Incredibly Stealth Fauxlero

Sandra at Sandritocat sent me this fauxlero -- doesn't it look real? The illustrator must have had a touch of PT Barnum in him.

Although, personally, if I were trying to "sell" the fauxlero, I wouldn't make Plaid Dress look quite so much as if she were trying to figure out what smelled so bad. (Either that or she's trying to see if the other woman is REALLY wearing an identical hat. And shoes. And earrings. And face.)

Whoa ... is it ... could it be ... Linktastic Monday?

A quick one,just to get you started on the week!

Help the Etsy crew send Valentines to the Citymeals-on-Wheels!

Kathleen points us to a giant knitted bus!

Jen at MOMsPatterns has found the oldest fauxlero yet, we think -- from the 1930s! (Oh, and while you're there, Jen is running a sale: use code 'greenbelt20' to save 20% off of any order at MOMSPatterns until Friday, January 30, 2009. All sale patterns are down to $2 until the end of the month as well; coupon is good on ANYTHING!)

Libby sent this fabric-shopping site -- the fabrics are the ones we know and love (Michael Miller, Alexander Henry, etc.) but you HAVE to check out their illustrations! So clever!

I was interviewed HERE. Learn all about my secret double life, my mysterious past, and my plans for world domination. Or, you know, about this blog that you're reading right now.

Birgit sent me a link to a lovely companion in the "A Day" blog world: Robot A Day.

I love this "Lucy" dress that Cemetarian has up right now. But I love that orange plaid fabric in the illustration even more.

Fauxlero -- 80s-Style

I must be getting old, because this pattern from the 1980s is engendering a kind of gauzy nostalgia (instead of nausea) in me. Granted, in the 1980s I wasn't really in a Dynasty-era power-dressing place (I was in jr. high, which requires power dressing of a different kind), but I don't think I expected to like this dress (at Cemetarian) as much as I do.

[ETA: Whew, I haven't suddenly caught 1980s nostalgia. (Which is good, since the cure is painful and involves jelly shoes and listening to a lot of WHAM!) Rita checked the date on this pattern and it's from 2003.]

Of course, that horrible beige color has to go (and the hat has to go, too -- sorry, all you hat-lovers out there). Those pointy shoes should be replaced with lace-up high-heeled oxfords, and I would shorten the sleeves to 3/4 or bracelet length ...

Wouldn't this be nice in gray flannel, with a choker of gobstopper-sized cloisonné beads?

The Fauxlero Post to End All Fauxlero Posts

Not that I want fauxleros to end ... but here's a smattering of those that have been sent to me lately:

Dulcet sent this one from 1896.

Our beloved Cookie sent three. This one is highly abstract -- you have to have a highly-attuned fauxlero-sense to spot it:




This one is a mod, mod take on the concept:




And I really want to know why someone wrote "Magic Lady" on this one:




Pamela was listing this one on eBay ("designed" by Gloria Swanson!), but the auction may have ended by now:




Summerset found this one, although I'm not sure if it's a fauxlero or a cape in its larval form:



Ashley found this one from Alexander McQueen, although it will set you back more than £900 (!).

The sharp-eyed Helen saw this one on Etsy. The pattern calls it an "attached capelet," but she said she wasn't fooled: it's a fauxlero.

Gremly Girl sent me this image -- the woman in the center now has a starring role in my nightmares -- but yes, that's a fauxlero:



This fauxlero (sent by lorrwill) WINS with POCKETS:



Elle sends this fantastic vintage Burda ... a wraplero!

And, as a reminder, the fabulous Jenny started at category page on the Vintage Pattern Wiki for fauxleros here. Add yours!

And more sales! Lisa is having a fall sale at the Vintage Fashion Library. 15% off, using keyword fabulousfall, good through the 15th of October, and Sandritocat is having a one-day sale, 20% off everything (before shipping) tomorrow, Wednesday the 8th.

I Wish This Were Endangered

Theresa sent this in as an example of a fauxlero, which it might be, but it's also an example of the kind of dress that makes me wince. It's Cavalli, of course, who is the King of Wince as far as I'm concerned, but I'm sure I would be just as flinchy if it were Calvin Klein.

I know a lot of people love them and that they're sometimes considered kicky and retro and cool, but I just Don't Get animal prints. I feel like they are altogether too much like work; either you have to BE the leopard-print-wearing sexpot implied by your dress, or you have to be constantly elbowing everyone in the metaphorical ribs, saying "Get it? Get it? I'm playing with notions of sexuality (or class, or whatever). Grrr."

Of course, there are scores of things that I don't especially like that many other people enjoy immensely: bananas, Larry David, and the "music" of Rush come immediately to mind. And the number of things that I like that other people can't stand are also legion: the color orange, smelling like a box of Good & Plentys, extremely vulgar and palindromic hip-hop, liverwurst. De gustibus, and all that.

So every time I feel the urge to issue some kind of sartorial fiat, declaring animal prints (or sweatpants with "Juicy" written across the butt, or that godawful David Yurman jewelry) non grata, I think -- "Wait a minute, what if someone out there loves lycra tiger stripes as much -- or more -- than I love liverwurst? Who am I to begrudge them their happiness?" So I don't.

I still wish Cavalli would retire, though. Hasn't the man done enough? (Although, come to think of it, this isn't bad ...)

Olympic-Class Fauxleros!

Vireya sent this link to me, from the opening of the Olympic Village ... I really like the "fauxlero power!" hand gestures. Although I'm not exactly sure if these are fauxleros, or just extremely vestigial boleros. These may be the long-disputed missing link between the fauxlero and the bolero ...

Check out picture #5 in the series, too, to see the Olympic-rings hairstyles in closeup.

Also: Sheila (of Out of the Ashes Collectibles) is having a vacation sale: she's on vacation until late August (but with a quick trip home to mail orders about about August 7 or 8) and she is offering 15% off all orders. So if you don't mind waiting until 8/7 or 8/8 or after that the first of September it's a good savings!

And yes, I'm still in Japan, and yes, I bought a lot of fabric in Tokyo ... and if you want to know what brought me to Japan, it was giving this talk:

If Language Weren't a Commons ...

view presentation (tags: isummit08)

Yes, that first slide is blank. I should probably edit it to have my name or something on it, shouldn't I?

edited to add: Vireya found another photo, this one full-length: