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Sewing with a Plan 2015 0.7
Combinations The SWAP contest requires that all the garments go together. While there are three “sets” here, which stand alone, the three “wildcards” are garments which work with the three sets. Also I...
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Style advice for the larger politician – Eric Pickles
In the next three posts on politicians I will look at someone who is bigger than average, Eric Pickles, a particularly slim one, Jim Murphy, and then Nicolas Sarkozy, who is a smaller man. I will try...
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Sewing with a Plan 2015 0.16
Now I have a nice Fuchsia jacket, using Simplicity 7305, I needed to use the remaining fabric for a skirt to match. Although there is one in the pattern it is just a A line skirt block pattern and not...
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Sewing with a Plan 2015 0.21
Making another Pencil skirt – for the Roland Mouret Squiggle suit To match my Roland Mouret Kimono jacket I wanted to make a plain skirt that would co-ordinate with it, but might also work with my...
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W. Bill is no more (but maybe you can get some of their cloth)
The firm W Bill was founded by William Bill in 1846, in Mold, North Wales. Originally WIlliam Bill specialised in blankets and Welsh flannels, but they soon branched out into tweeds and later into the...
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Time for a bit of remodelling?
I can’t say I am a great fan of remodelling existing outfits. I had a go last year as part of the SWAP contest, and was pretty underwhelmed with it. It took forever to reclaim the fabric and then I...
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Andre Courreges 1923-2016
Andre Courreges died last month at the ripe old age of 92. Although he kept designing throughout the 70s and 80s, he never again achieved the same sense of having spoken, in clothes, for the moment....
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Hillary Clinton cracks the Presidential dress code
Nearly two years ago I wrote about how Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel were enamoured with the dumpy-frumpy pant suit. But while trousers are the ultimate practical outfit Hillary looks awful in a...
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Menswear Friday – Mark Carney
Governor of the Bank of England, and well-known Canadian, Mark Carney has a reputation for dressing well. Also, if I tell the truth, I find him rather attractive. He has been doing his best to suggest...
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Menswear Friday – is the suit still necessary?
JP Morgan staff (WSJ) Last month the world’s leading bank wrote to all its employees telling them that they no longer needed to wear a suit. The sort of “business casual” clothes they had been wearing...
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Menswear Friday – How to wear a suit
Maybe the suit is no longer required in many workplaces. That could be just the reason to wear one. A nice suit can be very flattering on a man, and often makes him look both taller and slimmer....
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Picasso comes to London
Last weekend we went to see the Picasso Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Nick and I love Picasso, believing him to be the greatest artist of the 20th Century. We have...
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Men’s style – Steve McQueen
In order to inspire myself to sew menswear I have been considering who my style icons are. Here are a few men who I think dress well, whatever the period. Arthur Miller Frank Sinatra James Dean Sean...
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MANSWAP #11 – the suprising construction techniques of the Vogue 8988
When I was taught the rudiments of traditional tailoring at college we were told that this was quite different from “soft tailoring”. I am not sure this word is still used much to describe the...
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Corduroy – suitable for men, women and children
Apparently corduroy started life as a type of Fustian. I remember clearly reading about both fabrics in one of my GCE O level books, The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. The man was of fine...
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