I’m looking out of the window at the library, listening to NPR Music Tiny Desk Concerts (or, as I call them, Tiny Desk Music Concerts, for my head is like a foreign country with poorly translated signs). I should be reading about determinants, but my next class is in seven whole hours. So, in a fit of benevolence, I’ve decided to select five accidental Googles (searches that have rightfully or wrongly led people to this here bloggity boondoggle) and point them in the right direction.
1. woman of a certain age blog sewing Okay, so I think there are a couple of things you might be going for. Girls of a Certain Age is a fashion-ish blog written by Kim France, a former editor at Lucky. I find it charming and am with her on the “logo-free or die” front. She doesn’t quite write about sewing, but I think she’s a good starting point.
I’m not quite comfortable defining of a certain age, so how about we just call these people awesome sewers? Carolyn at Diary of a Sewing Fanatic is prolific and makes lovely things. Lindsay T Sews is no longer updated, but it’s such a fabulous read. La Sewista and Nancy K Sews are both great.
2. ripped old guys I think the classic example is Jack LaLanne, no? If you’re not looking for the body-building type, but perhaps just a foxy old dude, might I suggest our captain Christopher Plummer? Also, if they needn’t be living, there is literally no getting better than Paul Newman. Ever. At all.
If this is a romantic thing, I’m not quite sure the Internet is a good place to find a ripped old guy, Googler. I know; that sucks. I tend to see ripped old guys at fancypants gyms. At my old gym, they’d kind of walk around lawlessly, wearing nothing but speedos and the flimsy complimentary robes while eating sushi from the snack bar. I haven’t been in almost a year, but if you’re local, I’m sure they’re still around and still at it.
3. simplicity 1873 excess bodice fabric Well, on the view that has the chokehold neck, I didn’t have excess bodice fabric on first fitting. With the scoop-neck view, I had quite a bit of excess at the back, and now the whole lot of it is a tent. There are a few adjustments you can make. Sunni at A Fashionable Stitch did a pretty detailed post about fitting her Lonsdale dress. She didn’t fuss with the back all that much, but it’s worth a gander. Kenneth King has a neckline dart tutorial up on Threads you might find it helpful.
4. ascher print cotton Oh, I’ve fruitlessly searched for this before, so I have a couple of tips. For some strange reason, people don’t usualy mention that the print in question is from Ascher Studio when they write sale copy. Hell, I write copy for a fabric website and that bit tends to get excised. Sadface. So, here are some fabrics that I 100% know say Ascher on the selvage/selvedge. This guy from Mood: 1. Also, these five fabrics from Manhattan Fabrics (which is really Paron in NYC): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. If you’re in New York, you can find Ascher kicking around the stores on 39th Street for $5-ish per yard, $16.50 at Paron. Mood has a pretty robust selection priced at around $10-$14 per yard. I’ve seen some at G Street Fabrics for $30 a yard (I actually clutched my chest, “I’m coming to join you, Elizabeth!”), so I would never take that tack. Also, if you get familiar with the Ascher print library, you’ll notice them sometimes pop up at online retailers like Fabric Mart.
There’s a post on Mood’s Sewciety that features an Ascher lightweight cotton (swatch #1 from here). It was in store as of Tuesday, so methinks it should still be hanging about. For general information, Gertie has some posts about Ascher and Peter at Male Pattern Boldness made Cathy a dress with an Ascher rose print.
5. working girl style blog If you’re looking for a style blog geared towards actual people with actual jobs that don’t involve catwalks or street corners, then I have a couple of suggestions. There’s the always buttoned-up Corporette and Capitol Hill Style. While not everyone’s cup of tea (her discussions of social class get. . .spirited), Lisa at Privilege does really solid deconstructions of style archetypes within cultural constructs and gives good advice about what to wear to work in different situations.
I’m not sure that there exists a style blog that revolves around the film Working Girl, but I think one of us should really get on that. Olympia Dukakis for life, y’all.
Bonus! Here is one of my favorite Tiny Desk Music Concerts (tied with The Avett Brothers TDMC, but I had this one open already):
Seam Ripped 