Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Garment Project: before

A huge perk to being in a country where labor costs are dirt cheap is having an awesome seamstress. I haven't completely taken full advantage of this until now (I hope). While at home I found some old menswear at the second hand store that I purchased at rock bottom prices. I sketched out some changes and feminine touches I wanted to add to the navy blazer and the trench coat.

The first garment is a great old Nordstrom navy wool men's blazer with gold nautical buttons ($5). It's way too big for me so they are going to take it in and shorten it up. They are going to add gathering at the shoulder and a little bit of a pad at the edge of the shoulder to make it stand up and out a tad. The sleeves are lined with a great neutral acetate. I'm having a button on the cuff moved up the sleeve and a tab created inside the sleeve so when you roll them to the elbow I can button the tab so the rolled cuff stays up. It's going to be a tad big and over sized looking; just perfect for jeans or shorts.

My sketch:The before (after some pinning-Yikes I need a hair cut)The men's trench coat is an old London Fog look a like with all the tabs, flaps, vents, and belts in place ($12.50). It's just four times to big for me. This garment restructuring will be a challenge for the team because it's just so big. I'm keeping all the traditional trench coat features (just in proportion to the new smaller coat they will make) and adding some modern feminine features like the gathered shoulders, slight balloon sleeve so you can cinch the wrist cuff at your wrist or push it up to your elbow. The length will be just past my knee and it will be a tad A line instead of stick straight. The buttoning is all on the wrong side since its a men's coat but that will just add character (even if it takes me a long time to get used to the buttoning on the wrong side).

My sketch:The beforeThe two male seamstresses that Ann (the owner and main tailor of the shop) has put on the job are up for the challenge. I'm excited to see the results.

2 comments:

The Gunning Family said...

Love your sketches! Project Runway in your future?

Kristin said...

That is one big coat! Can't wait to see the finished results!