Book Review Week: Singer Perfect Plus

I recently got a copy of Singer Perfect Plus: Sew a Mix-and-Match Wardrobe for Plus and Petite-Plus Sizes to review, and it's taken me a while to get to it, being neither perfect nor plus-size.

Perfect Plus is a very straightforward book, nothing fancy. You're not going to get any couture techniques here, or anything too fashion-forward or art-to-wear. This is primarily a book for petite, plus-size women who are not fashionistas, but are frustrated with the tatty stuff they see in stores (or with the price tags on the nicer plus-size garments) and who don't have a ton of sewing experience.

The book includes four patterns (a blouse with collar & sleeve variations, pants, an elastic-waist skirt, and a jacket with very nice pockets) and many, many pages of help on how to choose fabrics, construction tips, and fitting.

If you are newish to sewing, need a very basic petite plus-size wardrobe and want a lot of hand-holding, this book is ideal for you. These garments are so simple, though, that your fabric choices are going to be very important. Cheap polyesters or badly-designed prints will make these look like a dog's breakfast -- upgrading to better-quality cottons and silks and good buttons (and taking your time with construction) will make all the difference here.

If you're already an experienced sewist or you want garments with more advanced design elements, I'd save your money -- there's nothing here that you probably haven't already made on your own. You'd be better off getting a good book on fitting patterns (like Fit for Real People) and altering patterns that you really like.

I don't need to keep this book, so I'm giving it away ... the person who writes me the best haiku about pockets will get it! You can email your verse or leave it in the comments. (If you leave it in the comments and you want the book, make sure there's a way for me to reach you.)

Meet Our Advertisers #9: Elisa of Mad Fashionista's Plus Size Boutique

how long have you been in business?

I have been an Ebay seller since 2002, running Elisa’s Bodacious House of Style, and started selling on Specialist Auctions on 2007. My store there is the Mad Fashionista's Plus Size Boutique. SA is a far more humane environment than Ebay, that’s for sure, although I still sell on the Evil Empire. The emphasis at the Bodacious House of Style is on contemporary clothing, although I sell vintage there as well. Mad Fashionista’s Vintage and Modern is an outgrowth of my blog, “Diary of A Mad Fashionista". My fabulously glam alter-ego needed an equally fabulous vintage store!

What motivated you to go into the plus size vintage clothing business?

Being a large-sized woman and having a terrible time finding the kind of vintage clothing I like to wear. I love bombshell 40s and 50s things, lots of cleavage; I’ve been (pardon the pun) heavily influenced by old movies. I decided there had to be a market out there for women like me, and I was right! Also men who want to look like women like me. (The Internet is a wonderful thing.) I also sell other vintage from other decades, up through the 80s. Whenever I find something I like, I grab it. Being large has other advantages; I can body-block other buyers at estate sales!

What did you do before this?

For years, I was one of those show biz people who had “other jobs” (i.e. temp work). Then I became disabled in 1999 and needed to work out of my home. I became an abridger of audiobooks, mostly. Audiobooks are those books on CD that you listen to in your car. I would take the original manuscript, which would be, say, 154,000 words, and cut it down to 56,000 words for six hours of listening pleasure. I used to refer to myself as “The Book Butcher.” But the audiobook business stopped using freelancers. I’m also a professional writer, have published two novels, and am a professional actress. I refuse to let my disability get in the way of making an exhibition out of myself!


Where are you based?

Big Bad New York City, along with my CEO, Bucky the Wonderdog, and my husband, who thinks I sell “old clothes.”

More fun questions:

What's the weirdest/best/craziest/most beautiful thing you've ever
found?

A 1940s navy crepe halter dress that fit like a glove. The bosom was navy floral lace over nude ‘soufflé’ and incredibly low-cut, and the back had a butt swag! Best of all, it had a bolero jacket that you could button over the dress and it looked like a one-piece. That was one of the sexiest dresses I have ever owned. I have no idea what happened to it, however I do recall one New Year's Eve when the men present played a game that involved throwing peanuts into my decolletage. This is not the place to reveal what the winner received.


What do you have in stock that you can't believe hasn't sold?

Just about everything in my store, The Mad Fashionista’s Vintage and Modern. Sometimes I think Specialist Auctions is a “buried treasure.” However, I’ve been very surprised that this beauty hasn’t sold. It is a two piece cotton jacket dress with gorgeous embroidery and beading, in great condition.


What do you dream about finding?

Where to start? A huge rack of plus-size 1950s shelf-bust evening gowns with full skirts in near mint condition! An Adrian gown or suit, even if it was a small size; a real Dior, ditto; an armoire of plus-size fur coats. For myself, I want a 1940s black silk evening gown and a mink coat like the one Bette Davis wore in ‘All About Eve’.

What do you enjoy most about working with vintage?

I love turning the clothes inside out and looking at the construction. I don’t sew, so you might say I’m a seamstress wannabe or a vintage voyeur. But nothing amazes me more than the inner construction of a really beautiful dress. I had a Paul Parnes two-piece blue dress that was a masterpiece.

What is your dearest wish about your site?

That it's discovered and I sell everything on it in less than a week, and have an excuse to shop some more!


It’s a good day at work when ...

Somebody buys something.

If I ran the internet for a day I’d ...

Abolish Ebay and send all of the Ebay sellers their fees for the last two years.

The blogs I read (other than ADAD are ...)
Always Playing Dress-Up
Fat Chic
Project Rungay (the funniest thing on the web!)


You’d laugh if you knew this about me ...

I was one of the first women to do male drag professionally, in the late 1980s; now they are referred to as “drag kings,” like drag queens, but with the obvious difference! I think I’m still the only heterosexual drag king.

For some reason I thought today was Thursday. I love the mirror pictures! You should look at my "About Me" page on Ebay ... I added a picture of myself with "I CAN'T SEW!" across the top. I first made it for a sale I had of damaged items a year or two ago.

Also, Elisa will have a booth at the MANHATTAN VINTAGE SHOW!
The Mad Fashionista's Plus Size Boutique
The ONLY Plus-Size Vintage Booth at the Entire Show, of over 85 dealers!
Booth #17
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street, between 6 & 7 Avenues, New York City
Friday October 10 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Saturday October 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Admission $20.00

Mark your calendars, she'll have an amazing selection of plus-sized vintage, including coats, furs, suits, evening gowns, and day dresses! Not to mention fine and costume jewelry, vintage designer handbags, and hats!

[Mirror photos -- actually, I figured out how to use the timer! -- will return tomorrow, or maybe later today. I forgot to take a picture on Wednesday but there was a photographer at the conference where I was talking, so maybe I can get one of those lovely pictures where I'm making a funny grimace as I'm trying to make a joke. We can only hope.]