October 2018 – THE STYLE CO-OP

I want to go on record saying I do not like the fall. I find it odd how people romanticize death. That’s all this season means to me. Death of summer, of warmth, of nature….of green. But people go mad over boots and sweaters and coziness. 🙄. Orange and browns. Meanwhile I’m blue. Because Seasonal Affective Disorder is real and because those are the colors I’m wearing.

My “neutrals” have never been browns or oranges… mainly because of my coloring; so I always tend to lean to cooler colors in the fall and winter rather than warmer colors.

Isn’t it odd people go warm tones in cold months and cool tones in warm months. Eh. Like I literally feel “eh” during this season.

I like to sort of hide but still look crisp because I don’t do well dressing “sloppy”. I look like a disheveled Mokie from Fraggle Rock so to keep my sanity, I keep it sharp(ish).

The top is Zara. They don’t have it anymore but if you’re into zippers this one is comparable.

The jeans are H&M – I looked all over… they are gone bro. But these jeans from F21 come close.

The shoes are Aldo’s

The hat is Forever 21. Though I honestly feel like I lucked up on the f21 find because most of their fedoras give off “cheap”; Urban Outfitters stays killing the game.

I’ve not yet acquiesced to boots or booties (even though my feet were chilly) but the pumps lend a sharpness that booties wouldn’t. Also the cool blue was in line with the color scheme but still accepting of cooler temps. It was a great balance to a dark top and hat.

Also shout out to Zennioptical.com for my frames! I can see and they’re dope!

Fall cometh. And even I can’t escape it so fashionably… I adjust.

Community is everything y’all; let’s build.

So Hi! 👋🏽

Happy extended summer as I don’t fully recognize fall…😒

Here’s my anecdote about how I came to make this super dope jumper:

When I attended FIT, a few of my teachers commented on my ability to see a garment or a picture of a garment and be able to draw a rough pattern by sight. One teacher said “you have a wonderful counterfeiters eye!” Color me offended. And I mean UPSET. It greatly impacted my scrutiny on myself on whether I was “copying” or “creating” when it came to anything. It took me a second to realize that being influenced by what you see doesn’t make you a copier and that everything is a variation on the basic precepts of pattern design.

Fast forward to the here and now and fast fashion has become an opportunity for fashion scamming. With the intro of all of these “online only” fashion boutiques fashion catfishing is ever increasing. What do I mean? You see a picture of a thing and it’s poppin. You shell your cash out wait weeks only to get it and it look like “who did it and ran?”

I got got one time but I was a lucky one. I got my money back; however more and more people aren’t getting their money back and it is a helpless feeling.

Now, I’d seen a jumper online that I absolutely LOVED. But it was from a Chinese manufacturer that had TERRIBLE reviews

Like HOW CUTE IS THIS?!?!

Its all comfy and chill…

And I KNOW I could freak it in the fall but the company oshoplive.com has some heinous reviews and I don’t have $40 to waste plus the designer in me was like “Jai… look at the construction; this is a simple sew…” it felt like a Biggie lyric “took home ready to die, listened, studied it!” These are extra long gathered baggy pants with suspenders…

And here is where inspiration vs. copying steps in…

I’m not here for buttons and I truly wanted a simple sew so I made it a onesie rather than a button up. I had some GREAT Indian Batik fabric from JoAnn’s

Cotton & crisp. And two types of blue… what’s not to love?

I actually made it longer than the original I saw (the shoes I’m wearing – ASOS – are 6 inch platforms) because I wanted a maxi dress meets pants feel.

The “suspenders” are snap buttons because I said what I said… I wanted a quick sew.

I trimmed the top with ribbon that I’d had for almost 20 years!!! (That’s another story but I could SMELL MJ Trimmings on it when I ironed it ♥️)

This outfit gave me ethereal meets functional meets funky meets black girl magic! And this is no shot to the one I saw but side by side I’d pick my inspired version any day. And MAKING something leaves little room for you to be disappointed because you have the ability to keep going until you love it.

So all in all this is the story of how fashion catfishing inspired me to make this super dope jumper. I will be making a limited amount to be sold at the end of the month! Elastic top instead of ribbon to give a better one size feel. How would you make this fellow freestyle seamstresses?!?!

Community is Everything! Let’s build!