My two favourite Chanel biographies. I’ve read a lot about Coco Chanel over the past few years as I fed my continuing obsession with all things Chanel. Every biography seems to agree on at least one thing: CC herself wasn’t fussed about other copying her work. It’s not that she would have been happy with […]
Prints have been on my mind lately. Suddenly it’s summer here, and everywhere I look, I see prints in the windows. Just two blocks from where I live, the Gucci shop has a window display full of them. Dior’s windows are the same. Here’s a new Gucci[1] print for the season. I can truly not […]
My not-so-fast-and-easy linen dress project (which I’ll tell you about tomorrow) seems to be one of those current in-the-air ideas! And this lovely sewer does it on purpose. I really love this idea. In fact, it is a bit like doing a Chanel-style LBJ: you start with a simple pattern and create a masterpiece of […]
[*Little Black Jacket sometimes referred to as the LFJ or Little French Jacket] In 1954 Coco Chanel made a return to the Paris couturier scene after something of a hiatus during and immediately after the second World War. The House of Chanel had been closed for fifteen years, but now it was time to return. […]
Do you ever look something up online and find yourself stumbling onto a site that grabs your attention and pulls it away from whatever you were searching for in the first place? It happens all the time to me―especially when I’m researching a new book. But it also happens sometimes when I’m looking for sewing-related […]
It’s the dog days of summer here in Toronto. The humidity is high and the temperatures soaring. I’ve just returned from a two-week road trip to the east coast where it was cooler for at least part of the trip. It was a great trip, but now it’s back to writing (a new book is […]
My not-so-fast-and-easy linen dress project (which I’ll tell you about tomorrow) seems to be one of those current in-the-air ideas! And this lovely sewer does it on purpose. I really love this idea. In fact, it is a bit like doing a Chanel-style LBJ: you start with a simple pattern and create a masterpiece of […]
Coco Chanel said it: “Fashion changes―style remains.” I’ve always hoped that I’ve been able to develop a kind of style that is ageless and timeless at this point in my life, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love some of the new trends, does it? Well, let’s figure it out. What’s in style for spring […]
For some people who sew, their sewing space is sacrosanct―a place where they enter, close the door behind them and lose themselves in a physical space that they claim for only one function―sewing. Others consider that to be a luxury. Those are the people who don’t have the space to set aside a room, or […]
I think that the shrug might just be the most useful piece of clothing a woman could own. They are so small, so light, so packable. Well, most of them are. The shrug. Sometimes referred to as a bolero. But are they the same thing? I’ll get to that, but let me begin by introducing […]
I just knew it. When I finished my first homage to Chanel’s “little French jacket” (little black jacket) I felt that it would never be behind me. I knew that it was only the first of several (many?) that I would be inspired to make. The reason is that it is endlessly versatile, unbelievably comfortable, […]
What is the perfect fabric for the perfect shirt? That is the question. Late last year when I was searching for the perfect fabric for my husband’s shirt, the answer was “expensive”! I think my hand shook when I cut into that $80-a-metre Italian cotton shirting fabric that he had chosen for his perfect shirt. […]
There’s nothing like a customized dress form that reflects your body precisely back to you to make you feel a bit like a real designer. I’d like to think that now that I have finally finished my customization project that everything I sew for myself from here on in will fit better. We’ll see. Anyway, […]
My not-so-fast-and-easy linen dress project (which I’ll tell you about tomorrow) seems to be one of those current in-the-air ideas! And this lovely sewer does it on purpose. I really love this idea. In fact, it is a bit like doing a Chanel-style LBJ: you start with a simple pattern and create a masterpiece of […]
