My DIY Wardrobe

When I started this blog I wanted to credit Keiler (Sensenbrenner) Roberts and her blog “Simple Wardrobe” for the inspiration. I saw an article about her blog in the January/February 2009 issue of Fiberarts magazine and immediately checked it out. I started my blog about a month later. Being a new blogger I wasn’t sure if I needed permission to link to her blog, or if it was OK to mention it without permission. So I procrastinated and didn’t provide the reference…

Fast-forward about six months and I’ve since learned from my Blog Triage class that bloggers typically link to other blogs without permission and that linking is considered flattering for the referenced blogger. Keiler, consider yourself credited for my inspiration! And to bring this up-to-date, I hadn’t checked out Simple Wardrobe for some time and just went back to take another look. More inspiration! Check out this black denim blazer. And she has been extremely prolific this summer; Keiler’s work is definitely inspiring me to get busy sewing!

As part of my decision to significantly improve this blog I’ve enrolled in the Blog Triage class offered by Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris. This is a real class complete with homework and everything!

Our first assignment is interesting. It appears that there is a somewhat popular concept of bloggers actually inviting people to read their blog and interact with them as the writer ; ) Wow, that sounds fun! So our first assignment is to send a message to the blogosphere detailing just who we want to read our blog and engage in dialog with. Oh, so that’s easy…

This blog is meant for you if you:

• want to explore how to look and feel great in what you wear
• are interested in building a unique wardrobe that expresses your creativity
• sew and/or knit (or know someone who will happily do it for you)
• can’t find all the clothes you want in stores and catalogs
• have multiple other interests that will be supported by you looking like you in the world
• will occasionally (or continually!) post banter-inducing comments and/or meaningful content on this blog
• want to make more money, lose weight, have a better sex life and live in spiritual bliss for all eternity (yes, it’s possible that a few really great articles of clothing could support all of that!)

Join me as I temporarily shun ready-to-wear and build my hand-crafted, gorgeous-with-a-twist, functional and feel-good wardrobe. Tell me what you think. Inspire me with your dare-devilish wardrobe-building feats and exceptional tales of wearing pleasure. And also let me know when it didn’t quite work.

Together we’ll have a blast creating each new piece and showing the world just who we are, right now, one garment at a time!

I’ve been attempting to build my dream wardrobe for some time and always seem to get side-tracked. I am not a fashionista chasing after the latest and greatest, so that’s not the issue. The thing is that it’s rarely been easy to get dressed and end up looking and feeling just right. I’m aware of many of the factors that affect my emotions around appearance and want to investigate these on an ongoing basis.

With this blog I intend to keep at this wardrobe-building game, documenting wherever it leads me, and end up with a closetful of clothes that support me in the best possible way. The ultimate personal environment. For me that means the following:

• looking and feeling my best every day
• having enough clothes for all occasions and activities
• making many of the clothes I wear
• being organized at a level that makes getting dressed easy and fun each morning
• wearing clothes that bring tactile joy to meet the need for the day (crisp, drapey, sensuous, warm, etc.)
• determining my preferred basic look
• owning individual pieces that can be easily mixed and matched to provide the variety I crave
• throwing in a few quirky items for spark and fun
• evolving my wardrobe along with my interests (a few years ago I would’ve never guessed that I would own and wear a Day-Glo yellow high visibility motorcycle jacket)
• enjoying the process!

The above intentions are much more directed than when I started this blog. My only intent at the time was to not buy ready-to-wear for a year and to document (for myself) the clothes that I made over that same year. Oh, and to learn how to blog.

Having more compelling intentions has revved up my creativity and will provide plenty of fodder for thoughtful, fun, entertaining and useful posts. It is my hope that this will engage people who want to explore clothing, appearance, personal environment and creativity in a similar way.