Cecilia's Suits: Part 2

Ohhhhhh, get pumped! I've got more suits from Cecilia for you today! (Don't know what I'm talking about? Get caught up here)

I really liked the quilted texture of this hot pink fabric. 

Cecilia's grandma had these suits custom made from a brother-sister team in Florida. The two were immigrants (I feel terrible that I can't remember what country they're from), but settled in Florida and started their own tailoring company. These suits that they've made are absolutely incredible and have obviously lasted a very long time. 

I can't get the picture to rotate in here, but there's the label for ya. 

Cecilia said that her grandma made her own clothes until she was successful enough to buy her own custom suits.

Alright, my lovelies. There is one last post with more suits before you can see what I've been making with them.  

-Taft WK 

Black Half-Circle Skirt

For those of you out there who understand the true horror of junior year at a college prep high school, you'll know exactly what it's like to have hardly any time left for your hobbies. What with 3 Honors classes, costumes for the fall play, a shop class and discovering Gilmore Girls and 30 Rock on Netflix (nope, not ashamed to admit it), sewing unfortunately spent some time on the back burner last semester. I was only able to find little pockets of time here and there to make small projects. 

This one is one of the better ones (meaning, one that was rushed and therefore didn't crash and burn). 

My dog, in a fit of excitement when I got home one day, clawed my favorite flared black skirt and kind of wrecked it. I loved it so much that I still wore it a few more times, but finally had to admit that a dog-clawed skirt is not a good look. 

So, I ignored homework one weekend and made myself a new one! 

The fabric is the same as the fabric used to make the dress in my Halloween costume. I love love love it! It's a thick knit; stretchy but still with some body. 

The hem is folded twice because I don't have a machine that does that really cool hem that's always on t-shirts. Man, I don't even know the right name for it, which makes me feel like a total scrub. However, the twice-folded hem gives the skirt a great shape. See? Take that you fancy-tshirt-hemming-machine-thingy-once-folded-contraption....I still feel like a scrub.

This is an improved version of the completely failed beige striped half-circle skirt you all saw a couple months ago. Instead of cutting on a fold so there was one seam (see? Rushed = Crash + Burn), I cut two pieces so there were side seams and it was much improved. The waistband on this also worked really well - didn't even need elastic! Can't even tell you how much I love this fabric. 

And the back of the skirt...

Here's to all you juniors, trying to hang on to your hobbies this year. 

-Taft WK

Cecilia's Suits: Part 1

A couple months ago, a friend of a friend of my mom's reached out to me, asking if I wanted these suits that used to belong to her grandmother for crafting purposes. They're custom-made pantsuits, and Cecilia's grandma is obviously a very stylish woman.

Hollaaaaaaaaaaaa. I'm def wearing that blazer as is. And it's probably going to NY Fashion Week with me.

These clothes were *so* close to fitting me. The shoulders fit, the sleeve fit, the hems of the pants were just right. But nothing buttoned. On the bright side, however, I have a 100% valid excuse for altering everything! Except for that black and white blazer. I'm just wearing it unbuttoned. 

  

Speaking of buttons, the buttons on all these clothes are killer! Between 4 and 5 matching ones on each jacket, and they're all so incredible. Absolutely my favorite part. 

 

Check that lining. Love me some cool lining. 

The pockets were sewn shut on this blazer. Please tell me I'm not the only one who is deeply frustrated by fake pockets. 

I loved how each suit was basically the same, just different colors. Cecilia gave me over a dozen suits, and every pants style was the same, every jacket fit was the same. There were maybe only 3 different lapel and 2 different pocket styles between all of them. 

Matchy matchy matchy matchy = more fabric to work with!!

There's only more suits from here, which will slowly be revealed over the next several weeks.

-Taft WK

New York Fashion Week Update

To be honest, I'm still so excited every time I talk about NYFW that I start wiggle dancing. I'm so freaking pumped!

Here's what I've done so far:

• Found a place to stay (Thank you, M!)
• Discovered that there are Fashion Week internship/volunteer opportunities available (Thank you, J, J and J!) 
• Emailed around about fashion week connections and opportunities (Sorry about bugging y'alls, but thank you! And an even bigger thank you to those who have responded!)
• Have some money saved (So I won't starve)
• Found a couple colleges I want to look at in NYC (yaaaay? still not sure how I feel about this whole college process thing)
• Found a couple of sights I want to see
• Received a matching hat and fleece-lined cowl for Christmas that I will be wearing everyday so as not to freeze! (Shout out to mom)

Here's what's left:

• So far, no connection to get into an actual show. It's very much an insider event. I'm dreaming of that seat inside a show. Please, universe?
• More research about where events are happening, so I can walk around, people-watch and check out the street fashion
• More research about museums to visit
• And maaaaayybee more college research. But I don't really like thinking about it. 

And here's what's on my NYC agenda:

• Food. 
• Mood Fabrics
• A tour of Parsons The New School for Design and NYU
• A visit to the Met (I'm actually forseeing this happening more than once)
• Visiting various friends in the city

And what I would love love love to hear from you about:

• Your favorite places for food
• The best thrift stores
• Your favorite museums 

Of course, what I really really really want to do in New York is see a fashion show (it's Fashion Week, after all), but I have been unable to find a connection to get into one. I've reached the point where I will now be bugging famous people online (nope, nothing is beneath me now), so if anyone knows famous people or has suggestions, I'd love to hear them :) 

And of course, thank you to everyone who has talked with me about NYFW, given me suggestions and hooked me up with connections. I cannot even express the great gratitude I have for all the support I've received :)

-Taft WK

P.S. My countdown app tells me there are 38 days, 1 hour, 19 minutes and 26 seconds until my plane leaves for NYC.