Month: May 2011

Today's Pattern Story (and Sales): McCalls 9658

Erin7 Comments

McCalls_9658

Red: You may think I'm just casting a coy glance, but I'm really about to thwop my sister in the back of the head. It's okay, we've been doing this since we were kids.

Green: It's true. (Which explains my glassy, semi-dazed stare.)

Blue: Are those two idiots roughhousing again? I can't watch. I'll just stand over here and pretend I don't know them.

Today's pattern (and sale) is from Jen at MOMSPatterns — for Memorial Day Weekend, save 20% off all orders; use code 'thankyouvets' until midnight EST, May 31, 2012.  Jen's listing of 50s & 60s patterns plus 80s New/Old Stock items (if you didn't live through it the first time …) 

Plus: bonus sale!

Needlepoint_40mm_rnd_tn

The Button Emporium & Ribbonry is having a Memorial Day Sale, too. Through June 1, get 15% off your whole purchase (minimum $10) with coupon code memorialday2011. Including those cool needlepoint buttons above. (I kind of want to put teeny LEDs in them, don't you?) 

Oh, and hey, I'm in the UK. It's been kind of a hectic trip (hence the lack of notice & blogging), but if anyone wants to get together tomorrow [Saturday] evening, hit me up on Twitter — I'm @FakeErinMcKean.

A La Lam

Erin18 Comments

Screen shot 2011-05-07 at 6.46.15 PM

I really like this Derek Lam denim shift dress. By "really like," I don't mean "am willing to pay eight hundred dollars for it at Net-A-Porter" — "really like" in that price range is more along the lines of "was willing to rip the page out of Harper's Bazaar and blog about it". 

The jeans stitching and the cap sleeves are lovely. (How lovely? Net-A-Porter even has a video — for eight hundred bucks I think the model should have done a little soft-shoe act, too, but what do I know?) I do wish — wait for it — that it had pockets, but hey, probably the bepocketed version costs $900, right?

Does anyone know of a commercial pattern that is similar? I wanted to say there was one on BurdaStyle, but I can't find it now. Pointers gratefully appreciated.

It's Liberty Time

Erin9 Comments

No, literally:

Whynotlibertytime

I have a pretty firm policy of only wearing watches made by watch companies, but it is Liberty, after all … I just wish they had better prints for the bands. (Although maybe it was a brill idea by someone who is responsible for using up the patterns that don't sell?) This blue-rose version is the best, I think, but you can see the whole line here.

Thanks to Kate for the link!

 

Unrealistic Fantasies: Shoe Division

Erin41 Comments

Louboutin tape measure shoes

I know at least two folks sent me this link — Tricia, and someone else [Lisa?], feel free to step forward in the comments — and, well, wow.

These would be so much fun to pair with a stunt dress … you know, if I had a spare $795 (!) plus whatever it costs these days to hire four strong men to carry you on a litter. Because they’re also FOUR INCHES HIGH (100mm). (For what it’s worth, I do have a couple of pairs of four-inch heels which I wear on occasion. Occasions where I will be mostly sitting down, which are fewer and farther between these days.)

The older I get the more I value mobility over beauty (perhaps I’ve come to believe there’s more beauty in mobility?). Last Tuesday (according to my pedometer) I walked more than ten miles; last Wednesday more than seven, and on both days that walking time was prime thinking time, and I was thinking about something other than “jeez, my feet really hurt!” 

Late last Wednesday night, round about mile 6, I passed a well-dressed couple on the street and overheard the woman say to the man, “I don’t think you have any idea of how much my feet hurt right now!” When I looked at his impatient face (and his comfortable shoes) it was clear that he didn’t. And her shoes weren’t anywhere near this high.

 

Let’s have a poll!

http://modpoll.com/poll.js?pid=agdwb2xsMmdvcg0LEgRQb2xsGP-amwcM&theme=litered&width=200