wool in light tan for pants
- Classic Polka Dot for a summer top - not sure which pattern for this yet.
- Two black and white fabrics for tops
for summer
- Already have the cream pants, half lined
- Three tropical prints for camp type shirts
One thing missing is the longer tailored jacket to replace my wonderful black longer jacket. I've ordered some, but for the first time ever, it came in with a lot of holes. They sent extra yardage, but the holes prevent me from getting the length of the
jacket I want. The store and I have been trading phone messages, so we will work this out, and I'll report here how it goes. They want to make it right, so I'm sure there's no problem. The fun part is that I have a lot of fun sewing ahead, and it reminds me of the days when I would be full of ideas from one season to the next about fun projects to sew. I've had the same silhouette in my clothing, so sewing something new now is really too
much fun!
Classic and "quiet quality" can get boring very easily. But drawing inspiration from good designers can help prevent this. Carolina Herrera and Ralph Lauren are two of the best, and it's really easy to see why their things are so classic and worth the money.
But I don't have to pay that large price tag....AND I can make it with all sorts of special things just for me. Lately, I've noticed that I'm shrinking more on one side than the
other... my left leg seems a little higher (I know that side has a higher hip), and my right shoulder is a little lower. The great thing is that, since I can do my own clothes, I can make my left pant leg a little longer and put a 3/8" shoulder pad on my left and a 1/2" on my right. And I look pretty balanced. We sewists really are lucky.
Let the sewing begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So this week, you get a little something extra. Just 5 minutes after you receive this newsletter, you will receive the "Mood Haul" letter I sent out on 3/20/26. Unfortunately, I didn't have the link to the Mood Haul video, but I do in this one.
You've probably read it, but now you get to see the video ....and if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a thousand pictures!!!
Enjoy!
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This is a sad day - the loss of a classic tradition. Armani held the line
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Tracking a fashion trend isn't all that hard after seeing a few of them.
Living from Mid-Century Modern through Twiggy...
It's worth the time to look at these styles, particularly today as
there is a group of that wants to look....
This is the way fashion used to be -- pretty, flattering and I can't wait to make some of...
NOTE: There are some folks who can't get my email, or it's sporadic, or something is hinky. I will always respond to any of you who send a private message, whether it's about the topic of the week or something else. If you don't get anything
from me, it's probably because the [email protected] email is blocked, and even a private message can't get through. In that case, I'm on Instagram often, and you can always PM me at @sewingartistry.
As a precaution,
please ensure I'm in your email Address Book and check your spam, junk, and trash folders. Some email clients get extra excited when they see emails coming into the Inbox that go to many other receivers. They automatically think it's trash or spam, and it never makes it to the Inbox. I must constantly check my spam and junk folders to ensure I'm getting the emails I subscribe to.
To view in browser along with past emails, click here. We respect your email privacy. |
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