Are you a "Sticker-outer" or a "Blender-inner"?

Friends, I can't talk about corduroy pants today, I need a break.  Rest assured everything's progressing fine.

But my cranberry confection has got me thinking...

There are two kinds of people: those that dress to stick out and those that dress to blend in.

I am making no judgments here, just a statement of what I suspect to be true. We all probably have a little of both types in us.  Still, one predominates.

Think about it.

You might assume that people who sew their own clothes would tend to be sticker-outers, but no.  My suspicion is that most people who sew want to blend in, albeit in higher quality fabrics and clothes with better fit than they can find in most stores.  Dare I presume that Nancy is a blender-inner?  (Nancy...are you out there?)

How about Gertie?

Or Shona?

See how easy?  (Visible tattoos and red hair are dead giveaways.)

I'm a little unsure about Elizabeth.  She presents herself as a blender-inner but she was an opera singer, after all!

Me, on the other hand, I bet you think I'm a total s-o.  In fact, I am much more of a b-i in my personal style.

(Confession: some of my more outre self-sewn outfits I consider blog-togs.  They're primarily made for the blog and the occasional night on the town that's usually a dog walk or a quick trip to the Korean deli for milk.  But I'm always open to invitations to high-profile events!)

 

Cathy, on the other hand: a true s-o.



There are many famous sticker-outers, as you might imagine, both real and fictional.

Scarlett O'Hara is a classic sticker-outer.  Remember when she showed up at the dance for the Confederacy in her mourning gown?

Cousin Melanie, in constrast, is a blender-inner.

Remember Bette Davis (or is that Shona again?) in Jezebel?  Yup, sticker-outer.

There are famous mother-daughter sticker-outers...

Famous sticker-outers playing famous sticker-outers...

Not all sticker-outers are women:

But male sticker-outers, unless they're rock stars, tend to have a difficult time of it.  Most of America isn't open to the male sticker-outer, imo.

Now how about some blender-inners?

Ethan Hawke.  Yawn.

Julia Roberts.  Zzzzz....

Erstwhile couple Reese and Jake.

Is it over yet?  (Oh, for a dose of Lana Turner!)

Dear readers, we only get in trouble when we think we're one type but we're really the other.  For example, a lot of us were probably raised to be blender-inners and have all kinds of conflicts expressing our true, latent sticker-outer.  

We tend to resent people who glory in their full sticker-outerness guilt-free and criticize them when deep down we'd like to be emulating them....sort of.

So how about you?

Are you a dyed-in-the-mousy-brown-wool blender-inner?  Or a take-no-prisoners, Bob-Mackie-or-die sticker-outer?

Would you secretly like to unleash your inner Lady Gaga but don't look good in meat?

Who are you REALLY?  (And who would you like to be?)

Jump in!

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Mens corduroy pants -- choices, choices

Hello, friends!  Sleep well?   Much to cover so let's get started.

I bought two more yards of the cranberry corduroy.  I swung by Sil Thread -- not a very user-friendly environment, as almost nothing has a price tag on it -- and picked up the cotton topstitching version of my matching cranberry thread.  I started practicing with topstitching on the fabric -- I'm nearly sure I'll be topstitching the lapels though maybe not.  Anyway, no problems there; it did not damage the short nap.

BTW, I think I'm going to be cutting everything so the nap brushes down from the top which, based on my reading, seems to be the more popular choice, though some velvets are cut nap-up so they catch the light in a more attractive way.



Next, I went to C&C Button on 38th St. (Mainely Dad introduced me to this place) and picked up good quality hook and eyes.  I think it was like $4 for a package of ten.  Fabulous place!



I also purchased some commercial waistband interfacing in black. (I already have something from Steinlauf & Stoller in beige.  Is that what this is called?  I'm not even sure.  It combines like three different kinds of interfacing and you sew it onto your fashion fabric waistband.)





Next, I laundered and pre-shrank all my understructure fabrics -- everything.  Kenneth King, in Cool Couture says "Unless indicated, preshrinking is necessary for all understructures."  Roberto Cabrera in Classic Tailoring Techniques, however, says you don't need to preshrink the haircloth.  (This is why you CAN have too many books.)   

Whatever, it all went through the laundry and nothing looks any the worse for wear.  (Some of this stuff will be going into Michael's suit and not mine.  I'm still not sure how much understructure to add to a corduroy jacket and I think it's more a matter of taste than any hard-and-fast rule.)



My pocketing is still a little stiffer than I'd prefer but I can live with it.

What else...?

Remember those despised pleated pants that were exiled to the Land of Forbidden Clothes (otherwise known as the Salvation Army) on Wednesday?  Well, I lied; I kept them.  (I did dump a bag of Michael's clothes though.)  So yesterday I dissected them, just the way I'd dissected the jacket that went with them last month in anticipation of Michael's suit project that I swear will happen in 2010.

Friends, I cannot stress enough how much one can learn from ripping apart one's old clothes.  (Remove from body first, of course.)  Fascinating.







I know some of you would love to see the full autopsy and there are plenty more pics here for you MPB completists.

Meanwhile, readers, I haven't decided which pattern to use or whether I should use a commercial pants pattern at all.

I had originally planned on using this vintage McCall's Basile pattern (fancy!):



Then as I'm ironing it I came upon this: the dreaded front PLEAT!



I maintained my composure and considered my options.  I could: 1) pleat the paper pattern and cut the fabric in its now-narrower shape (Thanks, Michael!); 2) Use my old self-drafted pants pattern (which, you may recall, does not include seam allowances, pictured below);



...or 3) use another commercial pattern.  I have this pattern, from roughly the same era, which includes a no-pleat option.





That pattern, however, is uncut, and I don't want to cut another pattern if I don't have to.   I'll decide what to do today.  I think I can handle taking a small pleat out of a pattern, don't you?

OK, let's catch our breath for a minute; I don't want to wear you out as we still have nine days to go.

I feel cautiously optimistic about these pants.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments yesterday regarding my cranberry corduroy.  A man considering wearing a suit that color needs all the support he can get!

Hey, it's Friday, isn't it?  You're all probably easing off your week and my work is just beginning; does that sound fair?  Oh well, we can't always choose what challenges life throws our way, can we?

I'm not one to complain; Love What Is, that's what I always say!

Questions?  Comments?  Cranberry cravings?

I'm here for you!

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The 10-Day Corduroy Suit Challenge!

Can this be done?  I think so.  Anyway, I'm going to try.

Yesterday morning, I made a quick trip to the garment district.  I looked at some wool suiting at trashy old H&M on 39th St.  They had some OK stuff for $10/yd, but nothing that blew me away and it was more than I wanted to spend on something that may turn out to be little more than a glorified muslin.

Then it occurred to me: why not try cotton corduroy?  It will be easier to work with than wool, and even a little rumpled can look cool and casual.

I remembered there being another fabric store on 39th Street that had a lot of corduroy, and while I never did find that one, I stumbled upon another -- Chic Fabric at 225 West 39th -- that had beautiful, vibrantly-colored corduroy at just $5/yd for 60-inch bolts.  I bought three yards but may return today for three more.





I'm not sure how this reads on your screen but it's a rich cranberry (Michael says, Merlot), very soft and velvety.  I've already laundered and dried it and it came out lovely, with nary a wrinkle.

I've been reading a lot about corduroy and how to work with it.  Initially I thought I'd pick up a velvet needle board and swung by Steinlauf & Stoller.  Do you have any idea what these things cost?  Try $175!   Even online, they're amazingly expensive.  Anyway, after doing some research it sounds like I can get by without one.  I'm certainly not ready to make that kind of investment.

I've been experimenting with light pressing, stitching, serging, etc., and so far, so good.  You just don't want to sit a hot iron on it as that will crush the nap.



I visited Sil Thread on 38th St. and found perfectly matching thread.



I also found real pocketing!



And at the FIT bookstore (the independent one, not the Barnes & Noble) I treated myself, at long last, to a sleeve board, which I've been wanting for some time.


 
When I got home, look what Michael had found in the paper recycling:









Friends, if you've seen one of these old Sixties-era sewing books, you've seen them all, but this one had something special inside -- an ILGWU bookmark! 



Now that's something to treasure!

Anyway, I'm very excited to get started.  I'm going to do the pants first, which shouldn't be too hard since I've already had some success with pants.  By then I should be more accustomed to working with the corduroy and will tackle the jacket.  (I'm not entirely sure how much inner construction a cotton corduroy blazer requires/warrants.)   If I finish all this in time for the dreaded event you know where (belch), great.  If not, that's fine too.  I can certainly wear the pants with either a blue or gray jacket.

OK, on your mark, get set -- To the Corduroy!

Happy Thursday, everybody!

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Men's Pleated Pants: YOU spoke, I listened!

As if yesterday's topic of the imminent dreaded event you-know-where weren't emotional enough, the question of whether or not to wear a pair of gray pleated suit slacks led many to the brink of apoplexy.

As in any therapeutic relationship, there's bound to be some transference between you, beloved MPB readers, and me.  To some, I remind you of your father, to others, a rebellious-yet-highly-visual son, rivalrous brother, or sharp-tongued hairdresser who permed your hair to within an inch of its life in 1977.

Likewise, I am fully open to the possibility of countertransference on my part toward some of you.  While I love you all equally, there are a few of you whose comments sound eerily reminiscent of my blunt Aunt Florence formerly of Clifton, New Jersey, whose voice I hear clear as a bell when I read, "Throw out the pleated pants. They do not fit!"  

It's been so healing to work through all this with your assistance, dear readers, and I am forever grateful.

I have decided not only to nix the aforementioned garment of shame, but to deposit them directly to the Salvation Army today, never again to tempt me.



I considered an MPB giveaway of the pants but that sounded a little too intimate.  Please rest assured that I do own a few pair of flat-front gray dress pants and I'll limit myself to those from this day forward.

How does that sound?

Admittedly, those pleated pants are an eensy bit snug, depending on what I am tucking into them, but they're not uncomfortable.



I sense men's pleated pants may be making a comeback...

No matter, they have been banished from my closet-- simply too reminiscent of the Hatey-Eighties and all things mall.

And now, Aunt Florence doppelgangers and others,  I must continue to prune my wardrobe and complete my morning toilette.

Given that there was no clear consensus about my dreaded event outfit among yesterday's copious comments -- though lots of catharsis -- I may just have to pop into the fabric store and see if anything inspires me.  Could I treadle a mens blazer in a week and a half?  I think so!

Friends, I must ask you: what is it about men's pleated pants that pushes people's buttons so -- and they do.

When did male persons of the pleat become the fashion outcasts they are today?

Are we ready for their return?

Eek.

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