Vtg inspiration: Tara Starlet

You might need to squint on a couple of cheesy poses, to get to the super cute retro-inspired clothes from Tara Starlet (even the name is a bit of cheesecake).  But it's worth the effort!  Wearable retro.

Ready for some knockoff commentary?

This is a pretty, basic blouse.  The kind you need half a dozen of.   I have a vintage blouse pattern that would work, but Colette's Violet with Jasmine sleeves would be a good starting place in modern patterns.

Basic shirtwaist. My favorite shirtwaist pattern currently is a vintage mail order, but any basic shirt pattern can be shortened to the waist, and then add a gathered skirt to create your own shirtwaist.  Or, BurdaStyle magazine has had a few of these styles in recent years too.

This is so cute!  I love the V-neck and the slimmer fit.  I think Colette's Oolong is very similar.

Pencil skirt and basic blouse. Classic.  To your basic pencil skirt pattern, retro it up by adding non-functional buttons to the "pockets" (real or faux).

The top is very similar to Colette's Jasmine, and the skirt is beautiful! Maybe Retro Simplicity 3688?

Basic dirndl skirt and Colette's Violet blouse would be the perfect knockoff!

Perfect summer outfit!  I can't think of a modern pattern that has this dramatic collar, but a basic shirt pattern could work for a simple sleeveless white top, and Colette's new shorts pattern Iris would be great for the shorts.  Or if you already have the retro Simplicity 3688, the pants could be shortened to short length too, for a very vintage look.

I'm always on the lookout for cute vintagey pants.  They're universally more flattering than their contemporary counterparts.  I am particularly fond of exposed button sides or fronts.   (Functional or nonfunctional!)  These pants and shorts are adorable!

AND...the April 2012 BurdaStyle magazine has a pattern, #125, that is pretty darn close. It will get you closer than anything else I've seen out there!

Burda Style 4/12 #125

I'm sure there are other patterns you could use from the Big 4, and definitely from Burda Style.  I usually go for the vintage pattern options first...just because I get a better fit out of the box, and I have a pretty large stash.  

The great thing about ALL of these garments is that they are simple, basic shapes.  No crazy seaming or anything.  Basic, wearable shapes that won't go out of fashion quickly, yet still offer you options for personalizing to your own sense of style.  Yay for knockoffs!

Snoop Shoppin: Modcloth

Did you know Modcloth had extended their selection of larger sizes recently?  Every time I visit their website, the number of pieces they carry increases!  (You can also now search by size, which is pretty handy).  For a website that used to feature mostly smallish clothes for smallish people (the largest bust size for most items is still 38"), that's awesome.

Some current favorites...

Red-y for my Closeup Dress

Ear Grey-tful Dress

Sweet on Stripes Dress

City Sailing Dress

Social Club Socialite Dress

Deco Diva Dress

Streetcar Commute Dress

Irresistible Enchantress Dress

Pine All Mine Dress

Awards Show Stunner Dress

Happy to Homemake Dress

Aren't they gorgeous??  These dresses are all offered up to at least a 48" bust. Even better...I think I've shown one or two of these previously when they were only available in a 38" bust and below. 

The last dress, the Happy to Homemake Dress, looks very similar to the Favorite Things Prairie Girl pattern.

Which I've made here and here.  And possibly once more, but I can't find the link.  I love, love, love this pattern.  And I could totally knock off that Modcloth "homemaker" dress in a pretty rayon.  (What an odd name, although I think it's supposed to be an homage to a '40s housewife?  Maybe?)

As a sidenote, I would invest in more Favorite Things patterns, but I found a discrepancy in the Hip Skirts pattern and I emailed them about it (just FYI if you have that one, the length of a couple of the skirts in the Hip Skirts pattern is really short, despite what the pattern cover photo shows).  I got a super snippy reply in response and unfortunately  that has colored my view.  Whenever I reach for another of their patterns at my local quilt shop, I remember that email. 

Four years later.

There's a lesson there. Somewhere.

In any case, I still love the Prairie Girl pattern and may have to dig it out and see if I have any suitable fabrics.  (haha.  That's funny.)

ps.  We will NOT speak of Once Upon A Time's Sunday episode yet. 

$!@#$

Modcloth Fall Goodies

Modcloth has been stocking some really cute items for fall lately.  These are my faves for tops:

 

and then there are these really cute dresses:

Oh, Modcloth.  You're always good for some eye candy!

farm fresh whites

via anthropologie...

Ferris Wheel: The Blah Blah Blagh

Vineyard: Drinkster blog

Forest: Free Market Desgin

Barn: Flickr

Beach: A Restless Gypsy

Textures: Florabella  Nostalgic (warm) and Allure (cool)

Frames: Florabella Vintage Frames

 

fashionability

Is that a word?

I got an email from Old Navy a couple of days ago, that they had several new spring styles in their plus line. While I have trouble wearing a plus size in a top as rule, my booty definitely classifies. Just look at what I found when I clicked the handy link provided!


Now, all you other bootylicious girls out there know how difficult it is to find cute, trendy clothes, am I right? Not to mention, it's even more rare to see said cute, trendy, larger size clothes on an actual bootylicious model. It gets more and more difficult to judge what's going to look good and what won't, because I seriously have no perspective left.

I guess that's what a media saturation of superthin women has done to me.

That might have made Old Navy's incredibley cute spring line so appealing! Many styles feature a real, live woman with real, live curves wearing them! She's even built rather like moi, which helps me tremendously in visualizing what might be a look I want to try. Like this cute shirt-waisty dress:


Or this cute sundress:


This green knit sundress is awfully cute too.


And I love this print sundress too (I think it's the same as the pink above, but looks completely different in a print!)

I haven't really been into the "maxi dress" thing because I figured I wasn't thin enough to pull it off. But this is seriously cute. The website even has a few with a scarf/wrap and accessories that makes it even more appealing.


And this outfit is super chic. I have to admit I bought this one. Me. In white pants! (Note to self: buy Tide to Go pen.)


Another darling sundress:



And swimwear! On a body with hips!! Whoa!


I'm quite happy with Old Navy's collection. There are a ton of other cute styles I'm not showing here.

Even more fun than buying the clothes (for me anyway) is looking at the design features of the garments I really like, so I can compare to patterns I have/want. There are several styles here in this post that I wouldn't necessarily have thought would be flattering to me currently. And even though I'm not a 6 ft tall model, I'm willing to give some of these a try.

All you bootyfull girls should join me. ;)