Lacquer Lundi

No chit chat today.  Straight to the pretties:


MAC - Blue India
- purchased at maccosmetics.ca for $14.50 CDN

Blue India is the result of a collaboration between MAC and Liberty of London (is it just me or does it seem that Liberty is in cahoots with everyone these days?) for Spring 2010.  This dark, dusty teal creme is one of two polish offerings in the collection (the other is a fairly nondescript white).  I love the colour of this polish; it fits in beautifully with the teals in my wardrobe.

Blue India applied nicely - good consistency, easy to move around the nail, decent brush (although I wish it was a tad wider) and good coverage, with two coats for opacity.  Wear was okay - I had very visible tip wear after two days, with no chipping.


Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear - Mellow Yellow
- purchased at Rexall (chain drug store) for $1.99 CDN

I was looking for a colour that screams warm days and sunny skies.  I got it in Mellow Yellow, a bright yellow creme.

Mellow Yellow, like most other yellow polishes is a problem child.  I applied three thick coats and still had bald spots and streaky areas.  I think a fourth coat would have remedied these issues, but with that much polish, my manicure may never have dried (as it was, the three thick coats took longer than normal).  If I had applied thin coats only, I probably would have had to use five.  This is too much trouble, so I settled for the less than optimum coverage.  Wear was good, with only tip wear after two days.
 


 OPI - Jade is the New Black
- purchased at Trade Secrets for $ 9.95 CDN

Jade is the New Black is from OPI's Spring 2010 Hong Kong collection.  It is a greyed down medium green creme that is a unique colour in my polish stash.  I don't have any other green quite like it.

Jade is the New Black applied nicely.  Good formula, nice wide brush, great pigmentation (covered perfectly in two coats).  Wear is decent - only tip wear after two days.

They Call Me Mellow Yellow - Part 1

Thank you to everyone that has left such wonderful comments - I truly appreciate when people take time out of their day for me. I have had a bunch of comments asking when I would model my latest garments. I will definitely be posting pictures of me wearing my SWAP wardrobe, but I am going to wait until all the pieces are done and ready to be submitted to Julie of Timmel Fabrics (the SWAP sponsor). So, stay tuned, it won't be too long now! :)

Also, Marguerite writes, "Are the dress photos from the White House Years book or the Cassini book?"
The dress photos are from "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years", although I also own "A Thousand Days of Magic". As an aside, for anyone that is a Jacqueline Kennedy fan, I cannot recommend both books highly enough. Each book contains amazing photographs and historical information about JK, her clothing and her personality. Great reads!


The next garment up in my SWAP 2008 was inspired by a yellow silk ziberline dress worn by Jacqueline Kennedy in Jaipur, India on March 19, 1962. This dress, as well as several other pieces taken on a tour of India and Pakistan, were designed by Gustave Tassell. Interestingly, JK wore this dress, as well as pumps and white gloves, to indulge in an elephant ride. One year earlier, the Queen rode the same elephant wearing a safari suit. I guess Jackie favoured fashion over practicality - that's my kind of gal!!

JK typically favoured slim or A-line skirts. Occasionally she went for the fuller skirted look as seen in this dress. Being a fan of fuller skirts myself, it was a no-brainer for me to knock off this particular garment. Originally, I had planned on making this dress in a mustard wool crepe. I tend to only wear wool crepe in the cooler months and since I really wanted to stay with the sleeveless design, I figured I would have to wear a sweater over the dress for warmth. However, I didn't want to ruin the lines of the dress by slapping a cardigan on over top of it. So, I decided to take a cue from the original and a hunt for yellow silk began. I looked high and low on the internet to find appropriate fabric (at a reasonable price) and basically came up empty. Then one day, while browsing in a local chain fabric store, I spotted the perfect shade of mustard yellow silk dupioni - sometimes what you want most is right under your nose! I snatched up 2 m and skipped merrily all the way home.

Since dupioni is a light weight fabric and in this case, fairly translucent, I underlined the bodice and the skirt with a very pale peach cotton batiste. Batiste is one of my favourite underlinings for crisp, thin silks. It adds body to the garment, it ensures modesty and all the facings and hem can be tacked to the underlining, leaving the front of the garment completely unmarred by stitches.

The pattern for this dress is based on Simplicity 7990 (which, incidentally I used unaltered for last year's SWAP as well). This pattern has the same basic silhouette that I desired and only needed a few tweaks to more closely resemble the inspiration garment. You can see a comparison of the old and new pattern pieces below.

To increase the fullness of the skirt, I slashed the front and back pieces in two places and added 1.25" to each opening. To create the front seam, I simply added a 5/8" seam allowance to the front where it was originally to be placed on a fold.

The midriff cummerbund band was perfect as is, so it was left alone, but the tie was discarded.

The front bodice required the most work. I traced out two front bodice pieces and taped them together, on top of a another piece of paper, in the crossed over manner displayed on the pattern cover. Then I drew in a wide, rounded neckline. I drew a vertical line from the centre of the neckline to the centre of the lower bodice. Finally, a 5/8" seam allowance was added to this newly drawn line. Lastly, a front facing was drafted for this new front bodice piece. See the photo on the left for a before and after comparison.

The back bodice required alteration as well, so that the back neckline would match the front. This, of course, necessitated the redrafting of the back neck facing. After checking that all the old and new pieces fit together properly, the tweaked pattern was ready to go. Next time, I will show you the completed garment.



Lastly, I am the proud owner of a new camera. I decided on a Canon Rebel XTi (which can be seen at left). It is winging its way to me as we speak. I can't wait to get my hands on this baby and give it a whirl. My husband (who is really into photography) has a much sexier version of this camera and the nifty part is that his lenses can be used with my new camera. I will now have the ability to get super crazy close-up shots, super duper far away shots and everything in between. Wahoo!!

They Call Me Mellow Yellow - Part Two

Okay, I have been meaning to create a second post about the JK inspired yellow dress for ages now. But, as most of you know, the world has been spinning just a little too fast for my liking lately. Thankfully, things are starting to get back on track now. My Mom has moved into the respite section of a retirement home (and plans to stay for 2-3 weeks to further recuperate), so my life is beginning to be less hectic. Although, as everyone knows, Moms can keep ya runnin' no matter what!!

Okay, back to the task at hand. As I said, I finished this dress (based on Simplicity 7990) up a while back and I do believe it is my favourite piece in my SWAP to date. Below, you can see pictures of the outside and inside of the dress.

This dress is the most luscious shade of deep, sunny yellow. It has been hanging on the armoire in my bedroom and every time I walk by it, it gives me pure joy. I cannot look at this dress without smiling!

Not only do I love the colour, but I love the fit. The split neckline, fitted cummerbund and full skirt are very flattering on me. I highly recommend this style for the small busted, pear shaped woman - it highlights all the good and disguises all the bad. What more can a gal ask for?

As you can see on the inside photo, the entire dress was underlined in light peach cotton batiste. This masks the translucent quality of the dupioni, as well as keeping the garment cool and breathable. Most importantly, the batiste allows for the invisible tacking down of facings and hems, which keeps the outside of the garment pristine and free of stitch marks.

All in all, I adore this dress. It makes me happy, happy, happy! I know that I can't be the only one that has clothing that has the ability to change my mood. So, fess up folks, do you have a garment that makes you warm and fuzzy just thinking about it? An article of clothing that makes your day every time you wear it? Do you have an outfit that makes you feel like you can take on the world? Do you have a dress that brings back pleasant memories when you see it in your closet? Tell me about your happy clothes.

ETA: Lisette M asked why I decided to forgo a lining in this dress. The easy answer is that I want to wear it to work this spring/summer. Although my school is supposed to be air conditioned, it doesn't always live up to this supposition. Considering I am usually hot on a regular day, I fry in my classroom on a hot day. So, the less fabric on me, the better - I find the cotton batiste to be cool and comfortable, so I left it at that.