The Shirt.

The shirt.  It's on all those wardrobe essentials list, mostly accompanied by the words "classic" and "white".  I can't seem to work it into my wardrobe very well.  I did want to sew one though, so that's alright.


My fabric is a Liberty print.  The pattern is Vogue 2634.

You may have to enlarge this next picture to see that the bottom bottom hole is horizontal, whilst all the others are vertical.  I have seen this done on men's shirts.  Not sure why, perhaps to anchor the other buttons in position?

 The back view.  I added back darts.

 The pattern had the option of sleeveless, short sleeves 3/4 sleeves and really long sleeves, but no wrist length sleeves.  I adjusted the length to the wrist and added a placket.  This is the first placket I have sewn.  I used some very good instructions in an Australian Stitches magazine.

See these buttons.  They cost $2 each.  I nearly felll over when the shop owner told me, but I am not spoilt for choice in sewing supply shops.  Just another reason not to sew collared shirts.  Sadly, I only checked the vertical placement of buttons and not the horizontal placement and the under-placket shows. 

You can see here that I used a contrasting fabric for the collar stand and plackets.  Only it is in a similar colourway, so this effect is subtle.

 This is how I styled it today.  Actually, it was about all I could come up with, unlike the mustard pants that I showed you on Monday that lent themselves to dozens of wardrobe combinations.

I suspect that not many women look great in a collared shirt.  All the views on runways and magazines show the shirts unbuttoned to a deep V, giving a strong vertical line that you don't get if you wear it buttoned up.  If I went out like that, it would only take moments for somebody to tell me that my buttons had come undone.  So this project was more about the process than wearing.

Like many of you, I love reading style guide books.  Earlier this year I picked up Wardrobe 101.  I compared their essentials checklist to my own wardrobe

- tailored jacket, short jacket, fitted jacket and trench coat.  Whilst I own these, I only really wear my Chanel style jacket.
- tailored pants - again, own these, rarely wear them
-wide-legged pants - tick
-jeans - tick
- the perfect skirt - tick, tick, tick
- full skirt - I'm not sure that this is an essential, outside of a bush dance or ballet concert
- collared shirt - see above
- statement top - tick
-knit sweater or cardigan - tick
-tee-shirt - tick
- day dress - I have several, but none of them is the perfect dress, still searching
- little black dress - which I do wear occasionally, but I always feel boring in black
- special occasion dress - plenty of these, but they don't leave the cupboard too often.

So it seems, I meet the list, but these are not the clothes I wear every day.  I've started my own list to work against instead.
* jersey dress, appropriate for work or somber occasions, when you need to grab an outfit in 30 seconds after you have just sat in somebody's yoghurt.  Essential that this dress does not require ironing.
* pull-on dress, no fussing required, to be grabbed on your way to answering the front door, or when you should have been somewhere 20 minutes ago.
* t-shirts, take the time to find a flattering fit
* knit tops, dressier than t-shirts, but also must not require ironing
* statement top, for all those times when people mostly only see your top half anyway.  Throw on with jeans for any occasion when you are not sure what the dress code is.  Ironing is permissible.
* cardi / scarf that is able to be rolled up into your bag
* tights / leggings, to go under all those dresses you made / bought, forgetting that you are not in your twenties anymore
* skirts / pants / shorts.  Forget the fashions,  Choose styles and lengths that flatter.  Pockets are handy but not essential.
* one dress that makes you feel gorgeous.  Matching heels.  You may need a matching bag if you don't have a bloke with pockets.
* pretty pjs
* swimmers in which you are prepared to be seen in public.  It is a lot more fun in the water than watching from the sidelines.
* cute exercise clothes.  I only exercise to help me look good and it defeats the purpose if I am wearing baggy old uglies for the duration.
* underwear that you can forget about once you have it on.  No pulling, pinching, fussing allowed.

What do you think?  Anything missing?