9.10.2012

pack it up, pack it in, let me begin

there's a bit of a backstory here before you scroll down to le photos.  it will not make sense without the backstory.  READ IT, YO.

if you were around these parts this summer, you might recall my trip to mood LA with the lovely miss clio of clio and phineas.  during our romp through the remnant boxes, we came upon some stripes of orange hue.  this was a problem, as we're both a bit psychotic for that particular shade.  not wanting to duke it out in the aisle, i calmly suggested we split the goods and share our makes via blog.

clio squinted her eyes, obviously wondering if she could take me down and get out the door before an agile employee tackled her.  perhaps, upon thinking over the godzilla sized almond croissant i'd had for lunch, she realized i was way too sugared up to make the odds good.  she agreed, and we sliced the stripes in half.

and then, there was this.  the beginnings of the most horrific thing i've ever made that was never made.  capri length harem pants, scrapped halfway through.  i decided to wing it into a mini dress.  but the fabric had already been irreparably scarred from its first iteration.  this ended up being the kind of project that you finish because THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE... and i finished this jammie to within an inch of its life.  even though it was quite clear, long before i installed the zipper, there was STILL no way in hell i'd ever wear it in public.  i'd wear it for our cross blog posts, and that would be that.

but i couldn't even muster up the will to put it on for a single shot.  the thought of it made me nauseous. defeated, i decided to make my excuses, clio's cheery ready to post! email ringing in my ears.  maybe she'll just forget, i hoped.  into the goodwill pile it went, as we prepared to get out of dodge on our last night in LA.

then, stunner came over for dinner.  you remember stunner?  stunner had her very own pile of get-out-of-dodge goodies.  what the hell, i thought.  she might as well try this abomination on.

and then my jaw dropped.  


STUNNER.


OONER.


STUNNER.


OONER.

if we aren't the poster children for proportion and how to make it work for you, i don't know who is.  now look, don't get all silly and tell me it looks good on me.  It.  Does.  NOT.  i am totally okay with that fact.  believe me, i think i'm hot as shit (which is a very strange expression) but in this i'm cold pizza, at best.  which just blows my mind that in the same dress, stunner is a refreshing summer fruit.  or a crispy pepperoni slice with fresh mozzarella and basil, if you want to keep the simile going.

obviously, it stayed with her.  and suddenly i know what i'm having for dinner tonight...

so clio!  what did you make, girl?  (EDIT: clio's is up and i'm JEALOUS.)  and what about y'all?  have you ever made a nightmare that looked like a dream on someone else?   

51 comments:

  1. I love that dress! So cute. I may have to try something similar. Might not look good on me though. Great fabric!!!

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  2. It's amazing how two women can make the same outfit look completely different, isn't it? Glad you found a loving home for it. :-)

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  3. Well, I happen to LOOVE cold pizza. Don't get me wrong, a nice slice piping hot from the brick oven is delish, but somehow there's nothing more satisfying than a cold slice the morning after. There was actually a song I remember hearing during my childhood--by some comic singer my parents liked--about having cold pizza for breakfast with a warm coke. Great song. Breakfast of champions.
    That said, cute dress--but it does work on Stunner better than you. Somehow the stripes just make you look stumpy and it does zero for your piping-hot curvatures.
    I've made my fair share of garments that look good on NO ONE, not even crumpled into a ball in the trash can. So to make something that at least looks good on SOMEONE, even if it's not you--you're way ahead.

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    1. exactly, i'm stumparoma in this dress!

      ruggy is also a fan of next day cold pizza. it makes me shiver in fear.

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  4. i like the shoulder straps and what you did with all those stripes. Great design Oona. Now I'm left to wonder what other garments you've made that didn't make the grade... more masterpieces in Oona's trash pile?? ;)

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    1. THE TREASURES THAT WILL ONE DAY BE UNEARTHED BOGGLE THE MIND!!!

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  5. Love that!!!!bravo les filles ;)

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  6. Did you just call yourself cold pizza? That's an awesome simile, even on a Monday. I'm not going to get into whether you look good or not but I am going to get into how happy I am that you salvaged this almost not project.

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  7. I'm blessed to have a best friend who is the same "size" as I am, but completely different proportioned! It works out quite well, until there's that miracle dress that somehow looks good on both of us, and then we have to duke it out!

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  8. Ooh! I LURV how you used the stripes! I just posted my creation, too. What fun!

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  9. I think you're overstating the issue here. It is folly to compare oneself to a 7 foot Stunner. I think it could be a little shorter and would work better (I think the proportion works better on the Stunner because her legs are so freaking long).

    I also think you're hot as shit though. Though maybe not in those palazzo pants if they ever got made.... yikes!

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  10. That's too great: stunner and ooner! I love the stripe placement and the brilliant shoulder straps. Glad you found a home for it and the garment has been redeemed.

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    1. ruggy said i should have said "stunner" and "un-ner". that ruggy. always a card.

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  11. I have never put my creations on anyone else besides my sister, who is built like a stick and looks like she's drowning in my clothes...but should I ever com across someone with the same measurements, it will be too late because I've already donated all my wadders!

    But really, Stunner looks stunning, and I don't think looking Ooner is a bad option at all! I love how you look in bright colors!

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  12. I do give a friend at work some of my cast offs (me made or otherwise, and I have to say she looks 100% better in them! That being said I do not think that your cold pizza is all that bad, but I am glad you found a good home for it!

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  13. Na - I make sure before I make stuff that it's proportioned to appeal XD
    I learnt this from sewing up my vintage McCalls's 2301 (without checking proportions) inspired by your secret agent dress and it looked meh on me and blamblam on a curvy friend (who now owns it-in every iteration of the word). Vertical stripes don't appeal me to me but the overall shape and strap placement on that dress is awesome!.
    Also, I tried to click through to Clio's version but Google says 'this site has content from 'fashionsfromthepast' which apparently google has busted for malware - so I'm staying away from that for the timebeing. Not a problem for me on Carl's Retina Macbook + awesome antivirusware but may be a worry for your windows PC-based readers...

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    1. malware! david just fixed debi's site-- there was a link to 365 days of sewing that had it-- oodly enough, when i wrote this post last night i got a weird pop up and i think it was connected to that. i guess if you have 365 on your blogroll, it's bggy at the mo.

      did you post an action shot of 2301? couldn't find it....

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    2. No I didn't have it for long enough XD I will do soon though.

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  14. Beautiful fabric! My sister-in-law inherited Vogue 8791 made in a green silk noir, it looks stunning with her green eyes. My butt was too big to pull it off. It was pulling in all the wrong places when I tried it on. My model-esque sister-in-law rocked that look.

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  15. Nice dress incredible how it looks on different people, not a color I may have chosen but the style and design of the dress worked really well with the orange stripe

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  16. I'm so glad that Stunner can wear this, cause it's a fab dress and deserves way better things than being shoved in the back of your closet!

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  17. Awesome! I made a red pencil skirt once, with orange top stitching and little criss-crossing pintucks that I LOVED. Until I put it on. It was a nightmare of visible pantylines and highlighted all of the things I like less about the area it covered and none of the things I like more.

    It went to a different-shaped friend who loves it.

    Sometimes sewing is just like that.

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  18. I just LOVED this post, I've been sitting at work chuckling to myself like a fool - and darn, now I feel like Pizza. Keep it up miss Oona! x

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  19. Oh! Oh wow. That is an amazing difference to be sure. I love that it can go to a friend. I recently made a knit blouse that I wanted to love so bad, but when It was finished it was WAAAAY too small. I ended up giving it to my friend with similar proportions only she weighs about 50 pounds less than me. I've been meaning to blog about it forever.

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    1. also... now you have that song stuck in my head with an overwhelming urge to break out the water pipe circa 1990's (alas, Poor Yorick, I knew him well).

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  20. Oona, you had me at 'house of pain'. It's taken me decades to get over this song and now it's back in FORCE! It does look amazing on Stunner, but you also look lovely in it too. P.s. - I love cold pizza. It' all slimy and delicious.

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  21. You rock orange, my friend, even if you gave this beauty away :) I think you need to make more orange things to replace it, yes? And I love cold pineapple pizza - Rob thinks I am strange as all get out.

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  22. You are CRAZY. You both look adorable in this dress. But you're allowed to prefer it on someone else. :-)

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  23. Oh, plenty of nightmares that I shall never, EVER confess to.

    Still think you look cute, though!

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  24. Oh my gosh, this is so funny. You crack me up. I don't think it's that it looks bad on you. In fact, I think you look pretty darn cute! It's just that it looks like it was made for stunner. I love that orange stripe.

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  25. I agree it looks much better on stunner, but it isn't terrible on you. The length doesn't quite work, but other than that it's not bad at all.

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  26. Actually, I love it on you!!! It is an ooner stunner - seriously.

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  27. That's an interesting post about proportions and how they work.

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  28. I agree with K.Line. You both look great in this dress. I seriously expected more of a difference. Still nothing compares to that DRAPED SILK NUMBER I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT!

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  29. Aw, you're supercute in it too, but for us short curvy gals stripes that come in diagonally at least in the bodice and a nip-in at the waist show off our bangin curves best.
    I made a MUSLIN of a Burda pattern which was a puffed-sleeve, ruffle-bottom shirt that had drawstrings that could ruche up its sides to take it from a long-shirt-almost-a-dress to shorter. Awesome concept and the engineering of it was exciting to put together, but when I tried it on the proportions were all wrong for me and I looked like a wombat walking on its hind legs. I took it to work and my 5'8" lean-like-a-colt coworker put it on and made that muslin look like it was couture, ALMOST made me want to make a proper one for her.

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    1. "I looked like a wombat walking on its hind legs."

      YOU KILL ME.

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  30. Not a fair comparison if one is in high heels! :)

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  31. I wonder if I could ever get my friends to pose for my sewing blog... Glad that fun orange dress found a good home. Sorry it wasn't your own. But, really, whatever followed that maxi dress was going to be a let down.

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  32. I would love if you joined me for karaoke! You're one cool hip chick. Let's be friends. :D
    Mandy

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  33. That is impressive! And totally cute on your stunning friend. I'm totally fascinated by the difference in length, by the way. So glad it found a happy home.

    I'm sure there will be many more orange stripes in your future... ;)

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  34. Hi
    It wasn't horrible on you. Slightly disproportionate though..
    I once made a dress out of an orangey-red paisley. Turned out so beautiful. Made me look sick. Sometimes colours just don't love a person back. I gave it to someone I barely knew because it looked custom-made on her. She has a different complexion and a different body type. Sigh...
    I look forward to your creativity. And you sound so real!
    Mary in Thailand

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    1. thanks mary :)! i wonder sometimes if it's almost better to give those makes to strangers... then you'll never see if they don't wear it out...

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  35. I scrolled through the photos before reading your post. At first I thought you were showing a demo of how you re-created an awesome dress you'd seen online. Then I said to myself, "Waaaait a sec! How'd she re-create that purple-entryway scene so perfectly?" So you can imagine my surprise when I realized the purpose of the post was to show you didn't like yourself in the dress. I say you are BOTH stunners, and that Ooner is just an Oonified way to look fantastic in that dress. Good work! And by the way, you're a genius at making yourself and your creations look fun in a million different ways.

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    1. haha! love that Stunner was a magazine spread ;). thanks for the love, fun is what i aim for...but i'm glad this one stayed in LA!

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i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!