I recently came to the conclusion that I had no idea what colors looked good on me. In fact, I don’t have much of an idea what clothing shapes/styles flatter my figure or what my figure even IS for that matter. I blame that on my weight fluctuating by 50 pounds (three times over) and my bust measurement varying between five cup sizes over the past five years. And of course, the clothing that worked for my lifestyle five years ago has all since been donated or sold. I blame (almost) three babies. 
I’m left with a pretty horrendous hodge podge of ill-fitting, non-flattering clothes in pretty much every shade of gray you can imagine. Much of it is maternity, and for the first time in my life, I’m actually wearing out clothes. So once the baby weight comes off and I get myself into some semblance of shape again, I plan to work toward creating a carefully planned wardrobe that suits my taste, body type, coloring and lifestyle. AND, I plan to make it handmade.
I’ve been working through Colette’s Wardrobe Architect series, and it’s been a huge help. I started out with identifying my color “season” and determining which of the suggested colors I like/wear the most.
Based on the coloring of my hair, skin and eyes, I am considered a “soft summer.” My natural hair color is light, ashy brown, and I have fair skin and gray/blue eyes. The undertones in my skin look blue or green depending on the light, so I’m kind of neutral there. This means that muted, cool tones are the most flattering on me, and bright, pure colors are less so. Of course, this doesn’t mean I can never wear those colors; it just means my core wardrobe should be built from what looks consistently good.
Now, if you’re a sewist/fabric hoarder, you KNOW how hard it can be to avoid brightly colored, fun, modern fabric prints in ALL. THE. COLORWAYS. But, this is something I’m going to work on as I not only build a new wardrobe, but a new fabric stash. I’m hoping it will save me some money and time at the fabric store. Okay, who am I kidding. I love spending money and time at the fabric store. I’m just hoping it will help me look better.
You can see my extended color palette above. I foresee the bulk of my wardrobe hitting in the blues, grays and tans with a spot of color here and there. And if you’re curious, I’ve created a Pinterest board of the clothing shapes/styles that most appeal to me:
Follow Lauren Dahl | Sew Kinetic | PATTERN WORKSHOP’s board Wardrobe Architect on Pinterest.
I’m hoping this exercises will help me in my journey! Are you in?!
Quick update: I’m currently 38 weeks pregnant with baby #3 and am due around the first week of May. I have gained 50 pounds this pregnancy and hope to be back in semi-normal (new normal?) shape within 6-9 months. I’m hoping to be blogging a lot more and documenting my handmade wardrobe/weight loss journey here in the coming months. I’ve also been working my fingers off creating an almost completely handmade spring/summer wardrobe for Harper (almost 4) and Ezra (almost 2). I’ll be documenting that here, too! Stay tuned! And thanks for sticking around during my recent absense!
