Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Back in the Dressing Room (Sigh.)

Let's take a little detour into ready-to-wear, shall we? I've happily been avoiding store fitting rooms lately. As you can imagine, I have quite a sufficient wardrobe, aside from the fact that I'm always adding new handmade items to it. (Plus no clothes shopping frees up funds for fabric and sewing machine feet! Yay!) But then I saw the above Tracy Reese dress in the latest Anthropologie catalog, and I was immediately drawn to it. I've never owned anything like it, really. The bodice shape, color, texture, and overall length are very different from anything I own. I was suddenly struck with the idea to make a dress like this someday. But how to know if this sort of thing would even suit me? Well, I supposed I could walk the block and a half to my local Anthro and try it on! And that's just what I did.

The first thing I did was to track down the dress. The second thing I did was to get honest about my size. (My recent remeasuring has certainly given me some new insights about my body.) I grabbed a 10.

So I took it to the dressing room (I actually picked up a few other items on my way - more on that soon). I pulled it over my head and it zipped up easily, but not too easily. I suppose that means it fit. But that's in the most generous sense of the word possible, because what I saw in the mirror does not describe "fit" to me. The draped top bodice hung sloppily. The bust did not flatter. The midsection was weirdly bumpy. And the length! Good god, are they really calling these things dresses?! (Yes, I know how old I sound right now.) Let's just say that bending over even slightly in this would be quite scandalous.

So obviously I wouldn't be tempted to spend $298 on this dress. I tried to focus solely on color and fabric. This creamy beige is not a color I would usually choose, but I thought it was a nice change, especially in a textured fabric like this. And the skirt/bodice fabric was divine - I believe it was an embroidered silk organza. So something in this vein might be in my future, but you have no idea how glad I am I can fit and sew it myself! (Actually, yes, you probably do.)

The other dress I tried on was the Traced Twirls dress. Isn't it adorable?

This fit in an 8 since the sides are shirred with elastic. And it is SO cute! The skirt has six gores, and I think it's actually fuller than a circle and the shape is super flattering. It has a cotton lining with a pink ruffle at the bottom that helps it stand out just perfectly. The bust has very cool petal-like folds. I love the 50s, Alfred Shaheen vibe of this. I will definitely be stealing some ideas from this number!

Next I tried on a couple pairs of pants. (DOUBLE SIGH.) Oh, pants. How I despise thee sometimes.

These are the Widest Leg Pants, and what I didn't realize when I picked them up is that they have a LARGE INVERTED PLEAT right smack on top of the thigh. In case you're wondering what this might look like (on me anyway), it is horrific. I think I'm going to have nightmares.

I also tried the Smooth Sailing pants, which won't give me nightmares, but they weren't anything to write home about either. They were a bit low-rise, making me appear quite wide in the middle. Taken in conjunction with the wide legs, there was a lot of wideness going on.

Anyway, the whole dressing room experience didn't do much for my self-esteem but it did make me awfully glad I can sew. Though, I must say, I'm mystified by pants fitting. I noticed recently that Sew Fast Sew Easy will be hosting a pant moulage class with Kenneth D. King. I'm tempted - anyone else?

43 comments:

  1. I took that class with Kenneth King and it was amazing. I've even made some pants since then. I highly recommend it. He's a great teacher. Make sure you take notes though. He throws out A. LOT. OF. INFORMATION.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also had a miserable Anthro dressing room experience this weekend. I never go in there due to the prices, but I was visiting family and went on a mother-daughter shopping expedition. It's my mom's favorite store, but we must have been deluded to think that even their most empire-waisted, large or stretchy dresses would work--the only ones that fit were ridiculously SHORT. I will also stick to using them as inspiration. At least I got to examine how the dresses were made.

    I'd love to take that class (I took their custom-fit skirt class some time back and LOVED it) but I'll have to wait until I have this baby and get back to non-maternity pants wearing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I could really relate to your dressing room experiences. It makes sewing seem like no trouble at all, to be able to avoid dressing rooms! I think that the black 1950s vibe dress would particularly suit you. I'd love to take a pants class but I live in London. :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. so sorry to hear about your dressing room experience. Just know that you are not alone. Every once in a while I think "maybe I can just buy a pair of pants instead of making them and save myself some time"—*always* a mistake. Pants were always hard for me to find. I hate low rise, bootcut jeans make me look like a dwarf, etc. But now I notice how bad everything RTW fits. You are absolutely right: the bodices are all wrong, the lengths too short. Even with basic skirts I now notice how they gape in back and bulge in front because my pelvis tilts forward and the clothes do not. Hooray for sewing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Traced Twirls dress is gorgeous ... looks like it might be flattering even to an old broad like me. But the elephant-leg pants and the low-rise pants that give me 1970s fashion flashback-nightmares? Noooooo. They didn't flatter me in 1973 and they don't now :-)

    I agree that sewing and getting the fit right is worth the time invested. Plus, why be a copy when you can be an original?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Everything you wrote could have been an account of my last dressing room experience. Ugh. Each time I come out wondering who on earth can wear this stuff; then I take a look around and see how poorly it fits most people. Do they even know there is another way?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nothing like trying on RTW to send one scurrying back to one's trusty machine.

    Re pants: I make them a lot, and I swear by the Palmer/Pletsch book "Pants for Every Body". Karin - I was able to order it from Amazon.co.uk (I'm in London too). I made two miserable pair before this book, one OK but too big pair with the book, and several perfect pairs since.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Funny, I cannot make dresses that fit but I can crank out pants in about 3 hours that fit better than any RTW pair I have ever owned.

    Dresses for me are a nightmare - I have some sort of mild sway back issue that means they never, ever fit right. I recently took a pattern drafting class and learned a bunch of interesting things about myself - despite being freakishly short (4'11"), my torso is NOT petite...(hence my inability to buy pants). My back is longer than my front (it shouldn't be) and my bust is too small to require bust darts. I also have freakishly long arms (longer than they should be for my height).

    I have yet to sew a dress that did not require hours of refitting, but I have a pants pattern from the 1970s that fit me perfectly with only a few modifications (shorten leg, straighten out the hip line). And I even made a pair of authentic sailor button front pants from another early 70s pattern and had to grade the pattern down from a size 16 to whatever size I am (I guess technically an 8 vintage) and it they fit perfectly.

    I think it's different for everyone - some people can easily fit a dress, others pants...we're all different. But that is why some people can really rock those 1950s style dresses, whereas I would look foolish in them.

    I rarely try things on anymore because I know it's not going to fit. I just recently tried sewing my first pair of jeans, and now I am happy to report I will never endure the hours of therapy-inducing time spent in dressing rooms trying on jeans ever again.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've given up to RTW for the most part. The few new clothes I do buy, I end up altering to fit better.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Since getting really really deeply into wearing vintage and custom sewn repro vintage about a year ago, I have not set foot in a mall or retail store like Anthro. When I did go mall browsing recently, I was really extra sensitized to the poor quality of the fabrics, the shoddy sewing, and the annoyingly low rises still showing up on the pants. Don't get me started on the dresses. As a thirtysomething woman, I HATE showing my knees, but most cute dresses are just too short for my tastes. All in all, I think I now have a totally different view of the clothing industry--as a young girl, I thought something was wrong with me for not being able to fit into the clothes on offer at the mall. Now I see otherwise. I'm pretty sure I took too many media studies courses in university, but I can't help but feel that mass produced clothing is deliberately ill-fitting. Since advertising works to prey upon women's insecurities to create a sense of inadequacy in order to fuel women's increased hyperconsumption of things that promise to alleviate these very same insecurities, would it be a stretch to suggest that perhaps a similar strategy is at work in the clothing industry? The other obvious issue is that most stores are targeting a very young demographic--which is ironic and rather silly, since the demographic with higher paying jobs and incomes is, ironically, the age group older than 21!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh Gertie, you poor, poor lamb! I too have had a long string of unfortunate dressing room experiences. There is definitely a positive to this though, it makes me all the more resolved to sew my own. I just consider anthro fodder for my inner designer. Whenever I go, the dressing room attendant will ask me ten times if everything is alright, if I need any other sizes, etc. as I'm in there with my sketch pad madly copying designs.
    I totally agree with you about the ridiculous length of Anthro's dresses and skirts. They could surely make more flattering lengths. I also think that in trying to offer lots of clothing with awesome details, that the flattery factor sometimes goes out the window(as in the first pant pic). While they are adorable on the hanger, I don't personally know anyone who would look good in them. I am very partial to dresses and skirts. I'm not sure if that is because I've never really had a pair of pants that fit well or the fact that dresses make me feel instantly feminine. I hope you do take the class with Kenneth King and share his wisdom with us. The idea of making pants for myself scares the pants off of me!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sorry to hear about a bad dressing room experience at Anthropologie! Since I have been sewing more and better, it is now very rare that I buy RTW, but if I do, Anthropologie is one of the few places I check. Unfortunately, knowing how to sew has made me notice things like seam finishing and alignment and quality of fabric and embellishments, so most of the time I leave stores emtpy-handed, because I can not bring myself to pay the prices they charge for poor craftsmanship.
    Now, on a more useful note: try Burda pants patterns, they fit much better than the big 4 patterns. I have recently made a pair of trousers from BWOF 08/09 #105 (without the cuffs and in lightweight denim), and they turned out great. Note that this is only my third self-made pair of pants (I used to be v. afraid of fly zippers), and I am in no way great at alterations -- this pattern just fit really well as is, I altered it very little.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ugh, dressing room struggles can be so disheartening. And Anthro's fantastically inconsistent sizing never helps.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Take the pants fitting class. KK is a god when it comes to fitting. Mardel took the class with Susan Khalje last fall and had him fit pants. Amazing. His methods are quite different from others and I've had really good results mixing them with some other sources.
    Pants can be the bane of a curvy woman. The rtw all seem to be cut for a woman without any difference between her waist and hip. My size 4 dd has the worst time because her waist is about 2 sizes smaller than her lower hip.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I end up going into Anthropologie loving the clothes but hating the prices (I'm on a student budget). I often go, well I can make that for 1/4 of the price! Yet...I never get around to it. :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. oh anthro, how you frustrate me. I love the clothes, but they never seen to fit well. They are beautiful though, and one of the few shopping exceptions I'll make when there are sales. As for the shortness, I have said "that must be a top" so many times in the last few years...I have taken to checking the tag to see if it is listed as a top or dress. I swear some of the "dresses" would barely cover my pelvis.

    ReplyDelete
  17. No, Gertie, you're not getting older; those dresses ARE too short! LOL

    The only clothes I buy now are things from the Salvation Army that I bring home and alter. And once in a while I get lucky with jeans there, but if not, I go for Lands End jeans on sale...

    The thought of making pants scares me to death. I'm still trying to figure out dresses! Looking forward to hearing about your experiences with sewing them.

    ReplyDelete
  18. THIGH PLEATS?! What madness is this? That's going to give me nightmares as well.

    I've been brought to tears in too many dressing rooms to count. The horror! Even when I do find something I like, the construction quality is so abysmal that I hesitate paying good money for it. I'd rather sew (which I have very limited time to do) or find vintage clothes in thrift stores (where there's more fun in the hunt anyway) than pay RTW prices for a piece of clothing with awful construction. I just can't bring myself to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I feel your pain, Gertie. Every time I need to buy a new pair of jeans I brace myself for myriad shopping visits, trying on at least 20 different pairs of jeans and then taking the plunge on a purchase, knowing I won't really be able to judge their fit until I've got them home and worn them for a few hours - so no taking back then. You're gorgeous - you don't need a chain label to tell you that.

    ReplyDelete
  20. you * have * to try on ready to wear every now and again, especially if you're going to try on a style you've never worn before. why spend all those hours sewing something that's never going to flatter you simply because it doesn't match your body? i frequently try on tops, skirts dresses in new silhouettes for that very reason -- to know what my body can pull off.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh god, those pants. I saw them on the Anthro site while I was looking for wide leg pants, and they looked pretty good, but then you see them on the model and... what the heck? Just no.

    ReplyDelete
  22. And this is why your blog is so great--you say stuff the rest of us were thinking about, too.

    Yeah, rtw fit totally sucks! And I should feel bad that I can't afford Anthro dresses, because I can make something as nice or better with my sewing machine. Thanks Gertie! :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. I find clothes shopping very depressing because of the fit. I have to spend several hours trying on loads of clothes to maybe find something that I sort of like and fits farely well; so can totally relate.

    The class sounds awesome. Pants is something I haven't had the guts enough to make yet.

    ReplyDelete
  24. We don't actually have an Anthro (I live in the last city to get every chain store) so I like to peruse the website. I thought the skirts looked awfully short, so I'm glad to hear that it's not just me. I'm planning to tackle pants soon, as I don't have any that fit, and shopping is (I agree) an awful experience. I'm going to try Vogue 8604 - a very easy pattern, they had them in the new Vogue Patterns magazine. Very nice high waist retro look, and I have the idea that looser pants are easier to fit, though I may be wrong!

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is why I usually only buy things like plain t-shirts in RTW. I am 5'11" tall, and finding pants that approach fitting is a nightmare. Not to mention dresses that are questionably short on someone shorter look downright obscene on me!

    I usually find it to be quicker and easier to whip a pair of pants from one of the tried and true patterns in my arsenal than go from store to store trying to find something that fits!

    I also second the poster who recommended the Burda pattern for pants - all of my tried and true pants patterns are Burda. I find way less alterations are required with them.

    ReplyDelete
  26. KDK is a wonderful teacher BUT Sew Fast So Easy is a very tiny space. You'll find yourself in a turf war if there are more than 7 students.

    ~Sewjourner

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ever since I started sewing, I really can't buy clothes anymore. In the past I settled for a less than perfect fit if I thought the style of a garment suited me. Now I can't anymore. I just focus on the flaws much more. So, yes, I'll go to shops looking for inspiration, but I very rarely buy anything.
    I think that first dress is gorgeous, and the February issue of Burda magazine has a bustier dress that would work for the corsage, I think!

    ReplyDelete
  28. If there is one store I have a mild obsession with, it is anthropologie. I wish I didn't. It is so expensive. I have managed to sew knock offs of a few things from there. I wish someone could explain to me the almost cult following it has--me being one of the followers :) I have banned myself from looking at the website for several months. It makes me want to spend too much money. I am really happiest when I am making my clothing and buying sewing related items (and knitting items lately), but for some reason I feel like I am missing out of something if I don't get in on the latest anthro items. I wish I didn't feel like I was missing anything. (there is some psychology behind that somewhere) I think it is all the anthro blogs I visit --I have tried to quit that, too, and just look at sewing blogs. I really like yours.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Value Village made me feel fat last night. I went home and had frozen yogurt anyways. Then I stared at my dimpled thighs in the mirror and cried a little.
    Today? I'm wearing spanx.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hi Gertie,
    This post got me thinking, i would love to see you make a pair of pants! I never seem to find any patterns that i like...
    RubySlippersVintage

    ReplyDelete
  31. Oh my goodness! I opened your blog and exclaimed "Gertie has my most favorite dress posted from Anthro!" Let me clarify that real quick: "Oh my goodness! Gertie has my most favorite dress that fits me like crap from Anthro!"

    I am 5"2 and a size 4 and this dress fit me horribly and was way too short (even with my short legs). BUT, I have already cut out the fabric and am in the process of recreating this with some lovely light pink fabric and lace. So Gertie, have no fear. Anthro is an evil, evil place. But I monthly go through their website to get ideas!

    PS- I agree that their pants are gross. I swear they make people with actual hips feel GUILTY.

    ReplyDelete
  32. i love that black and white dress, gertie.

    ReplyDelete
  33. This is why I don't do dressing rooms. I loathe shopping and I loathe trying on clothes that I didn't make. My partner and I had the biggest fight EVER because he thinks I should be grateful that he wants to take me shopping - he insists all women long for men to go shopping with them. I have invited him to go and get a new woman who does want him to take her shopping. If I can't make it, I don't wear it. I wear a US 6 and am about 5'6" tall so I have no trouble getting in to things, but they just look like crap and I end up in tears. Who the hell are these garments made for anyway?

    ReplyDelete
  34. I can't believe this many of us have recently had lousy Anthro dressing room experiences. I was there just a week ago, looking for pants for a new job. The widest leg pants made my legs look wider than most anything could. I did find one pair that are somewhat low rise, but okay. What a shame that Anthro is one of the only stores that sells new clothes I actually like. It really makes me wish that I knew how to sew pants... Rather that I were brave enough to try sewing pants.

    ReplyDelete
  35. This is a great post Gertie! I love to hear how people draw inspiration from RTW clothes/fashion/styling - and ideas for how I can start to do the same!
    Thanks =)!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Just wanted to post that although I sew and knit myself I still go shopping RTW. Twice a year. With one of my best friends.

    We really have FUN. We put in our favourite record and book stores. We know by now which shop caters to which body type (e.g. ZARA: she fits into the tops, I into the pants; btw the ONLY RTW pants known to fit me!). And we help each other not to be bothered by all those bad fitting clothes.

    Shopping doesn't has to be a bad, bad experience. But big dressing rooms instead of dressing cabins would definitely be a big step forward! :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Afraid of pants? Really? Just start simple with some of Loes Hines patterns... http://www.loeshinsedesign.com/categories/pants/index.html I have one of these and have altered it a bit over the years. Super easy, very flattering on my short and curvy figure.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I am not especially good at sewing yet, so I still buy most clothes. Last year I got a pair of sailor pants very smilar to the one's you tried on, but they were high waisted with a cinch strap on the back, which allowed for the perfect fit(Urban Outitters).

    ReplyDelete
  39. *sigh* Visiting Anthropologie can either be hugely inspiring or terribly depressing (because of both the prices and fit problems!). But, I think you went at it with the right attitude of at least trying that Tracy Reese dress to see if the color/style worked. Even when something is a total and complete bomb in rtw, it can be a great experience to discover a new color or detail that you want to recreate in your own sewing!

    Ugh. Those pants with the pleats make me twitch. Just imagining how they'd drape on my legs would give me nightmares! rofl! Don't even get me started on low-rise either... I've decided that as far as pants go, I am just going to embrace the fact that I need to wear pants that sit higher on the waist (or at the waist) and stop trying to make the low-rise thing work for me. :p lol.

    ♥ Casey
    blog | elegantmusings.com

    ReplyDelete
  40. That dress looks cute, but I wouldn't even think of spending that kind of money, whew! I like the idea of recreating it instead. I often make versions of expensive clothes that I like. Of course, I also stalk the sales racks when I have an bit of extra money. I am a total shopaholic!

    ReplyDelete
  41. I know what you mean about stuff from the shops and the fit of it. This is part of the reason I make stuff myself. (as well as having something different!)

    Hannah
    Handmade Jewellery
    http://surfjewels.000space.com

    ReplyDelete
  42. I just recently made up a wishlist on Anthro of things I want to try and hack. I'm so inexperienced, though, I'm not sure what I will be able to pull off. That top dress was one of them, but there are so many details I don't feel able to copy! I sure hope you try. :) Maybe I might be able to pull it off then!

    ReplyDelete
  43. I agree on the length of the current dresses... they are so short! I want it to cover my knee (I hate my knees!) I still have not dared make my self "modern" clothes... by that I mean anything in the past almost 3 hundred years! I am more of a period sower for myself. I have tried to make tops but they never fit my bust (not so small bust!)
    http://www.amomsdiversions.com

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

© Gertie's Blog For Better Sewing. Powered by Cake