This is my second Turner dress. It fits well, is made of nice-looking fabric, and is generally suitable for most of the things I do in my daily life. And yet I'm just not quite sure about it. I don't know exactly why, because there really isn't anything wrong with it.
At least part of it is probably annoyance; I made fitting notes on my first Turner and applied them to this pattern (going up a cup size, lengthening the waist by a couple of inches), then bought what I thought was the same type of fabric in a different print. While making this dress I noticed the fabric seemed to have a lot less stretch than last time, so what I've basically ended up with is the exact same fitting problems I had with the first one. I used a thinner, stretchier jersey for the lining this time, and this dress would have been super uncomfortable if I hadn't.
The only thing I can think of is that it's too heavy. It's black with long sleeves and a decent amount of volume in the skirt, and the jersey is quite thick and wool-like. All these things should be positives for a winter dress, and I have worn it several times during the recent cold snap because it's probably the warmest thing in my wardrobe. But wearing it with the thick black tights and boots which are currently necessary because it's decided to snow (not proper snow, stupid English snow which never settles but just evaporates into slipperiness the second it touches anything) feels a bit oppressive. Like I'm a little black raincloud. Yes, a Winnie the Pooh reference. Because I am an adult.
I don't hate this dress or anything, it's just not really what I want at the moment. I've been making and wearing a lot of practical black and grey clothes, and I suspect that what I need is a month or two of utterly frivolous shit. And given that Wednesday is my birthday, this would seem like the time for it. Today's task: make a leopard print dress for drinking cocktails in. Oh yeah.
(Still twirling. Always twirling.)
This looks AWESOME on you, so get over yourself. Too bossy? Hah. But I can also kind of relate. I love my Turner dress ... in theory. In reality, it just doesn't quite fit exactly right. I need to try it again, but I just haven't been motivated yet. I love your print, but if it's too "boring" because b/w and nothing else, maybe a pop of color with a necklace or scarf, or non-black tights? I consider b/w prints to be a neutral.
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks! Looking at it again, I think I'd feel much more comfortable in this dress if the skirt was a bit shorter. The fabric is very heavy and doesn't stretch much, so it's slightly constricting around the chest and feels like it's pulling me down somewhat. A bit less fabric and it might feel better... I'll experiment with that!
DeleteIt's a hard knock life, being a blogger and having to think of puns and whatnot. I can't even pun so I can only admire your efforts. Your Turner looks cute but I can understand the "heavy" feeling - it's much more comfortable to have a bit of ease in heavy, low stretch knits than wear them like a lightweight knit close to the skin.
ReplyDeleteGillian at crafting a rainbow recently wrote about reducing the amount of fabric in a dress to make it less oppressive...my poor word choice here, not hers, but I tried it recently and it saved my dress. Shortened the length a bit, and shortened the sleeves, and deepened the neckline...mire skin! That's what she recommended, and it worked for me. And I'm with Debbie...add a pop of fun color.
ReplyDeleteI think if you wear that with a pop of red it will look fab! Or even cobalt blue... It needs something bright with it, to offset the rain cloud feeling.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm one to talk, I'm often well-dressed for a funeral! I like grey and black a lot, and have to work to add colour to my wardrobe.