Pink Preppy Jacket Attack!

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Honestly, it was never my intention to make such a preppy, Lilly Pulitzer-wearing-wannabe jacket like this, but that's just what it morphed into and thank God I already own a pair of Jack Rogers Navajo sandals. Yoo-hoo East Hampton, here I come! Is there a Madras cocktail somewhere with my name on it?

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

But seriously, and here comes the "lessons learned" part of today's post, wasn't it Coco Chanel who advised that before you go out you should take a last look at yourself and remove one thing, like a piece of jewelry?

I had to put this jacket, Textile Studio's Mandarin Shirt Jacket 1213, through a similar exercise. Made out of pink matelassé cotton that I got at Paron Fabrics, the jacket was easy to sew and it fit perfectly. But finished and unadorned, it was just a little blah....

Textile Studios shows it with buttons, and I initially went that route, picking up square buttons made from buffalo bone (I know, gross) from LouLou Buttons in NYC. Taped them on to see how they looked—still blah. Decided to go the trim route next, and spent an hour at M&J Trimming trying out about fifty different trims with the jacket. I picked this trim, a jute-colored cotton braid, that seemed to harmonize well with the leafy designs of the matelassé.


Okay, trim picked out, now came the hard part: placement.



Above are three different trim placement options I experimented with. The one I labeled "too fussy" isn't bad, but it made the tall collar of this jacket stand out in an absurd way, and the jacket looked too formal then. So I relegated the trim to the cuffs only. Good advice as always, Coco.

Full disclosure: This is my teenage daughter modeling my jacket. I am trying to improve my photography skills and she cooperates by modeling for me (if I offer her an enticing enough bribe, like contributing toward her cell phone bill). Age her by about 35 years, widen her girth and you've got me.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Coming soon: More garment district store reviews; hopefully I'll make some more clothes, a little less preppy next time (though I do tend to go prep in the summer); a visit to a fantastic new flea market in Brooklyn...