Sewing With A Plan 2015 0.12
I have changed some of my plans. Although I had meant to use my squiggle fabric for a trouser suit, I have changed direction: I now believe this fabric is the one I must use for the coat. Which leaves the pink wool for the 1960s skir suit. I am also loathe to give up my white beetle fabric that I laboured on for so long – if I have time this fabric will be a blouse and I will include it as a wild card and drop the pink shorts. So I have made a few substitutions. Nothing too fundamental, but I have been dithering about the Squiggle cloth because I didn’t think I had it right (revised plan below).
More urgently perhaps I am beginning to feel I need a programme to make sure I deliver this collection on time.
So what have I got to do (revised plan)?
- Garment 1 Fuchsia 1960s jacket (top 1)
- Garment 2 Fuchsia A line skirt (bottom 1)
Garment 3 – Grey Linen shell top (top 2)- Garment 4 – Charcoal Kimono jacket (top 3), maybe stick with short sleeves?
- Garment 5 – Charcoal trousers (bottom 2)
Garment 6 – Turquoise stretch silk Blouse (top 4)- Garment 7 – White beetle blouse rather than Casual trousers (wildcard 1)
- G
arment 8 – Colourful shell top (top 5) - Garment 9 – Mint wool or more casual turquoise cotton trousers (bottom 3) (instead of pink shorts)
Garment 10 – Jersey (wildcard 2 – purchased item)- Garment 11 – Squiggle Boyfriend coat (wildcard 3)
Today I have four of the 11 garments completed, so only seven garments to make in the remaining 12 weeks, which is challenging but achievable. Let us assume that the tailored items can be delivered in two weeks (or two weekends, to be precise – there is little time for sewing in the week), and each of the other items get just one week each. I will give Garments 1, 4, and 11 two weeks; and 2, 5, 6, 7 and 9 one week. The tailored garments will probably take more than twice as long, and I hope to make colourful painted linings, but that depends on the time. I have three weeks of “float” time in the plan which I can use if I lose the odd weekend or encounter a disaster. Or for a little rest, or another project (I have still not made up the Christmas cushions for Gus).
I don’t think the order is very important and I want to be able to tackle the projects in any order I fancy, probably interspersing the harder with the easier. That means it is time to tackle a hard one – probably Garment 1, followed by the matching skirt. I had hesitated to cut into the Squiggle cloth, because I knew (deep down) that this fabric is most suitable for a coat. So now, in week 12, I have come down on the side of Squiggle coat. However I have sketched out a rough time plan to ensure it can be done. I found some jade wool that goes well with my turquoise blouse, on my last trip to Simply Fabrics. And there is some bright pink too if you fancy some Schiaparelli pants.
I have Garment 6 – the Burda 04/11 105 silk blouse with concealed buttons – almost finished. Still full of tacking stitches and in need of buttons, and a press. I have a bag of shirt buttons somewhere but I can’t find them at the moment. I made a few mistakes – the pocket is on the wrong side, plus I should have caught both sides the shoulder seam allowance into the yoke. And the sleeves are long with their deep cuff, but they turn back nicely. I really like this blouse. Incidentally Kirsty made a nice version of this blouse in chambray.
I am off to Lancashire to see my Mum now, so cutting out that Fuchsia jacket will have to wait until Sunday night.
Menswear – Sartorial Socks
This interesting picture tells us something very important about mens’ style. Tony Blair, then PM of Britain, is sitting next to the most powerful man in the world, Bill Clinton, President of the USA. Tony would love to be more like Bill. He is wearing a similar dark suit, an identical shirt style, a matching spotted tie and the same black, shiny brogues. His cuffs have links too, and they are showing. He is even mirroring Clinton’s body posture and inclining in, towards him.
But what has he forgotten? OMG – it’s the socks!
Mr Clinton knows, for the best sartorial look, one needs to wear socks that come up to one’s knee. Who knew? Well not the Brits, but ask the Italians. They know.
My husband flew to Venice, and the airline lost his luggage. Receiving compensation he walked into the nearest Menswear shop and set about replacing his business wear. All went well until he asked for short socks. The shop keeper, aghast, told him that a gentleman would not wear short socks with a business suit, and proudly added that he did not stock them. My husband bought the knee-high socks and learnt his lesson.
Colourful socks, making a statement, are not the best choice for the most formal occasions. But if you are in a more creative industry, and are tall with long legs, they can be OK.
I do know a successful man in the world of property development who never wears socks. Everyone mentions this unique quirk, and I don’t think it has ever prevented him from doing some of the biggest deals. Nigel also Chairs the Royal Shakespeare Company – it is well-known that Royalty and Actors embrace eccentricity. But if you not yet at the pinnacle of your career it is not something I would recommend. It is, after all, a bit chilly and you must combine bare feet with leather soled shoes. Of course sock-less is de rigueur with summer footwear – but not for work.
The sock rules are therefore rather simple
- choose cotton or wool and wash daily
- long socks with business wear to avoid calf exposure
- sober colours to tone with suits and shoes
- coloured socks for creative types with long legs
- never white, or sports, at work
- never, ever, wear comedy socks
- never socks with sandals (and never sandals at work)
Jungle January – how to squeeze your fabric
The Demented Fairy (here in a glorious velvet wedding jacket), sent me fabric for Jungle January.
In the package was 2m of glamorous, silky, slightly stretchy satin in blue snow leopard. It positively glows. I decided to use this fabric for formal evening attire. I have a posh dinner next month, so I plan to make something a little bit special. The Annual Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Housing takes place in our local Natural History Museum, alongside the dinosaur bones, and with starry lights. The event is dominated by men, even in this day and age (where topless Page 3 pictures have finally hit the dust). I would guess women make up around 30% of the attendees. The men wear dinner suits (and very nice they look too) with the odd kilt amongst them (hurrah!). Many of the ladies wear long dresses or flashy cocktail numbers. Unsurprisingly most of them stick to black. So although I am not a trouser person (but may be changing) I decided to try a jumpsuit! I am surprised by my choice too, but the jumpsuit is on my list of trousers-to-try, and this is as good an excuse as any.
Also Jenny mentioned that a Jungle Jumpsuit has already been constructed by Fadanista. It looks great on Sue, who has a straight body shape. I, on the other hand, have a curvy shape, so I am not sure this is going to work. The snow leopard is not sure either. Especially when he realised I am planning on using a 1980s pattern.
This is McCall’s 7437 from 1981. I want to make view C with long trousers and sleeves. But the pattern requires (so they say) 3.2m. I have 2m. Also, while the bust size is fine at 34″ I will need to add an inch or two to the hips.
So here are some tips that may come in handy if you are in a similar dilemma yourself.
- First alter the pattern to fit you. I absolutely needed a little extra in the hips, and length in the upper body, but I shaved two inches of the length of the trousers and one from the long sleeves
- I cut this out on the floor as my cutting table was too small and I needed to see the whole thing at once
- With such long pattern pieces I was loath to cut the top from bottom and seam, so I arranged the pieces top to toe. So my snow leopard is running in the wrong direction but who will be able to tell? It’s a busy, relatively small-scale pattern.
- I managed to squeeze the long sleeve out of the fabric by reducing the seam allowances top and bottom. I could have gone sleeveless with this design had I been really short of fabric.
- The smaller pieces all fitted in.
- The breast pocket (single layer of fabric) and in-seam pockets (four layers) are easier to cut from the left over fabric so cut them when you have got your three big pieces out. I was prepared to make the pockets from lining material if necessary, but it isn’t
- I was prepared to cut the collar on the down rather than across the grain but that wasn’t necessary
- In extremis I could have had a contrasting top pocket, collar and cuffs. But again it wasn’t necessary.
Layout I cut out the small pieces – I needed four pocket bags – from the off cuts. In the end I didn’t cut the breast pocket – I shall look at what the pattern matching looks like when it is ready to sew and may mess around with the placement of the pattern piece on the fabric.
Cutting out the small pieces And, phew, all done, with not much to spare.
tiny cut offs Unlike Kadiddlehopper, I won’t be making a matching jump suit for my Barbie, I am afraid.
Jungle Barbie
Simple Printing – Potato Prints for grown-ups
This is a fun activity to do at home, with or without your children.
The last time I did potato prints I was at primary school. I cut into the potato using a blunt kitchen knife and used thick poster paint to make patterns on paper. However having a go again with them I found that you can get a really great effect.
- Cut your potato in half cross wise. This is the best way to do it as it is easier to handle that way. Obviously the size of the potato will determine the size of the print. You can also use other vegetables of course. A carrot works well, but obviously it will be quite a lot smaller than a potato.
- You want to get the nicest, most even cut you can as only the absolutely straight surface will print
- You can print with the potato as it is, or you can now cut a pattern into it.
- You can also shape the outside edge of the potato. My blue one is “squared off”, or you could cut a zig zag or other pattern into the skin.
- I used a lino cutting tool to do the cutting, but you could use a small sharp knife, a corer, or small cookie cutters to get a specific shape like a star or a heart. Have a look to see what kind of implements you have in your kitchen or tool shed. Potatoes are cheap so you can probably experiment a bit with the look that you like. You can test the design on paper first.
- Once cut out the potato will be “wet”, so dry it off with kitchen paper first
- Use one or more colours of washable textile ink.
- The best way to apply it is to use a roller, although this is quite wasteful as the ink absorbs into the sponge. Alternatively you can paint it on with a paint brush. If you use the primary school method (dipping the potato into a puddle of paint) you will find it quite blotchy and uneven.
- You can print on most white cottons, or lighter coloured fabrics if you prefer. I used a firm off-white cotton.
- For my design I used navy ink on the stripe pattern, and then mixed a little turquoise in to continue with the pattern. For the spotted look I used red and orange. My pattern is quite uneven but you could do a very regular pattern too.
- Sometimes you might drop your potato or get an uneven print. In my view this doesn’t matter. It would be quite possible to print a couple of meters of fabric to make a garment.
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Potato printed fabric
The sheath dress – what it is and how to fit it
What is the difference between a shift dress and a sheath dress? Both are one piece dresses, made in woven rather than stretch fabrics, often knee length or shorter, often sleeveless, and are often confused. Both styles are classics and have been in and out of fashion during the 20th and 21st centuries.
The shift was a phenomenon in the 1960s and is essentially a short, A line dress. In is semi-fitted or loose fitted. A sheath dress is fitted much more closely to the body. The bottom half of the dress resembles a straight pencil skirt rather than the A line of the shift. In essence the shift is better on straight body shapes, and the sheath flatters more curved figures.
A sheath dress is
- a one piece dress with no waist line join
- closely fitted through the body so that it follows its curves
- it skims the body and doesn’t cling
- fit is achieved through darting – usually at the underarm, underbust, back shoulder and under shoulder
- the vertical darts are diamond-shaped with more fabric being suppressed in the waistline area
- knee-length
- back zip
In essence a sheath dress is all about showing off the curves of a woman’s figure, whereas the shift falls from the shoulders, to some extent disguising bust, waist and hips. While the shift is the best look for skinny (boyish) girls with long legs, the sheath dress flatters a more mature, fuller figure.
The sheath dress has enjoyed popularity especially in the 1950s and more recently, although it owes its close-fitting silhouette to the 1930s bias cut evening gown. In my view it is a classic that can be worn by many women with two provisos. It looks best on shaped and semi shaped bodies, and it really must be fitted properly. As it is a close-fitting garment it has a number of points where it needs to fit the body. Therefore unless it is tailored made you need to be quite lucky to find one that fits in a shop. For this reason a number of manufacturers produce a “sheath” style of dress in a stretch fabric so that it can cope with figure variations. And many women will buy and wear a sheath dress that does not fit everywhere but they feel it is good enough. In my view it needs to fit in the following areas:
- neck
- shoulder
- arm hole
- upper chest
- bust
- under bust
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- back waist length
- length
Apart from all these fitting points you may want a style variation (eg a pleated neckline or cap sleeves), or a specific colour or fabric (wool or linen, for example). If you enjoy fitting, and want to look really good in a tailor-made dress, I would suggest this is a great dress to make for yourself or a client.
I had fun fitting my friend Lyn. She has a great, shaped figure and wanted to create a dress that fits her well and form the basis of a new, hand-made wardrobe.
I drafted a torso block, based on her bust, waist and hip measurements. I included an underarm dart and a back shoulder dart, but I left off the vertical darts deciding to add them by pinning out at the first fitting.
When I met her we talked about her precise body shape and she mentioned that she had a relatively “high bust”. In other words the bust point is less than 2″ from the under arm. On the average woman this would be around two and a half inches. On Lyn it was only one and a half inches. Therefore before I even started cutting out I did two alterations to the basic bodice block – I altered the dart position bringing it up much higher on the side seam, and also angling it to come upwards slightly as I felt this would be more flattering. I also did a full bust adjustment as I noticed that on Lyn’s RTW garments there was some wrinkling and pulling in the bust area. Having done these alterations to the pattern I made up a the torso block in calico and asked her to try it on. She laughed as she emerged from my bathroom in what she called a “straight jacket”. I tied a piece of string around her waist to make it look even more fetching, but in order that I could determine the widest part of the darts and where I needed to take in the side seam. The places where the fullness is folded over is the place where I will create the vertical darts, basically under the bust.
Turning to the back, first we had a look at the upper back to check the fit. This led me to spot another slight issue. You can see the shoulders look slightly tight, like the shoulders want a little bit of extra room. This is because Lyn has a bit of a bony shoulders and they could just do with maybe one-quarter to one-half inch of extra fabric at the bony bit just to the outside of the back dart. Otherwise we have a nice fit here, and I think this photograph makes the case for the back dart.
In the back the darts “wanted” to be placed around 3″ from the CB zip. Lyn has a very pronounced curve at her lower back with quite broad shoulders and round hips. I think it may be advisable to create two vertical darts at the back.
In the top picture you can also see that I took in a wedge at the front, upper chest. This is to suppress excess fabric that made the top look baggy above the bust, and is caused by Lyn’s relatively full, high bust. This is a pattern alteration she may have to do with patterns she purchases in future. The little cuts at the neck line and shoulder are made in the seam allowance to check the pattern, which was actually a good fit in these areas, despite a high round neck, not being the best neckline for Lyn.
When fitting the torso block I considered how to remove the upper chest fullness and this solution of pinning out a wedge may not be the very best way to do it. I mentioned to Lyn that due to her having a very shaped body we would get an even better fit if we created a princess line block for her. This would allow the extra fabric in the upper chest to be done away with in the princess lines and would allow us to create a very nice smooth line through the bust, waist and hips. If Lyn wants to make a tailored dress (to wear for an occasion or as a smart business dress, perhaps with a jacket) I create a princess line pattern for her.
Just a point on the string. Many people do not have an evenly balanced waist. In Lyn’s case her waist at the front is higher than at the back; in my case it is the opposite. Most RTW garments assumes the waist is the same all round. If you make your own patterns you can put this right, and it avoids the feeling of a belt slipping up or down at the back. By using the string I found Lyn’s natural waist (slimmest point), marked where it fell on the toile and I will make sure the darts have their greatest width at these points giving a Lyn a better fit.
Now I will make changes to the toile (slimming the upper chest, the side seams and letting out the shoulders) and then create the most flattering darts in the correct position to give a nice shape to the torso block. By fitting the torso we have married up bust, waist and hip. Lyn can now lengthen (or shorten) the block to meet her own design requirements – a dress of any length (if below knee it may need a split), a tunic, or shorter shell top. The most obvious item to make is a nice sheath dress, so I will make the pattern, mail it to her with some fabric suggestions – a firmer or structured fabric, not too heavy but certainly not a light weight fabric (unless underlined). I would suggest a medium to firm linen, medium weight wool, twill cotton with elastane, Linton tweed or similar, or perhaps a silk brocade.
I hope to share a picture of Lyn in her dress or tunic when she has made it up. Lyn is just getting back to sewing. If you want to read of her adventure, then head over to her blog.
Guest blog – An interview with Nana Yaa Aboagyewaa
Nana Yaa is one of our office services team, here at Notting Hill. Sometimes Nana is on reception and greets me, and everyone else, with such warmth and interest. I told her about her blog, and she told me about her interest in fashion. So I met up with her to hear a bit more.
Nana’s parents came to the UK in the 1970/1980s and worked in Greek textile factories. “Mum was a presser and a finisher. We always had industrial Brother machines in the house.” Nana herself went to Camden School for Girls, which has a strong artistic tradition. She says since leaving school she has had one aim – and that is to build an amazing business. Her speciality is jewellry. “I used to fix jewellry, and then started buying beads. I made items which I sold at the market in Battersea. In the end the trends changed and I didn’t so my market vanished. But I am hoping to add this to the business as time goes on. I am working with my Swedish Sister in Law to design a new line of more expensive jewellry, but with a street feel. As you will realise by now we want to create luxery goods. I love the brands, but my favourite is Chanel. This jacket is Chanel, and so is my rucksack”
I ask Nana if she likes wearing African clothing. “I didn’t at first because I wanted to blend in” she says, “but now I wear an African fabric top or bottoms, with other things. I like how they make me feel – very happy – and they remind me of being in Ghana.”
Nana tells me she has lost a lot of weight recently – going down from 24 stone to just 16 now. Well done Nana – she wants to lose some more, getting down to 11 stone eventually.
Nana’s husband Daniel is a Metropolitian Policeman: “He wears a beehive hat!” she exclaims. But as well as his public duties Daniel is a competent tailor. From the age of 8 he started to work in the family firm back in Ghana, producing long runs of multi-coloured shorts and shirts, supplying the local school uniform market. In Ghana, she explains, the governement prescribes a colour scheme for each school, and nearly everyone has a uniform.
Daniel came to the UK at the age of 18, started as a cleaner, then went to fashion school in Southgate, followed by a stint at Tescos, a period as a PSO (Public Safety Officer) and then finally joined the police. Nana and he have been together for eight years, and now run a small business from home. Nana’s son is 13, and he is already making things to sell. “He does up trainers. We buy iconic Micheal Jordan trainers from the 1980s and revamp and customise them using crystals, and then sell them”
“We work alot with Kente cloths, which we mostly get from Holland, although they are available at Liverpool Market – go on a Saturday and you can get everything here – lace for Christenings, lace for everything, lace shows your wealth!” She shows me some typical fabric.
“Many of the fabrics (but not this one) include the Golden stool which is very typical, although it is often printed in black. We are very keen on using traditional cloth for weddings. We have a knocking ceremony which involves the man giving alchohol and money to the siblings. There is initiation – during the engagement – when you check out the history of the other family. After this you have the register office, and then if you can afford it a church wedding. We recognise the marriage in our culture before the legal or church ceremony. We are not yet married formally – but when we can afford it we will be having a big white wedding in a church, with music and another venue, and probably in Ghana. I shall havce two or three dresses, so I can change for the different parts of the ceremony. You need a different type of dress for church than you do for dancing!”
“But Daniel is specialising in Menswear now. He learnt English style tailoring at colleage – using blocks and cardboard patterns.” I remark that much African clothes making relies on marking the measurements on the cloth with chalk rather than cutting round patterns, and she agrees. “But we are making tailored, luxery jackets with real fur, big fur collars”
They design and make up the jackets at home and are currently taking them to several buyers and hoping to get orders from some well known names. “We have four industrial machines in our two bed flat, and we are thinking of taking on an intern to help us. I am learning as we go, but I am also taking classes at the Working Men’s College. The company is called Otchere Tawiah – or OT – which is my husband’s name”
Obviously Nana, and Daniel, are very determined, positive and hard working people. I am sure their business will be sucessful in due course. “I thank God everyday” she says.
Jungle January – Bra? or Algebra?
Every year I have watched the Jungle January challenge – the contest launched by Petty Grievances – with interest. The challenge, where animal print fabric reigns supreme, has yet to see me set foot in the jungle myself. Why not? Well although I think animal print (think snakes, leopards, zebras) can be a nice addition to most urban wardrobes, many animal prints are just too brown and yellowy for my cool complexion.
Anne kindly paired me with Demented Fairy (DF), a maths lecturer, from Birmingham. This photograph is from Halloween 2011.
Clearly someone with a dramatic wardrobe personality who enjoys fancy dress. As her newest Facebook Friend, I have seen the full range of her party wardrobe. Without exaggeration it is Fantastic – corsets, medieval, Georgian Dandy, Lord of the Rings, hats – all of it tailor-made. This is one extraordinary seamstress. There is nothing she cannot tackle. For ordinary life she can occasionally be seen in jeans and T shirts, but she obviously excels at dressing up. She writes “I have eclectic tastes in clothes, and my wardrobe veers from [fairly] sophisticated to somewhat mad and punkish depending on my mood! I mostly wear blues, greens and purples, and avoid yellow, beige and orange like the plague. I only really make clothes, and I’m primarily a selfish sewer. I’m venturing into bra-making right now, so that may be the way to go?” Clearly someone opinionated and as determined as I am on what I will, and will not, wear.
So avoiding orange snake-skin, teddy bear tan and beige hippo-cloth, I rummaged around in my favourite shop, Simply Fabrics. And this is what I sent her. It’s reputedly Roland Mouret, and it is a fairly stable stretch fabric in a restrained blackish and a silvery grey print. It’s a good quality, firm but fine cloth, and I thought it would make a nice sexy dress, although DF suggested she was thinking of making a bra. A bra! Gosh you have to be a dedicated sew-it-yourselfer to make bras. I got 2m so there is enough for a dress, blouse or trousers as well. Or bras for everyone in the jungle.
I got a charming thank you letter. This is one well brought up lady. She sews, she educates adults in algebra, and makes amazing outfits for her children and grandchildren. She made three wedding dresses last year. And she sent me generous quantities of highly appropriate blue jungle fabric. With a nice, typed letter. I am beginning to feel like Dora the Explorer with a challenge to address. More comment comes via FB “I’m sure you’ve noticed that the satin has a BIT of stretch to it. It sews up very nicely, and presses well, which helps!” Panic is now starting to set in. I am feeling overwhelmed and a little bit scared. Have I already noticed? Satin, stretching, pressing. No! Other than it is blue and there is plenty of it. I just feel overwhelmed by this stuff coming through my letter box. Help!
The letter is truly tantalising. Am I to make up a matching outfit so we can be Sistas in the Jungle? Or am I really permitted to turn this stunning cloth into a lining (cheeky or not?) for “something”….? And would that pass Ann’s test back in Jungle January SWAP HQ?
I wrapped Camilla in the blue gorgeousness for a few days to see if it would talk to me. Poor Camilla looked like she had been eaten by an enormous snow leopard. And then the fabric roared its own instructions. The fabric said: “Chartered Institute of Housing. Annual black tie dinner. VIP table. Natural History museum.” With the dinosaur, of course! That is my challenge. Now what pattern to choose?
Sewing With A Plan 2015 0.11
The upcycled blouse
The SWAP rules propose upcyling which I haven’t really done before. I have recut a skirt or two to make it fit, and have altered the style somewhat, but I haven’t done this before – pulled a garment apart and reused the fabric, so it was an interesting experience. I can’t say it was a great success and certainly it wasn’t worth the effort involved. If there was a war on, and we were genuinely short of materials, then I can see the point. Otherwise the £4 that I invested could have bought me a yard of fresh cloth that would have been much easier to use and could have saved me around five hours work. And maybe someone else would have bought the £4 second-hand skirt, and worn it with pride.
I asked for advice on what to do with the fabric I had harvested. And I got some great suggestions.
Elizabeth suggested lining a denim (or other) jacket with the lawn. Or a blouse back T-shirt, with a solid colour at the front. Annie came up with the idea of a soft contrast inside a collar or placket, or perhaps a solid top with a contrast pussy bow. Or to use this fabric for wide bias binding that could form a contrasting hem. I loved all these ideas. In fact, over time, I would really like to implement them all.
In the end I joined up the thin strips with the overlocker and used the fabric as one piece to make a simple, sleeveless blouse. Unfortunately it did not lie flat, the fabric was off grain (as manufactured items often are) and had joining seams and the odd repair (where I had ripped the cloth when deconstructing it) in funny places.
I had also saved the muslin lining which was in one piece but I didn’t expect it to be quite enough to line the blouse. But luckily, when ironed it proved to be just big enough and I decided to underline the top to give it a little more stability, to stop the overlocked seams from rubbing, and to prevent it being transparent. I got a kick out of recycling the lining, and the pattern too, which I had already used for my beetle SWAP blouse. It is a vintage 1964 pattern, Simplicity 7305, and I modified it by making it tunic length, and by using an invisible zip. (You can see my alterations to this b 32″ pattern).
Elizabeth wasn’t sure if a floral, feminine patterned fabric is “me” and she is probably right. My husband (ever helpful) said it looked like an overall. But I think it will have a place in my wardrobe, which is what a SWAP is all about. Here it is on the stand, with my daughter’s new wool trousers. I will photograph it on me later.
I tried to place the joins in sensible places including one on the CF. And at the top of this post you can see that Ted did a little recycling of his own, creating a “Ninja headband” from one of the offcuts.
Nicolas Sarkozy – style advice for the smaller politician
Following on from considering how to dress a large politician, then a super skinny one, I will now turn my attention to a smaller man. And I have chosen Nicolas Sarkozy because despite his small stature (around 5’5″) he generally knows how to make the best of his shape. Also, being French always helps. They generally don’t have so much problem with style (ie they embrace rather than avoid it). It also seems that Sarkozy has a good tailor who ensures his suits fit well. Here he is trying to look taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Sarkozy is broad of chest, fairly fit and has a glamourous assistant, who while around five inches taller than he is, enhances him greatly. Carla Bruni showcases French fashion with aplomb and poiise.
With a close up of Sarkozy in his cycling gear (complete with perspiration) we can see he has a fairly long face, with a particualrly long brow. His hair is always beautifully cut and in place. The steel grey hair, with his deeper colouring and blue-grey eyes, and an ability to tan easily, implies that he has deep and cool colouring. Therefore he can wear deeper blues with ease. By combining them with a pure white shirt and a dark tie, he strives for maximum authority. For a smaller man, who will often meet other powerful men and women who “look down” on him, he needs to power up. For an extremely well groomed man it is interesting to find quite a few pictures of him “unshaven”. Is it possible that this small man wants to show the world that he is very masculine and strong? He can run, he can grow a beard, he can pull a pretty, taller lady, and impregnate her? I think this, as well as the emphaisis on athletic activity, is done to make the point that this man is all-male. If he was not a world leader I would suggest a slightly lighter suit colour, and less funereal tie. But Sarkozy can get away with the maximum contrast look so he invariably chooses this look. This is a man who understands image very well. To combat his short stature he wears footwear with heels, and will stand on steps or blocks to increase his height when required.
Even when he doesn’t wear a business suit Sarkozy is always smart. I like this look. It appears he is wearing a cashmere jacket, flannel trousers and a nice pair of dark brown suede shoes. He has kept the colours deep, apart from the white shirt, and this gives a streamlined shape.
So if you are a smaller man, what lessons can be drawn from Nicolas?
- keep the same colour tone going from head to toe
- keep all elements in scale, eg avoid being swamped by big shirt collars, large patterns or stripes
- make sure everything is the correct length, getting them shortened if necessary
- avoid bulky fabrics, and choose subtle patterns or plain colours
Women Fashion Power exhibition at the Design Museum
This exhibition “about the language of clothes and power”, and recently reviewed in the Guardian, seemed to be right up my street. My friend Nicola Dibb, who runs Women In Social Housing, brought it to my attention. This weekend we went to see it, and although it is a terrific exhibition, I don’t think it delivered on the Women, Fashion, Power question.
It starts by featuring some “powerful” women – (Egyptian female pharaoh) Hatshepsut, Cleopatra, Elinor of Aquitaine, Elizabeths 1 and 2, Michelle Obama, Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton and Jackie Kennedy. This in itself is a funny list. There is then something of a corset detour, a little bit about sportswear (swimsuits, riding habit and driving costumes) and a section on the costumes for a new film about the Suffragettes. There is an undercurrent of interest in feminism and black nationalism – pictures of Angela Davies and Germaine Greer feature – is that because these women are powerful, or standing up to power? And what do their clothes say? (I have analysed Greer’s look previously)
The meat of the exhibition is a condensed history of 20th century fashion, arranged by the decade. This is illustrated with contemporary photographs, magazines, newsreel and clothes gathered from a variety of sources, not least of which is Marks & Spencer from their own excellent archive in Leeds.
The final section is really odd, and not very revealing. Here again we have a range of random “powerful” women from Camilla Batmanghelidjh, to the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister (who provides a Zara dress with a plastic belt), to Joan Burstein of Browns, to a woman who works for Argent at Kings Cross, the CEO of Nails Inc, to the Queen of Monaco, and the ubiquitous Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty. Clearly they had made an effort to get a good showing of non-White British women, and some Chinese women too, but the fashion industry was over represented. I am not sure I would have picked out any of these women as “powerful”. Each one is recorded saying why she dresses like she does, but it all seemed rather trite to me, accompanied as it is by fuzzy film of the clothes, which are on show, in any case.
So I don’t think this exhibition gives us much in the way of insight into women, power and fashion. It is a strange mish mash between avant guard high fashion (Vivienne Westwood outfits and tartan Dr Marten’s), a few high street items (Etam mini skirts), a Princess Diana evening gown and a suit from Mrs Thatcher. This jade green wool suit by Mansfield was worn on the day she was confirmed as Conservative Party leader in February 1975.
There are some really nice things to look at. You can get up close and have a really good look, and you are allowed to take photographs, which is wonderful.
I would urge you, if you can, to go and see this exhibition at the Design Museum before it concludes in April. But if you want to learn about women, power and clothes you will not learn much from this exhibition, sadly. Let’s start with a list of female CEOs, senior politicians (not their wives, please), the entrepreneurs, the inventors, the ground breakers. Then let’s have a good look at what they wear and why.
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