clothing

[sakon76]

I've come to realize that I'm really not comfortable with most of my wardrobe. Now, granted, I'm a fairly casual person, but I guess working in an office had to get to me sooner or later. I've not been buying t-shirts from the cons I attend/work now for rather some years because I can only wear so many t-shirts, being limited to wearing them on weekends. (I am, in fact, one of those people who wears clothing until it wears out, given a choice. This is why my closet/dresser is packed--"oh, no, that's still good, why should I throw it out?" lurks in the back of my brain. All of my jeans have progressed to the point of rips in the knees, and it was with great reluctance that I parted with my red slippers which had holes in the soles.)

In this way, I think my recent vacation in Japan did me a lot of good. One of the other things that lurks in the back of my brain is a vague desire to be looked at with approval by people who don't know me. I think everyone has a little bit of this somewhere in their heads, probably? So when I was picking out clothing to wear in Japan, I came to the realization that I am, in fact, something of a slob. [This is the point when all my friends should gasp sardonically and say "No, really?!"] So, in the limited time left before I went to Japan, I hauled out my resolve and patterns, dug through the Ginormous Stash of Fabric, and set to work. This resulted in a short jacket and a hooded cloak with shoulder capelets (number 5794), both out of the same dull navy cottonish material. The jacket I decided would be my airplane project, as in I sewed the main pieces together then started the couture finishing and hand-sewing the lining in as soon as we hit LAX. It got finished mid-flight, but actually didn't get too much wear in Japan. I'm wearing it now, though. The cloak, on the other hand, broke my sewing machine halfway through, requiring me to borrow my sister's to hurridly get it done enough to take/wear. And wear it I did, all over Japan, finishing up a last few things on it (frogs, burying thread tails, etc.) along the way.

So now that the trip is over and my sewing machine has been tuned up by the good folk who sold her to me, I'm looking over the fabric and pattern stash again with an eye toward having nice clothes to wear everyday. I cut out another of the short jackets last night, this one out of purple raw silk to match a skirt I've already made from the material, and will do that up first, then a couple of kimono and hakama for people at Fanime. I've also tossed out some of the clothing that never really fit me to begin with, and am eyeing some of the slovenly stuff to soon follow it, but there's not much point in throwing all the stuff I don't like out--I'd have little to wear! So I intend to replace it, bit by bit, as I build my wardrobe up from scratch to be something that fits me, makes me look good, and, most importantly, makes me feel good. Which, you know, clothing that I make myself does. It almost feels like I stitch in secrets to myself in each piece. Every time I get a compliment on what I'm wearing (I've already gotten one for the jacket today), I get a little glow of pride, thinking "I didn't buy this. I made it!" So as far as the "workplace wardrobe" goes, maybe it's a good thing I've tended to buy fabric by the bolt? In any case, I shall do my best to whittle down the stash.

As far as costuming goes, there frankly hasn't been that much, anime/manga-wise, that I've been tempted by recently. There are various outfits from Emma that appeal to me (Victorian!) and I like some of the designs for Saiunkoku Monogatari, but nothing really jumps out and shrieks "make me, make me!" I have the RenFaire coming up in a few weekends, though, and I want to make some new garb for that, so we'll see what happens. Must look at patterns and stash and make a decision... and a corset....

Comments

[spiderlove.livejournal.com]

Have you looked at the costumes of Utawarerumono? They make me drool. *.* And since it's based on an ero game, you can find screencaps of the girls' dresses in various stages of uh, being removed - wich gives great insight to how they're put together. ^_^