Maxi Ikat

Where has summer fled? This was brought home this morning (I am writing this on Thursday, August 18th) when Michelle put up a post on Facebook showing the boys on their first day back to school. I then recall those pre-retirement days with the “July” welcome back letter, and the teacher workday schedules of this in-service and that in-service. Do I miss it? Not really–especially the in-service. I just wait for that first call to substitute so I can go and just teach. That part just doesn’t want to leave yet.

I’ve decided to end the summer wearing one of my maxi skirts that I picked up at Macy’s a few years ago. It’s a five-tiered affair and how long have they been around? I don’t know if they were around in the 30s but you can certainly find illustrations from the 40s (see below). Blue and white is so classic and Indigo looking dyed cloth is one of my favorites.

This pattern for my 100% Cotton skirt is based on the Ikat weaving technique. Ikat weaving is a technique where the warp yarns (those yarns first tied to the loom) are dyed in a resist dye technique. I do weave a little but consider myself a beginner. I certainly have never used a technique this advanced. I still have mug mats on my table loom that I started a year ago. When I say beginner, I mean it!

I have always worn a white top with this skirt. Usually it has been a sleeveless one that I purchased as the same time as the skirt. However, I had never been too happy with the way they looked together. Last summer, I thrifted this white 3/4th length cotton from Rafella and it struck me this summer that I really liked the way these two looked together. I find I like covering my arms up a little more.

My summer hat is new just last month. I found it, yes again, at the gift shop of my home town drug store. Joyce, the manager, seems to always find things that I just love and this hat is no exception. It comes with two lace scarfs (black and white) which doubles the fun. The white patent leather sandals are by Nine West (TJ Maxx). My necklace is an old Cloisonné piece that I have had since the 80s. I don’t wear a lot of hearts but this one I really like and get it out once in a while to wear. It actually opens.

My bag is another vintage from my Rodo collection. It’s chain can be hidden to make it a clutch or out as you see here. It’s the pattern that the weaving makes that attracted me to this bag, and you can’t see details like that in an all over photo-so here is a close up. The slight curved shape matches the weaving visually.

The Polished Accessory

I went for an orange polish for this look. My favorite complementary color combo is blue/orange. Clubbing Till Sunrise by O.P.I is a pretty important color for me and this leads to story-time.……..

The first Summer that I was retired, my daughter Michelle announced she was not getting me stuff for my Birthday. There was nothing I needed, the truth indeed. Rather than stuff, she was scheduling two appointments: one for my hair and one for a Pedi.

When the Pedi time came up, the stylist asked if I wanted polish. I remember not being very enthusiastic, so I said something to the effect, “I want some kind of bronze orange”. To my amazement, she brought back a bottle that my color-loving heart fell in love with. I had no idea what color or brand it was, but it looked great on my toes! Not thinking of asking the salon what brand they used, I searched for that color throughout the Summer.

My sister gave me an important lead. “OPI”, she said, “I usually find what I want in OPI”. OPI?-Yes, I had never heard of OPI. And with that I found my color. It was Clubbing Till Sunrise from the South-Beach collection. I now have it in my collection thanks to Amazon. The research for this one polish led to an amazing world. I even enjoyed blogging about it for a time.

Tired Skirts

Ahh, those tiered skirts. I did some research about tiered skirts. I wanted to find some dating back to the 40s and 50s. And find some samples, I did.

IKAT Weaving.

What you see here, are the dyed warp threads on the loom

I don’t know if I caught anyone’s interest about the technique of Ikat weaving. If I did, here’s a three minute time lapse video of the technique. You can find it HERE. It is a very interesting video.

And another extra. I finished my Dress Doctor’s Blue Combos. Here are small samples. The larger charts can be found on the tab in the tool bar. There are two more colors to go. However, they will be far in the future because it will be a while before I am wearing brown or red.

That is enough for today, so I will bid adieu until next week. In the meantime, Happy Styling!

This week, I am linking up with Patti’s Not Dead Yet Style’s Visible Monday HERE, Cherie’s Style Nudge’s Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine’s Not Dressed As Lamb’s I will Wear What I like HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine’s Style Perspectives HERE, High Altitude Style’s Link-Up HERE, Fashion Should Be Fun’s Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE, Shelbee’s Edge of the Week Link Up HERE, Nancy’s Fancy Friday HERE and Sydney’s Fashion Hunter.