champagne taste

.... beer money budget.  Today I went into Leeds and had a look around the shops for a couple of hours, including a trip to Harvey Nichols which was a superb snoop shopping venue.  I really do have champagne taste.

I came away with a lot of ideas though. There were a lot of vintage style dresses, which is such good news as I only just perfected such a pattern last year.  Also a lot of ponte roma/knit dresses, with or without colour blocking, and some very intriguing knit dresses which had a fitted bodice,  no waist seam and a lot of flared panels in the skirt.  I couldn't work out quite how it was done, but mean to investigate this more closely as the style was very "me".

 A lot of straight, fitted knit dresses in a variety of prints, as well  as panels done in different colours/textures of fabric and/or colourblocked.  I  did  feel this was a  look I could copy even with my rudimentary pattern drafting and altering skills.  I was particularly keen on a panelled sleeveless dress in black and red.  The center panel was black knit with an overlay of red almost flocked, laser cut spongy fabric, no idea what it was, then there was a plain black knit panel, about two inches wide that went down the side of the bust  to the hem, then a red panel at the side. The armholes were squared off at the underarm which looked really smart and different.  I think this one could be created as an homage but with a lace overlay in place of the laser cut section.

Then there was this line.  Philip Armstrong.  I've got to admit its not a designer I was familiar with, but I could NOT get this one out of my head and I think I will have to find a way to create an homage to this great skirt shape.  It isn't a fabric that a home sewer could easily get though.... its neoprene.   I think I have a pattern I can use somewhere, but I haven't decided on my fabric yet. I think possibly a boiled wool might come closest to the look and although expensive to make, would not be even a quarter of the cost of the original garment.  Although the photo shows a dress, there was a skirt version too.

I also found a wonderful sweater.  It was quite wide, but only came to just below the waist, and was mainly white with a diagonal panel of black, another going in a different direction, of white and black, and a large angular section of black and white marled fancy yarn.  I would guess it was an aran weight synthetic/cotton mix, and looked quite easy to copy since it was just stocking stitch using several different yarns with different textures. 

I also spent time petting a pair of Christian Louboutin spike heeled boots in the softest black leather, with silver heels and a silver cowboy boot type fancy metal toe tip on the very pointy toes.   And a pair of multi coloured sandals, and a Stella McCartney leather rucksack style handbag. 

Overall I was pleased to notice just how many things in the store were similar in shape and styling to my trusty Marfy catalogue and its patterns.  :) 

Then we went across the road and had a look in Marks and Sparks.  :)  I was a bit disturbed to note the sheer quantity of oversized sweaters, oversized sweatshirts, and boots that looked suspiciously like a re-vamped version of the pixie boot..... and there was a catwalk show on a loop in the shop showing dungarees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Oversized dungarees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I thought I'd been catapulted back to the eighties.  I was also annoyed, as I always am, by the stores insistence in hanging loosely knitted, heavy, sweaters in fancy yarns, on plastic hangers.  They were all misshapen, with many of the garments having the hangers poking right through the sweaters, making a bit hole, and one particular display was just full of sweaters that already had holes in them from the hangers and were horribly misshapen with "poked" shoulders and drooping sleeves.  Those kinds of yarns will never recover from the abuse and the entire rail was effectively spoilt.  Which is a pity as the sweater was actually very nice. 

So I've had a fabulous day and even bought some fabric.  I managed to get some navy ponte de roma knit, reasonably lightweight, from the Market.  I have been on the search for navy fabric for leggings for about three years.... so I scooped up three and a half metres of this which will become two pairs of leggings and one dress.  I have spent this evening tracing and altering the pattern for the dress, which I am hoping will work for the SWAP.   I've also stocked up on interfacing in Samuel Taylors Leeds Store, which is quite close to the markets.  Sadly I didn't get the black denim I went for as neither fabric store had any.

We went home via Fine Fabrics for mum to get some lining and I found a great vintage vogue pattern in the sale basket which I was stupid and didn't buy... but I might go back for it... and found the fabric for two more of the free Marfy patterns... and will go back to get that when I've muslined the patterns to make sure they work.

I have item seven to finish for my SWAP, hopefully tonight, then I can move on to the dress muslin tomorrow so with any luck there should be some sewing at SEWYLD mansions this weekend.