Tag: Book Review

Posted in sewing

More Mail Goodness

Posted on by Miss Celie

Let’s not talk about the dress for a bit, eh?

I wanted to show another really cool item that Grace from Bad Mom, Good Mom sent recently. Her timing was impeccable as she asked for my addy on my birfday. She sent me a copy of the Japanese language Pattern Magic (I) published by Bunka. If you don’t know, Bunka is a school and supply company in Japan. They also apparently take US students, if you speak Japanese.

It’s similar to the drafting in Mrs. Stylebook. I know this book has been around for a bit, but it was so completely over my head that I just didn’t bother even looking at a copy. Hmmm, same thing with Threads Magazine. I really should subscribe.

Now, I have a better grasp of the concepts. What I find amazing is how unbelievably creative the book is.

Why is this funny? Well, when I was growing up and Americans were just starting to buy Japanese cars, by dear dad would always say, “Americans are the innovators. Everyone else just  copies.”  Well, I beg to differ. There are some extremely creative types outside the US 🙂

The book does include directions for drafting your  sloper. It also includes a lovely 1/2 scale dress form for you to copy to practice with. I also imagine you could blow this up and have a workable sloper too.

Since this is how we’ve been doing it in school, I like this way first to work out the design elements.

I’m totally making this knit top. And tracking down Pattern Magic II.

Thanks Grace!

Posted in Uncategorized

My love / hate relationship with Lucky magazine. Oh, and a review of their new book.

Posted on by missceliespants

Creating Iconic Looks and Making Them Your Own The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style: Creating Iconic Looks and Making Them Your Own by Kim France


My review


rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was a charter subscriber to Lucky magazine. Purchased sight unseen based on a great magazine review in the Washington Post.

From the beginning I loved Lucky. They purposefully used real people and professional models rather than celebrities. I don’t get ‘celebrity style’ because most of them use stylists and I think that’s boring. I mean I like what they are wearing, but they didn’t do it. At least with real people you know they put it together and with models it’s obvious they didn’t dress themselves.

There were no actual articles in Lucky when it first started. Just products and prices with fun styling. I’ve never cared for the articles in women’s beauty magazines. I think they talk down to you and assume your interests lie in being awesome in bed or knowing what men think about you. For the first few years they even did a yearly feature on weddings. And they were so fun and interesting to look at. Not Martha Stewarty at all.

The first change I noticed was more copy. Then a dropping of the wedding and home features. Then celebs started making their way to the cover. And prices of products started creeping up. And the reverence for high-end designers went over the top for me. The final straw was when they started using celebrities that were on teeny-bopper shows. It kind of told me that I was no longer their demographic.

So, it was with great trepidation that I purchased the Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style. To be honest, I got the book because I was looking for a hook for my Spring / Summer wardrobe plan. I figured I could read the book and come up with a fun game plan.

The odds are high that I will re-gift the book after culling all the nuggets I can from it.

I’m not at a point where I need to ‘dress for my body’ nor am I trying to shave or add years to my look. I just wanted some ideas of honing in on my look. The book is total eye and fashion porn. It is wonderful in their basic description of clothes. They don’t bother telling you the designer, just a description of the piece and what makes it an element of the iconic look they are discussing. They then show you how to mix various elements of the iconic look.

Now, it’s rare that a person will fall in to one category. You’ll find bits from each iconic look that you like. I’m still not sure where I fall, but I’ll be going through it again to figure it out.

Overall, it’s a nice book. And, don’t get me wrong. I’ll still get the occasional Lucky at the airport. But, generally I just buy it for the Fall and Spring looks. Sigh. I still miss Budget Living and Blueprint 😦