Momma got some new clothes...

My new rule for buying off of the rack is that it must already go with 3 things I own. So here are two looks with the new 'squares' top. I bought something that is longer on me and has the flattering draped neckline If you will notice that it has no set in sleeves. The top is all one piece. I think this works to camouflage my big shoulders/bust combination. I love that the top has so many color blocks that make it work with so many of my other clothes. Here are a few looks so far.

with flared jeans

with equestrian legging/quilted teal vest

neutral rain coat for warmth

secret pattern mixing

Inspiration from other bloggers:How to wear a millitary jacket?

Sometimes I need to see how someone else is styling a piece of clothing to give me an idea. This happened when I was trying to figure out how to wear my military jacket. So I utilized the idea I got from Catherine's web site. not dressed as lamb military jacket and turquoise sweater  The color is a dark grayed green and I couldn't figure out what to pair with it. 

Catherine from Not Dresses as Lamb

My interpretation from her inspiration

 Sometimes other people can really give you an idea of how to put something together. You can see me at visible Monday of another great blogger, Not Dead Yet Style.

Inspiration from magazines:Make a collage

Do you ever cut pictures out of magazines of outfit looks that you like? I do. I usually collect them for a while and then sort through them and paste them onto poster board. What I look for are items in the pictures that are similar to what I have in my wardrobe. I also look for color combinations that I usually would never think to try. What I looked for this time was 
1. quilted vest looks
2. military jacket looks
3. moto cross leather jacket looks
4. serpa jacket looks
5. trench coat looks
6. ways to accessorize

colors and layering

dress and quilted vests and moto-cross jacket looks

separates and color combinations

Shape of the clothing versus Shape of the person?

I have spend the last year or so looking at other people's blogs and just looking at their clothing. I have read just about every fashion advice book I could put my hands on as well. 
But something so simple struck me the other day. On some people it is the shape of the clothing that makes them look good. An optical illusion because their natural shape really isn't there. They are the skinny people that are just straight up and down with little body fat hence no curves. Then there are people like me that have lots of body fat and lots of curves that the clothing tries to drape over and 'fit'. Atlantic pacific
This blogger has many examples of herself in very shaped clothing. How many women do you know that could wear a plaid mans shirt pearls and a Tutu and look so fabulous???
Maybe I should try not to structure my curves but let clothing drape over them. Knits seem to do that but the weight of the knits is tricky. Too thin and all of the extra rumples are exaggerated. Too thick and it adds unneeded bulk. Maybe the structured pants and jackets are the best type of clothing to put on a very curvy body? So I am going to post some structured clothing then some not structured for example knits and see what you all think???? Have you noticed this as well?? Macy's model 
Recently Une femme d'un certain age

had some similar thoughts inn her recent post,"I've come to realize that the more structured, boxy pieces that I love so much conceptually really don't look good on me anymore (if they ever did). ." 

 I think that I look too masculine in these jackets despite the feminine blouse and skirt. I think there is just too much structure and they don't fit very well. I also think the proportion of the jacket is wrong; the hem cuts me in half. I need a shorter jacket with this skirt. The other problem is that the two pieces are rectangular boxes stacked one on top of the other. 
The top jacket has pockets in the wrong places and has a boxy line too.  

 In these two pictures I have sweaters that drape over my curves. More fluid and they don't cut me in half. But there is still something off and I haven't figured it out but at least I think the non structured is better on me. What do you think should curvy girls just try to drape over the curves or try to restructure?

Salvaging a bad bang job

Went to my hairdresser today and confessed my sins of last week cutting my bangs myself. She did a salvage job and I am very pleased with the results. I wanted to grow my hair out to a bob but I sort of sabotaged it with the 'bang job'. I think it looks kind of like a Sassoon style haircut from the 60's. Anyways here are the results, should I keep it this way or still grow it out to a bob??

Please excuse the no makeup look

Getting your fashion inspiration from your dog

I love the color combination in my dog's fur coat: Orange, Black and a creme white. So I put together a similar clothing combination and tried to get my dog to pose with me. Below are the results.The funny thing is that she wouldn't face the camera. So finally out of frustration with us, she flipped over onto her back and stayed that way.. Does your dog cooperate in photographs? I'm visiting  on Not dead Yet style blog and very good one indeed.

Vogue1036 Jacket Project

Before I cut out my fashion fabric  I am making a muslin of the pattern. I have to say it fits amazingly well. I was prepared to have to make the shoulder adjustments for a square shoulder and a forward shoulder and I didn't have to. There is a whole bunch of room in the shoulders of this jacket. When I read through the directions this jacket has a shoulder header and a shoulder pad. Wow no wonder. I couldn't find any lambs wool for the header at my fabric store so I am going to use a synthetic fake fur that has the consistency of lambs wool. The sleeves have a pieced detail that is very unique. It calls for top-stitching. I wanted to make this special so I have practiced on the muslin trying out top-stitching thread and using a special top-stitching needle. Superior Threads produces such products and I highly recommend them.

Brown denim with metallic gold highlights

This is a photo of my fashion fabric, it is a brown denim with metallic gold highlights so my top-stitching thread is a gold color. I have tried out many of the decorative stitches on my sewing machine,what fun that is. I have a light weight Brother CS 6000i computer machine. I am going to use stitch #02 for my top-stitching. I could have gone crazy with the stitches but I didn't want to end up with a costume effect. Today I will take better pictures of my sloper and I am going to prepare my fabric for cutting out. I have to interface the body of the jacket and it will also have a lining. I might just make the sleeves first because they are the bulk of the work on this jacket. I looked on Pattern Review  and I found one review of the pattern. This person said the band on the bottom of the jacket didn't fit properly so I am going to check mine just to be sure. I have to say that knowing where to cut the notches on the multisize patterns is very difficult. They are stacked onto one another and I was guessing which one was the correct notch for my size.