(photo from AmericanIdol.com)

Rocker Amanda managed to escape elimination this week, even though Simon (and the “guys”) all agreed it was definitely not her best performance. No one cared for her outfit, hair, makeup, or song choice this week. But I did notice her jacket. I guess it’s the buttons.

I checked out my favorite site sponsors and found two double breasted jackets along the same lines.

 The Me Jane Plaid Jacket from Buckle is a steal at $37.12. This plaid canvas jacket is fitted, double-breasted, and even has epaulet shoulders.

Another one I like is this Cassette Bomber Jacket from National Jean Company. This cropped wool jacket is retro fitted, double-breasted with oversized buttons. It also has epaulets on the shoulder, and high neck collar. A little pricier at $325.00 but, nevertheless, very cool.

Today I was looking around for a jacket for my son (14 yo and 6′5″). So far I haven’t had much luck finding youthful styles. Most sites seem to feature 50ish men with good jobs.

So, as usual, I ended up searching for myself. Like my son, I’ve always had an issue with sleeve length and pants length. I was so happy to find LongLegs a Canadian (Toronto) shop for tall women. Nancy Pehar and Heather Dotchison have a great selection of chic clothes for tall women including jeans with inseams up to 38″ and shoe sizes to 13.

Eighteen years ago if you would have told us we would be owners of a clothing store dedicated to providing quality apparel and shoes for tall women we both would have said ‘impossible’. But years of friendship and countless hours of frustrating shopping experiences have led us down a different path. What was once a dream, to find a store where we could find stylish clothing with longer sleeve lengths and inseams is now a reality.  (the Spirit of our Company)

Don’t you just love the coat shown above? It’s on sale…. and I bet the sleeves are long enough.

The latest All Chic messenger bag just posted on Etsy. I love the long straps that can be worn across the chest and the bead trim on the flap.

And speaking of messenger bags, I’ve been exploring this wonderful site from Prague, my favorite city that I haven’t been to… yet.

BabaStudioPrague features bags decorated with wonderful artwork. Victoriana, Steampunk (see above), Bohemian, Gothic, Fairies and Flowers…and if you’re a cat person, you’ve got to check out their Bohemian Cats.

For inspiration….

• Baba Store
• Events in Prague
• Prague Cafes
• Prague Photo Tour

Okay. So after seeing Nicole Kidman’s amazing neckace last night I ended up browsing the necklaces on Etsy this morning. I found this necklace by an1031, which is probably more my style. Visit her Esty shop here to see more “garbage necklaces.”

Note:

Garbage necklaces are NOT made from garbage. All materials are new in the necklaces. The name ‘garbage necklace’ was coined after a necklace I made from leftover (garbage) beads. In my necklaces, I use only glass and natural materials (including freshwater pearls, stones, shell beads, and wood beads).

Wouldn’t this necklace look great with jeans and a white cotton shirt?

Be sure to visit Allanah Naber at Sutturn Designs and check out her large collection of beaded necklaces.

Ever since I discovered Etsy, I’ve been checking in on The Storque to read news stories written by users. A quick search on DIY Street Fashion led me to this Trends piece which features Tricia Royal’s Flickr site wardrobe_remix.

Over 7000 members have posted close to 31,000 head-to-toe shots sharing their everyday style sense and DIY creativity. Tricia then features her “fashion remixers of the week” on her blog at Bits and Bobbins.  Besides being a terrific business model, wardrobe_remix helps get those creative juices flowing when you look into your closet and think you have nothing to wear.

Here’s what Tricia has to say -

wardrobe_remix is a deliberately positive community which has from the beginning had one overarching aim: to celebrate the amazing personal style of oneself and others. Handmade, secondhand, and new (of mass or designer origin) clothing and accessories happily meet and mix on the backs of hundreds of creative dressers…and the results are, simply put, inspirational.

Read the rest of the article here and visit Tricia’s blog here.

I just caught a bit of American Idol and saw Amanda Evermyer perform. Her pants were patched and I believe I heard her say she made them herself. Sounded like she said something about putting together three pairs… As soon as I find a pic I’ll post it here. Go Amanda!

Update: 

Here they are. So covered with patches you can hardly see the denim. (photo from americanidol.com)

This jacket was featured in the latest issue of Altered Couture and included the how-to by designer Jude Mowris of StrawMountainStudio.com.

This repurposed jacket, size medium, has been dyed raspberry and has vintage lace on collar, shoulders, cuffs, jacket front and back. It is further enhanced with pearl-like beading.

Recycled…Always one of a kind.

I love this jacket! You can see purchasing details for this jacket here. However, I recommend you pick up the magazine if only just to see the lovely lace “New Mexican Sunset” design on the back. 

I couldn’t resist posting ths pretty coral vest, also from StrawMountainStudio.com.  This just makes me want to get my hands on some lace and dye.

Another layered skirt is featured here with the wedding dress that won Grand Prize in Ithaca’s (NY) 2006 eco-fashion design contest. It was designed and made by Alice Fogel of Lyric Couture. Alice, shown above, made the dress from 22 tailored cotton shirts she bought for $1.50 a pound. (The photographer is Marty Luster.)

The grand prize winner of the 2007 contest was a team of Cornell University employees who called themselves “Coco Cornell.” They won with an evening dress covered in tiers of shredded paper. (The model is LeighAnn Sullivan and the photographer is Lindsay France.)

There is still time to enter the 2008 contest. Deadline is March 1st and entry forms can be downloaded here at Sew-Green.org.  And in case the sheer creative challenge isn’t enough to get you motivated, here are the facts from the contest’s entry form.

The ubiquitous T, icon of freedom and self-expression, is not the benign item it appears to be. Conventional cotton is the most toxin-intensive fiber on earth. It requires 1/3 pound of pesticides and herbicides to produce the cotton used in a typical t-shirt, and about 3/4 pound of toxins for the average pair of conventional denim blue jeans. Dyes and finishing add more toxic chemicals. Enter the contest and show how existing Ts, jeans, and other cotton materials can be reused as new fashions, quilts, bags, whatever! Surprise us!

Thank you, Wendy Skinner, for the photos and information.

Isn’t this a great skirt? It comes from Poltock & Walsh, a London based design duo.  They were New Gen winners at London Fashion Week (applications only accepted from those designers who’ve been in business three years or less.)

For more inspiration you can visit them on the web at poltockandwalsh.com. 

I just posted this messenger bag on Etsy. My daughter doesn’t want me to sell it – I would make another but the fabric was a remnant and I doubt I’ll find any more like it. It reminds me of a Jackson Pollock painting.

These are the beads that decorate the flap.  Aren’t they pretty? Click here for more photos and purchasing info.

I was exploring the free patterns at BurdaStyle tonight and came across this cute red dress – perfect for Valentine’s Day! It reminds me of the Janis Joplin dress I posted on Tuesday. The designer, Casey, blogs at Elegant Musings.

I love how she modified this Lydia tee shirt pattern (which you can download here for free).

In the spirit of reconstructed/recycled clothing, Levi’s is sponsoring a design contest.

Choose to alter the jeans a little or a lot – you can do minor alterations, or use the elements of the 501® to create something completely different. This is all about expressing yourself…..contest rules require the use of at least one brand element.

The submissions are all in and you have until February 27th to cast your vote. All voters have a chance to win a 501 gift certificate on levi.com.

I like this St. Helen jacket by Irishka. What do I like about it? The sleeves, of course!

This dress was owned and worn by Janis Joplin and sold at auction  in October for $14,340.00. I love the long bell sleeves! According to the article, she had the same dress in beige which she wore for her performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Only that one she wore with matching pants. Makes me think this purple dress came with pants also.

Laura Joplin includes quotes from her sister about clothes and fashion in her book Love, Janis —–

 “FASHION NEWS: I went out & bought myself a $35 pair of boots. Oh they are so groovey!! They’re old-fashioned in their style-tight w/buttons up the front. Black. FANTASTIC! When I get back, I’m going to rent a sewing machine & make myself some sort of beautiful/outlandish dress to go w/them.” (September 1966)

 “I have an old lace curtain-very pretty that I want to use for sleeves & make some sort of simple dress to go w/them.” (March 1967)

Everywhere I look I find creative bags. This one from Peruvian Connection is lined with a zipper closing.

As you can tell from my list of ’street chic’ links at the right, I like street fashion. All I’ve done is take my armchair travelling one step further. Rather than just surfing the tourist websites looking for places to stay and things to do in a foreign country…for example, Prague…I can people watch, just as though I were sitting with my Coffee Alfredo espresso at Kavárna Obecnídom.

Newsweek features ”The Sartorialist“ in the recent article “The Rise of the Real People.”

Fashion-industry folks say the trend of using real people to sell clothes attests to a fatigue with skinny, expressionless models in ads and on runways. As proof, they point to the negative publicity surrounding the painfully thin models at last spring’s Fashion Week. “I definitely think there’s some backlash amongst people who see fashion shows, then read stories about how the models have to smoke themselves to death and only drink lemon water for six weeks,” says Simon Rogers, head of Ugly New York, a casting agency for “real”-looking models. “People would like to see somebody up there who reflects how people on the street really look.”

Read the entire article here.

Slate featured Telfar in this article about the seedy underbelly of NY Fashion during Fashion Week. I’m open to new ideas, but this one I just don’t get.

The story in the Daily Mail is about JK Rowling’s technicolor coat, but I just love Twiggy’s “mod” jacket with the lace from the blouse at the wrists.

It reminds me of this great Ermina “reinvention” jacket by fofolle.  

Purple fringe and lavender lining.

I found inspiration from this photo from Fresh Fruits by Soichi Aoki, a book I have in my Music Studio waiting room. I put it there hoping some of the creativity shown by these Japanese kids would rub off on my piano students but it turns out I’m the one who made my first jeans bag.

Two Betsy Johnson AlleyCat patterns from the early 70’s. I made some of my favorite high school outfits from these patterns. With a little tweaking they’d still be “in” today.