Friday, June 4, 2010

Thoughts on clothes

I'm trying to organize my clothes and plan for college. This isn't really sewing related, but tangentially it is.

Pants/shorts:
I have three pairs of pants, namely one pair of jeans, one pair of black twill pants, and one pair of black poplin pants. I have one pair of shorts, which I wear once a year for cleaning out our pond. I also have a pair of "work jeans" with paint marks and glue on them, and a pair or two of sweat pants. I also have my karate gi pants.

Shirts:
I am really lacking in the shirts department, I know. About a year ago, I realized I barely had any shirts. My stunningly creative way of dealing with this problem was to go to the craft store and buy several T-shirts. Yes, those uni-sex shapeless things that are basically dyed undershirts. We all have our problems. Mine are my shirts.

Skirts:
I have a lot of skirts, but many of them don't really work for day-to-day wear. The ones that do are a black knit ankle-length skirt (that can double as a dress), a white and black skirt that hits just below the knee, a blue linen skirt about the same length, a blue corduroy skort, and (for the days I really feel like pushing the envelope) a floor-length knit skirt made out of pink, purple, black, and white squares cut from T-shirts. (Examples of skirts that aren't day-to-day wear include a long black velvet sheath skirt.)

Sweaters:
Meh. (I've been saying that a lot lately.) A lot of my sweaters are getting old. I could probably use a few more of them.

Dresses:
I have nice dresses. I really do. I have three dresses I can wear on a fairly normal day--a flowered sleeveless one, the Simplicity 6699 I just finished, and a brown shirt dress from Kohl's, which is shorter than most of my other skirts and is therefore a bit more casual than the other two. I also just ordered another dress from Lands' End. (The thought of sewing that many buttonholes gave me a headache.)

Shoes:
I have a pair of black ballet flats, two pairs of slides (black and brown), a pair of workboots (which double as hiking boots, canoeing boots, and anything-else-that-might-get-messy boots), and one pair of knee-high boots, which are brown. Because of some undiagnosed walking abnormality, I rip every shoe I wear to pieces. For real--I think my longest lasting shoe since I went through puberty has been one year. Because of this problem, combined with my strictly limited budget, I have to wear cheap shoes. (Yes, I have tested--the high price/quality shoes fall apart just as fast as the cheap ones.)

Other clothes:
I'm pretty sure I have more fancy clothes that a college student really needs. I have more pajamas than anyone needs. I have a bathing suit, a bathrobe, many hats, and I'm blanking on other categories. Except underwear, but I feel no need to discuss my underwear on the internet.

So why am I posting this? Because it's your turn to chime in. What do you think I need to buy, or, if you think I can make it, do you have any pattern recommendations? This question is directed at anyone with an opinion--you do not have to have gone to college. It would be immensely hypocritical of me to limit opinion-giving to only those people who know what they are talking about, after all! So, ready, set, opine away!

(Now watch this post not get any comments at all..... :P)

3 comments:

Branka said...

Ok, I read your list of clothes (wish you included some pictures), and I think you need at least 2 more pants, one of which MUST be dark wash jeans. Simply because they go with everything, and are easy to dress up or down. You're good in skirt & dress deparment, so what you need is more tops. At least 5 versatile tops. Next, a few cardigans, for layering, maybe 2 neutral-color ones, and 1 bright color cardi?
This already gives you a lot of mix and match material, no?
Then add some accessories, scarves, belts, i love that you are into hats, they look sooo great on you, I'm jealous!
As for patterns, that Jalie jeans pattern is awesome they say, I haven't tried it myself yet, although I do own that pattern. As for regular pants, I must recommend Ottobre Design Woman 2/2009, Elegance pants. Made 3 of those (without pockets), one for my mom, and 2 for my sister and they both love them. Real easy to sew, very flattering pattern, with side zipper, I'm so making a pair for myself soon.
Ok, enough from me, hope to see some pics soon!
xoxo

Unknown said...

Hey there, I found your blog via another sewing blog and popped you into my feed on Google reader... As a college graduate having gone through the wardrobe selection process fairly recently, I would agree with the statement about dark wash jeans, and would do a light cardigan, a bright cardigan, and a structured jacket in a casual fabric like denim or twill. My favorite place to find cardigans was surprisingly a local Goodwill!
I also stocked up on white tees that were fitted, and some vnecks from Old Navy.
Hope that helps-feel free to email with questions.

Sophie Miriam said...

Branka, thank you! I'll try and post some pictures soon. We are extremely busy for the next few weeks, though, so it may have to wait a bit.

Sarah, thank you too! Yes, cardigans are another area I have holes in.

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