Erica Bunker | DIY Style! The Art of Cultivating a Stylish Wardrobe: June 2015

Kate Spade at The Summit Birmingham!

9:30 AM

Finding One's Personal Style and Making Pieces Work for You!

2:30 PM

What I wore: Vogue 8706

On yesterday, a gave a talk at the Hoover Library about finding your personal style and making pieces work for you. For those of you that have been following me for years, you see what I sew and you see how I wear the pieces I make. I believe in having a well-thought-out wardrobe. One of my personal style mantras is, "If you stay ready, you'll always be ready." I've seen others struggle, stress and become completely frazzled when they have an event to attend. And no one should have to go through that. And also, a wardrobe should consist of basic everyday pieces that you can pull from. My talk was to offer a guide to make getting dressed a lot easier.

I offered these easy steps...

Find Inspiration!

Ask yourself, how do you want to look? Is there a person with a similar lifestyle whose style you admire? Also, Pinterest is a favorite tool of mine. And my number one suggestion for inspiration, go to a department store and try on, try on and try on! Be curious! Try a style that you've never worn before. A lot of garments lack hanger appeal. And you may be pleasantly surprise as to what works for you. This is especially necessary in sewing. You don't want to make the financial commitment of purchasing fabric, pattern and notions and also invest the time into making something you're not sure that will work for your figure.

Edit Your Closet

Do you find that you have a closet full of clothes and you still have nothing to wear? If so, that's a problem. At least twice a year, usually seasonal, I like to take everything out of my closet. That way I can touch every single garment. I can remove anything that I haven't worn in a long time and probably will never wear again. I remove things that are too big or too small. And you can pass your well-loved items on to friends or family, or you can donate to a charity, or consign.

And also, stop buying and sewing wardrobe orphans! Wardrobe orphans are random items that were purchased or sewn, probably on a whim that are rarely worn and may not go with anything else in your closet.

Build Your Wardrobe and Dress Without Stress!

Based on your lifestyle, you have to decide what essentials you need. My wardrobe essentials or as I like to call it a "base wardrobe", would consist of:

A white and a dark blazer (If you prefer cardigans, you can easily substitute.)
Pants in classic cut
A pencil skirt
A crisp white shirt
A really nice pair of jeans... not the ones you'd put on to do weekend work in your yard.
A go-everywhere dress! Every woman needs at least one dress that they can wear to multiple events. The one pictured below - Talbot's Geo-Clover Jacquard Dress in navy and white is appropriate for work, church, a baby shower, a graduation, and dinner with your significant other. And you can even dress it down with a pair of flat sandals for the weekend. That's called MILEAGE!
A sweatpants and t-shirt alternative. Now this is a fun one. As much as I workout, some days it's a really struggle for me to not be out in something that says Nike. For casual wear during your errand runs, carpooling or downtime I picked this great Terry Hoodie and the Weekend Terry Striped Skirt.

With functional pieces as the base of your wardrobe, you can now add in fun and trendy pieces.

From l-r: Adrienne of Adrienne's Essentials; Shundra of Mrs. Crafty Chick; Kim of It's Sew Kim; La'Shara of Kurlylicious.

And per usual at an event like this, there were plenty of networking and pictures! I want to thank everyone that came out to support. And Talbot's for supplying me with great clothes. And especially, the Hoover Library for extending the invitation.

fashion

On tomorrow...

8:30 PM

Burda 6858

Review: Burda 6858 | White on white on white!

9:00 AM

Every year, I make a white dress. And they vary in style and design, depending on my mood. Recently, this dress caught my eye:

French Connection

This dress immediately reminded of designs by:

Cushnie et Ochs

They are known for their minimal, clean but sexy style.

For my dress, I chose Burda 6858 because it's an almost perfect doppelgänger for the French Connection dress, with a couple of minor details.

I cut the size 12. I lengthened the bodice by an inch and added three inches to the hem. My fabric is White Polyester Neoprene (yes, the obsession continues). Recently, I've been using "neoprene jersey", which sews, handles and wears like a silkier feeling ponte knit. This is not that fabric. This is a medium weight neoprene that's almost spongey. So it took some playing around with tension and stitch length (I used a 3.0mm).

I used a very sheer mesh for the sleeves.

And also for the midriff panels.

I used an exposed metal zipper, and left the inside unfinished because it's neoprene and doesn't fray. I just trim down the seam allowances. And since I lengthened my dress, I added a vent.

My goal was to create a minimal, chic, modern white cocktail dress and it turned out perfect.

Styling tip: When going for a minimalist look, keep accessories to the bare minimum! I wore dangling earrings, a statement cuff and cocktail ring. And I kept it monochromatic by carrying a white studded clutch and punctuated with a white d'Orsay pump.

I know that some of you like to know where I wear my clothes. Last night, I attended Art on the Rocks at the Birmingham Museum of Art. It's a swanky soiree' where you dress to impress and mix and mingle with Birmingham's finest, while taking in the culture. My dress was perfect for my venue. I received compliments the entire night. And while there, I took in an amazing exhibit: "Rising Up: Hale Woodruff's Murals at Talladega College". If you ever get a chance to see it, you should!

bold prints

Review: Vogue 8612 | The Lip Print Neoprene Sheath Dress!

5:30 PM

Vogue 8612 | The Lip Print Neoprene Sheath Dress! Erica B's DIY Style!

Since I finished this dress around a week ago, I've been puzzled to death why I waited so long to make this pattern? Because I'm madly in love with this dress!

This is OOP Vogue 8612. I cut the size 12 and added about 3 inches to the length.

My fabric is this adorable Pop Art Lips Digitally Printed Neoprene from Mood Fabrics that sold out almost as fast as I could add my couple of yards to my cart. But if you like this print, it is still currently available in a poly charmeuse and poly chiffon (which would make a great kimono or a beach cover up). As I mentioned on my Instagram, this print was a complete outside of the box selection for me. As someone who is not the biggest fan of prints, it was just something about it that I was drawn to. I like that the dress is full of color without being dizzily overwhelming. It has a bold spectrum of color, yet at the same time it's subtle. And I can look at it without getting a migraine! And I just knew it would look great with this design. It gives it an almost vintagey, pinup girl-esque quality.

This dress went together in less than an hour. It has a lot of darts though, both vertical - front and back and horizontal. And what also sped up the construction was that I omitted the lining. It was not needed with my fabric.

For my v-neckline, I followed a construction tip from the Fashion Incubator. And I carefully understitched so that my facing wouldn't flip back out. And also, for my first go I noticed that my neckline was not laying flat and was a tad bit floppy. I added additional fusible interfacing then shaped and steamed the hell out of it while on the dressform.

The dress has a 1.25" blind hem. And I like to interface mine.

And I interfaced my vent as well. This dress has an invisible zipper, which I could've easily left out. This neoprene jersey has plenty of stretch. I adore this dress and I think I will make another one, that fuchsia one on the envelope color is screaming out to me!

**Styling tip: For me, since this was an interesting print, I decided to let it be the star. I opted against a necklace and let the neckline and the décolletage do the accessorizing. And I used a fuchsia clutch and turquoise pumps and earrings to pull those colors out of the dress.