Snoop Shopping and Fall Wardrobe Planning

Now that my sewing skills have grown and I feel more comfortable wearing what I have made in public, I want to work with some nicer fabrics for fall and take on some more complex patterns. BUT, I want to do this in a smart way, and make sure that what I am planning to make is similar enough to items that are current and available, so that I don't end up looking Becky Home-ecky. Well, I might still, but it won't be because of the patterns and fabrics that I choose, it will be because I screw up the assembly in some way.

So here are my plans.

First up, Vogue 8315.


I will be making it from a charcoal-colored, 100% cotton twill, that I got for $4.95 a yard, for a total of $22.28.


I think that this will be a good look, because I found a similar dress by Ralph Lauren at Bloomingdale's.


The Bloomingdale's dress cost $230.00, so I figure that I am doing a lot better with my $22.00 version. Also, the original is taffeta, which may be slightly inappropriate for work. But cotton will be better!

Next, Vogue 1051, an Alice + Olivia flared pant.


You can pick up a pair of Alice + Olivia pants at Bloomie's for a mere $253.00:



But at only $3.00 a yard, my version will be just $7.50 in a pinstriped suiting:


If my fingers aren't bleeding and my sanity is intact after that, I'll work on Vogue 8409:


I'll be doing mine in a grey doubleknit at $4.00 a yard, who can beat an $8.00 dress??


But it would appear that Ann Taylor was inspired by the Vogue envelope, since they did their version in the same pea-soup-green. I think I'll pass. For $128.00 you think they could make it from a color less reminiscent of baby-poo.


Next, Vogue 8280. I have tried to make this one before and ended up using the fabric for other things. So, I'm going to give it another try:


I'll be making it (I hope) from a 100% cotton flannel twill that was purchased for $5.75 a yard. That means the dress will cost a grand total of $11.50.


Banana Republic has a similar dress (check out the sleeves, very similar!) for $150.00:


Although the Vogue pattern is actually a copy of a 2007 Roland Mouret design seen here and here (scroll to the bottom). I couldn't exactly find one for sale, but did find an article that said that the dresses cost 990 pounds. Converted to US dollars, that is $1702.50.

Finally, I'm going to make a first attempt at a silky material. But I'm not going to spend money on actual silk, I'm going to start with a poly-charmeuse. I'll be using McCalls 5522:


Since I haven't used silky fabric before and don't want to spend a lot of money on something that I may potentially royally screw up, I picked up the fabric for $3.00 a yard. So at the most, I'll be out $5.25. On the upside, it's pretty cute:


And, if I pull it off, I might end up with something similar to this shirt from Nordstrom's that retails for $149.00:


So, in all, I am fairly pleased with my pattern and fabric choices, since I have been able to find extremely similar items at a variety of higher-end retailers. If I manage to put them together well, and refine the fit, I could potentially have the equivalent of over $900.00 worth of clothes for about $70.00 worth of fabric and notions.