Observations from Scotland

Hi Fabbers!
I made it to Scotland, and am freezing to death, but I've learned a few things already. First...I think I've found my sartorial look. Where in Australia I would shop and shop and never find things I really loved...I've ducked into a few shops and wanted to try on All The Things. I'm not quite settled in a place to live, so that curbed my impulses a little bit.... :) 

As far as what I'm seeing on the streets, it's mostly coats and boots. :) Not seeing much in the way of rounded shoulders or man coats (on the street), though there's a few in the shops. Also not seeing much white, but again, there's a little bit in the shops. Mostly water-resistant or water-proof, with hoods edged in fur (fake or otherwise). Lots of puffer coats/jackets, and some quilted ones as well. I can also see I won't make it very long without getting some boots. 

I did end up getting myself a coat, too. Olive green puffer coat. It's a start, and will be warm in January/February. Possibly a quicker shop than I'd have otherwise done, but I needed a coat right away, so I didn't peruse too long. 

More observations (and pictures!) to follow!

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The incredible shrinking violet pants

Dear fabbers, I just wanted to say you were right on the money by calling my new printed pants "diva pants". I did keep them, and wore them and loved them. Then I washed them. And my love changed a little bit. 

The instructions say to hand-wash cold, line dry in the shade. The pants are made of 100% rayon. A little fussy, but not a problem. I put them in the washing machine with 2 other fluid tops of similar colouring, put them on the hand-wash cold setting, line dry. All is well. 

At the end, they were a bit wrinkled, so I ironed them out. They looked a little bit small, so I put them on to see if the fit had changed. THESE PANTS WENT FROM LOOSE TO TOO SMALL TO PULL UP. I couldn't believe it. I've sewed for 20 years, and have bought hundreds of garments. Short of machine felting, I've never encountered that much shrinkage in the wash. I pondered what to do about it (take the darned things back to the store they came from), and read the label a bit more closely. This is what it said: 

"Despite hand-washing, this garment may shrink. Restore to original shape with steam iron on med. heat. If you have any questions about the garment, please call #phone number." 

Has anyone else ever encountered a garment so fussy the manufacturer thinks it necessary to put their phone number on the garment tag, so they can give you specific instructions on restoring a garment to its original size??? 

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K/R: Patterned slouchy pants (styled properly this time)

So I brought the patterned pants home with me, and played with them a bit. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts! My face/hair is cropped in the first two because I didn't have them done. Then I realised the pictures looked better if *I* looked better. Also playing with new poses. 

1. With a pale lemon/lime tee (I think it's yellow. The tag said green.)
2. With a black chiffon top. This top was given to me, and is set to be donated. I don't like the fit, but I may look for something similar. This is just to illustrate colour. 
3. With a white top. This is also new, and was purchased with these trousers in mind. But I may keep it anyway--even if the trousers don't stay. 
4. Denim jacket added. It doesn't get much wear right now because I wear jeans a lot, and I won't do double denim. 

A few lessons for me already: 
1. If I'm taking pictures (even just test-driving), I need to fix myself up as if I were actually going to go out of the house. 
2. I like this new pose (feet placement, stand up straight)
3. I think I need a haircut--time to cut it off again. 

Thoughts? 

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Go to the full post to see all of the pictures →

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