Color+Neutral

Four years ago I volunteered to model for a Kansas City Fiber Guild show. I had never modeled before but it was my first year of being retired and I thought a new experience might be fun. The modeling went fine. I didn’t stumble or fall down.  We were assigned what to wear and my assignment was a  jacket, designed, hand woven, and sewn by Kansas City weaver Sandy Cahill.

In the end, my volunteering set me back a few pennies. Once I put this jacket on, I decided no one else needed it but me. Since then whenever wearing it, I have been garnering complements. Its official description (on the garment tag) is a “Handwoven Shawl With Sleeves”. But I say its a cropped jacket with lapels that don’t stop!

With a fiber content of 75% cotton/25%Bamboo, Sandy used three yarns of the hues navy, blue-leaning-turquoise, and fuchsia . The weave is fairly open, which lets the jacket drape like a knitted fabric. And the weave is loose, which means it can snag. But like a knit this can be readily fixed by drawing the fiber back through the hole and slowly working it back into the weave.

My jacket can take on quite a few different looks, although, I have only two here. I will tell you that it is a fun garment to play with.

When I have a great piece such as this, I want to put it in a setting where it will shine and not have to compete with other pieces. That is where the neutral comes in and this time the neutral is black. Navy would have worked also. However, I am lacking a few navy items in my closet to carry that one off yet.

It is interesting that sometimes we bloggers think along the same lines. The day Michael and I were doing our photo-shoot, Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style  came out with a bright colored jacket with a black column. I thought that was pretty cool!

I shopped my closet for this one and my basic black pieces for Look #1 have all been on here before. The turtleneck is a  Pendleton black Merino wool turtleneck (from Pendleton), silk refashioned Charter Club pants (eBay) and chunky heeled Etienne Aigner black pumps (early 2000’s from Macy’s).

Also, I used my patent leather clutch  by Alfani (eBay) and black vintage cotton gloves. This is the winter that sometimes I wear dark cotton gloves when the weather is not so cold. I went with all silver jewelry for Look #1 which included a silver cuff (can’t remember where from) and Stella and Dot Necklace (eBay).

Then there is my hat. I rarely purchase vintage hats. To begin with, my head is just too big for older hats. I even take a larger hat size than my husband. But I was attracted to this simple black fur felt when I saw it in an antique shop. Its shape is trapezoid. If you notice how it cuts across the front, it becomes clear this is not a round hat. I also like its low profile that reminds me of a  Beret. A vintage hat has to work for me in a modern context and I think this one does. I know that I usually have on a Fedora or Beret shape, but sometimes I feel it is good to try something different. Hat lovers, what do you think?

Its time to move on to Look #2 which I styled with my Sleeveless Calvin Klein sheath, purchased about the same time as my jacket at Macy’s. We had just gotten our first subscription to the KC Symphony and I really didn’t have a great basic black dress back then. This dress has a belt. For me, “belt” means some creativity can be had by tucking in the end of one of the front lengths. The jacket now looks like it has a peplum. I don’t know if that is quite the right word, but it is now longer.

The bag in this look is a vintage black quilted Koret, sort of “a la Chanel”, I think. It is the only round bag I have.

The pin I’m wearing is designed by Michal Golan and was a Christmas present from my oldest daughter, Michelle. It comes with earrings and the set is called “The Enchanted Forest”. These pieces are brass electroplated with 24k Gold and the crystal settings are by Swarovski. Michal Golan’s jewelry is gorgeous in full of color. The extra bonus is that it is all crafted in the US of A: New York.

The Painted Accessory

This design today called to the blues and I have a polish by my favorite main stream American brand, Zoya. I am wearing Remy, a dark blue shimmer with green flash and a little metallic glitter . Something like this is so much more interesting that just a creme color polish. Give me a little shimmer anytime!

I almost named this story, “support your local weaver” because  most regions have weavers who create beautiful works. It is just a matter of finding these crafts-people because they don’t get as much publicity as mainline designers. Weavers, along with textile artists in other disciplines, create one of a kind fashionable garments. I find that Fiber Guilds have their major show and sale around Christmas and investigating online usually turns up something.

That’s all I have for today. So adieu until next time, and in the meantime

Happy Styling!

 

Michael gets the photo credits for the outdoor photos. I will take credit for the  nail pic.

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