Talbots? Talbots. Huh.

Somehow I managed to get on the Talbot's catalog mailing list and this shirtdress caught my eye. LOVE this color green:




I can't tell if it has pockets or not, but it really does look nice. The whole catalog seems full of surprises, including some great cardigans in one kajillion colors and some very very cute shoes.

I haven't shopped at Talbot's in ages -- it was always a bit off in a way I think our friends in the UK would call "mumsy." So either they have gotten better, or I have now aged into their target demo. Or both. Both is always possible.

A couple of Friday shirtdresses, a couple of Friday sales ...

Janet at Lanetz Living is off to the lake this weekend, but her site is having a 15% off sale while she's gone -- through Monday at midnight (CST)! (Use the coupon discount code LAKE in the box on the shipping page.)

And Rita at Cemetarian is having a sale, too, which mean you can get this doozy for 15% off (you can get 15% off anything from now until Oct. 15, with free shipping in the US, too -- [edited to add] use the code LUV):




I don't know how you could possibly choose between these two. I recommend grabbing 'em both. On your mark, get set, GO!

I hate to see you go but love to watch you walk away

I'm only showing you this one image from this eBay auction (from seller findsbyrebecca) because one should be all you need to click through.

This kind of "back interest" on a dress is so interesting and pretty (although I hardly ever make/wear anything that has it -- I cover things up with cardigans too often to bother, I guess). This one is truly gorgeous; if it's your size you should snap it up (B36) because the price is right (BIN under $25!) and it looks to be in decent condition.

(Thanks to Robin for the link to the auction!)

Gimme an "S"!

You see why I HAD to buy this pattern, right? It's completely obvious? No question in your mind? First of all, it's a shirtdress, which is 50 "Erin Must Buy" points right there without even totaling up the extra points for the stripes, the standup collar, and the raglan sleeves. Add the insanely perky demeanor of the women in the illustration and you have me clicking the "Add to Cart" button before I even have the chance to blink. (Actually, looking at this pattern, I was afraid to blink, in case the women in the illustration MOVED when I wasn't looking.)

I'm thinking etsy seller tiddlywink might be glad to have this gone from her house. I feel I should put this in a box with something heavy on top, just in case.

And heaven knows what might happen when I actually MAKE the dress. Expect me to be even more chipper than usual, and that's saying something ...

Announcing the Commencement of Shirtdress Season

This stunner is available at Cemetarian right now -- I really, really like this pattern. The soft shoulder, the round collar, the cuffed sleeve, the box pleats -- what's not to like?

This dress just says "fall" to me -- in a nice brushed poplin, made up in autumn-leaf colors, worn with sensible oxfords, scuffing through the leaves (not that I will get any falling leaves here in California, I think), going to pick up your library books ... you can see this, can't you?

The mustard-y brown in the illustration is a favorite color of mine, but I'm thinking more of a deep peacock blue, or even a jade green. I want jewel tones this fall. And gray, lots of gray. What do you all think?

Best. Readers. EVER.

So you know how every once in a while, I toss off some nonchalant comment, like "I wish I had Tetris fabric," or "someone should really make a shirtdress out of this"?

Those are actually SEEKRIT CODED MESSAGES. If you hear them and feel compelled to comply, DO NOT BE ALARMED. It is all PART OF THE PLAN.

Awesome Jenny at Chronically Uncool heard the first coded message, and commissioned a fantastic Tetris-style fabric design from MissBlackPepper on Etsy, to print at Spoonflower. What's better than that, you say? She's making it available to us to use, too! I'm hosting the file for her; you can download it here (ZIP). I can't *wait* to get mine, I'm ordering from Spoonflower today!

Jenny is releasing her Tetris-style fabric design file under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. If you get a copy of the file, you are free to use, share, and remix the design for your own non-commercial projects. If you make a new design derived from this design, please attribute the original design to Jenny. (When Jenny commissioned MissBlackPepper to create the custom design, she purchased the rights to the resulting design from her.) Your derivative work should be released under a similar Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike license.

Next up in the Parade of Awesome is Nancy, who heard my not-all-that-subliminal instruction to make a ruler shirtdress out of this fabric. And here it is!




Isn't that great? You can read all about it on her blog. Nancy actually used *babysitting time* to get this done. Now THAT is devotion to the cause ...

Now I just have to figure out which of my immediate and pressing desires I should issue a call for. Prepare yourselves to receive instructions!

New Fabric! (Well, New To Me)

(It's actually vintage, but it's new to me!)

I swear, folks named Rita are really good luck for me lately. Rita C. emailed me out of the blue and said "Not positive you would be interested in this bicycle fabric ..." Bicycle fabric! I don't think I finished the sentence before I clicked the link. I can't remember the last time I browsed fabric on eBay, so there's no way I would have seen this fabric without Rita's kind offices.

It was Buy It Now, too! Check it out:




It was from seller MarilynSue, although she doesn't have too much other fabric listed right now.

I love that this was marketed as a time-saver -- don't wait for your fabric to be cut, just grab a "pak" and go! This is the fabric equivalent of bagged lettuce (which I love, btw)! I wonder if it was sold at stores that didn't otherwise have a fabric department, like the crappy thread they sell in the grocery store -- or used to, I haven't seen a notions section in a grocery store for ages.

What will this turn into? Well, it's 4 yards at 35 inches wide, so probably a narrow shirtdress of some kind. When I know, you'll know!

More Sales

Okay, one more post about a sale before I sort out just who got the WORST and BEST Xmas presents ... Marge is closing her Born Too Late Vintage store (don't worry, Born Too Late Vintage Patterns is still going strong) and so you should hurry over and make some offers. (Especially if you have a thing for hats, she has a ton of wonderful hats!)

I really love this rayon/cotton paisley shirtdress, B36, only $25 (or make Marge an offer)!

A Dress A Day: An Artist's Rendering

So, didja miss me? Sorry to be AWOL for most of last week -- I was at Pop!Tech08, and Pop!Tech is the kind of conference that is so engrossing you forget about the entire outside world, including your sadly neglected blog.

I talked for five minutes (and possibly some seconds over, although nobody would tell me how many). One of the many cool things about Pop!Tech is that they have a real live artist interpreting all the talks ... Peter Durand, from alphachimp.

So I wore this dress:




And this is the artist's rendering:



I should point out that I wore blue tights and brown shoes, and not brown tights and blue shoes as shown in the picture, but I think that's permissible artistic license. And it's not like I *wouldn't* have worn perfectly matching blue shoes if I only had a pair ...

Cool, huh? I think the artist really rose to the occasion -- and remember, I spoke for FIVE MINUTES, so he had just that long to do this picture in!

With any luck this week we will return to our regularly scheduled dress blogging. Also: I'm working on a rant about underwear: do you guys want to read it?

Utterly Great

Ingrid (and Erin, and Mary Beth, and Livebird, and Lisa, and Cindy) sent me this link, to Jodie's selvedge dress:




This is, as you can plainly see with your own eyes, magnificent. I hereby crown Jodie Queen of Doing Cool Stuff for this week (with the power vested in me by ... well, by nobody, but that's beside the point). Anyone who can do this is the Queen of Doing Cool Stuff by general acclamation.

And you have GOT to click on the image to see all the other pictures. The fabulosity quotient here is very high. (Pregnant women and those with heart conditions should fortify themselves with chocolate before clicking through.)

I really, really, really hope that Alexander Henry or Michael Miller or SOMEBODY gets the hint here and does a fabric that's all selvage/selvedges as a boon to all of use who are too lazy to save ours ...

Collared!

Rita sent me a link to this pattern, saying she thought I'd like it ... which I do. A great deal. I'd like it even more if it were MY SIZE, but you can't have everything. (Unless YOU are a B40, in which case, today, yes, you can have everything. Don't worry, I'm sure it will be my turn to have everything again sometime next week.)

I love the high roll on the collar, and of course the stripey inset yoke, and double-of-course the pockets. I like how the woman in the green dress seems to be sizing you up for membership in their Advance 5112 Dress Club. Membership obviously also includes that softly-waved bob, a hairstyle I have coveted for years and have finally determined is an illustrator's fiction, like the Gibson Girl knot.

As so rarely happens, I think I would make the green version as-is; it's a perfect Christmas Peppermints dress. (This would also be the perfect dress if I were the costumer of a 1940s screwball romance between two of Santa's elves at Gimbel's, right? The guy would have to be in green velvet knickers, which is a terrible impediment to romance but an accelerator of screwballitude, for sure.)

On a more sophisticated note, this dress would be lovely in a fine black faille with a gray organza yoke and collar ...

Oh, and if you're reading this late in the afternoon, I have a small bonus for you -- Jen at MOMSPatterns is having a sale! She says: "From now until midnight EST Monday, September 29, 2008, save 25% at www.momspatterns.com on ANY sized order! There's vintage patterns, Halloween costume patterns, Barbie patterns, new old stock Vogues and a TON more ... simply use coupon code 'momsweekender' to save BIG!"

[And once more I promise pictures of myself from last week and don't deliver. Tune in tomorrow for another episode of "Erin forgot to unload the camera theater!"]

Back to Shirtdresses

I swear I was going to post about something other than shirtdresses today, but Mary Fran sent me the link to this one, and I could not resist. It's up at MOMSPatterns and it's only $8.50. (And it's only not MINE because it's a B39, and if there's anything I hate more than grading UP, it's grading DOWN.)

I love the little pointy collar, the front skirt seams just scream "pocketize me!" and those gathers at the shoulder just make me swoon. I should add "shoulder gathers" that to the list of my "triggers"—isn't it true that once you're aware of your triggers, you can change them (if you want to)? My trigger list would probably read "penny loafers, robots, sarcasm, Peter Pan collars, synthesized handclaps, Adidas Gazelles (on guys), books that smell like old books, red lipsticks (which I never wear) ..." Actually, looking over that list, I don't think I want to change any of those triggers. (Except maybe to start wearing the damn lipstick.) Oh, well.

Before I forget I should let y'all know that Janet at Lanetz Living is going to Mexico. Why should you care that Janet is going to Mexico? Because she's using it as an excuse to have a sale! You can take 25% off on all orders from now until she comes home next Tuesday. The sale will end at Midnight (CST) on 5/6/08. Use the coupon discount code "Mexico25". It needs to be entered on the shipping page as one word. (If you try to put a space between Mexico and 25 it will not work.) And, as always, Janet offers free shipping with 3 or more patterns ... and patterns will continue to ship out while Janet's on the beach.

Oh -- I really like the idea of Sept. 1 being "wear a dress day," as proposed in the comments on yesterday's post. Let's start working on the logistics, people!

Seriously, I am cornering the market on shirtdresses

I could barely make out the line drawing on this, and the seller said she had no clue whether or not it was complete ... and I bought it anyway. It's a sickness, right?

I am a sucker for these Butterick Four-Yard-Line patterns, though. I love the football reference in something marketed exclusively to women (and supposedly thrifty women at that!) but I liked the open collar with the front band and the full skirt a little more. I think this one will be fun to make.

I'm seriously considering making this shirtdress in a solid color, even. Wouldn't that be a switch? I just can't decide WHICH color. Pale blue and green are too hospitally; yellow shows too much dirt; black is too boring to sew, ditto white; red a little much for all that skirt ... I'm bored with pink lately, and orange would just be insane (not that I'm against insane, usually). I don't like brown in summer, and I never wear beige (or purple) if I can help it. What am I forgetting? Ooh, maybe a deep blue?

But *this* one has a zipper!

Even though I now probably have enough shirtwaist patterns to paper my sewing room with them (not that I *would*, but I could), this one caught my eye ... it has a zipper! A center-front zipper, which you hardly ever see on non-athletic clothing any more.

If I made this I'd do it in some kind of fine black lawn with one of those fancy rhinestone zippers. Which reminds me: I really need to do a big online notions/zippers/etc. order: what sites do you all recommend? I should compile a list ...

And speaking of lists, yes, this marks the second Friday that has been bereft of linktasticness, but my wifi connection while traveling has been a bit ... unreliable. And linktasticity needs, above all, reliable internet, so I can follow all those links to their stunning conclusions. But keep those links coming; the next one is likely to be overwhelming. You'll need to set aside a whole morning just to click them all ...

(Oh, and in this picture, don't you think Flowered Dress has just said something completely inane to Green Dress? I think so, too, but I can't decide what it was. If you know, leave a comment, please!)

YAS (yet another shirtdress)

I just bought another shirtdress pattern. If this goes on I will soon have every button-front dress with a collar EVER MADE. This one came from Out of the Ashes; I guess that means I can stop my eBay search for it. Possibly not. I could try to corner the vintage-shirtdress-pattern market ... [insert evil laugh here]

I bought this for the yellow version, but I have a sneaking suspicion the red might get made, too. Aren't those neckline pleats lovely? Not so sure about the one in the middle; it looks a bit fussy to me ...

There's a back view, too, and I think -- I'm not sure, but it's entirely possible -- that the collar is constructed with a diagonal seam at the point. I love collars like that. Of course, I could be totally wrong -- it has happened, oh, once or twice before -- but even if I am it's a lovely, lovely dress. (Even if it is virtually indistinguishable from the last five shirtdress patterns I've bought.)

Of course, I still have to figure out where the pockets will go. I think that I will have to recut the skirt so that the front piece doesn't have a center front seam, but instead two offset front side seams, and put the pockets there. (This also has the advantage of not having to make sure that center front seam is both physically and optically in line with the bodice buttons!)

Linktastic Friday will be back next week, by the way. Possibly on Wednesday or maybe even on Monday. As all the psychologists know, intermittent reinforcement is the best way to keep people's interest up ...

Shirtdress #3

When you make the same pattern multiple times you really begin to understand how a few small changes will change the look completely, to wit:



This is Liberty babycord (sometimes called Kingly cord; I'm not sure if that means they think kings are big babies, or what); as usual, I forget the style name. I went to eBay to see if I could find any and ended up buying four more meters of a *different* print, so I think I'll leave it as unknown for now, thank you!

The buttons are olive plastic (all the buttons on these three dresses have been just standard off-the-revolving-rack ones from Hancock's Fabrics; I have tons of vintage buttons, of course, but not TEN of any one kind, which makes it a bit difficult to use them up with shirtdresses). I also had a set of bright teal ones under consideration for this dress, but they were a little headlighty against the swirly print.

The cuffs were actually not as much of a PITA as I thought they would be; there's a slight bobble on one of them where the brown ribbon that edges the placket meets the cuff proper (which of course I didn't think to take picture of). But considering I move my hands so much when I talk, no one will ever notice.

Here's a slightly better look at the fabric:



I also have a midriff-y dress made in this same colorway, only in lawn. I can't remember if I've ever posted it, though. Right now it's waiting for a button fix, sadly.

Sewing with Liberty cord isn't hard; it's very fine and lightweight, not bulky at all. The print obscures any nap problems and the wales are so fine that you don't get that weird separation you sometimes have at the seams with wider-wale corduroy. Also, it is sooooo soft, like very thin velvet. If you wear Liberty corduroy, people WILL pet you. Be prepared.

I used sewn-in organza again for the interfacing; worked fine. It helps the collar keep a soft shape without me having to mash it with the iron (not good for corduroy). And this one, unlike yesterday's version, is VERY warm and looks good with a (cream-colored) t-shirt under it, too.

To answer one of the questions that came up yesterday; these are all throw-in-the-washing-machine dresses. If I get to the washing machine before Mr. Dress-A-Day does, I hang them up when they're damp; otherwise they go in the dryer, too. (Since we both work from home, we tussle a bit over who gets to procrastinate by doing the laundry. My office is closer to the machines, but he can actually remember when the cycle is up, so he usually wins.)

More shirtdresses/shirtwaists are in the works ... watch this space for further installments!

Shirtwaist #2

So, after I finished yesterday's shirtdress (that is, the shirtdress I posted yesterday; I didn't make a damn thing yesterday except trouble) I was pleased enough by the results to jump in with another, this time in Liberty lawn. (I did wear the first dress once before making a second -- you never really know how a dress has turned out until you wear it for a whole day.)

This one is a very lightweight Tana lawn, which is killing me ... because I made it back in January to wear on a quick trip to sunny California, and since then it's been too friggin' cold in Chicago to wear it here! I take comfort in the fact that the Trib's weatherguy has pointed out that March usually sees at least ONE 70-degree day each year. I'll take mine March 1, please.



Again, I shortened the sleeves and added pockets. Also, I forgot to mention that the gray dress was about 5/8ths of an inch too short in the bodice (I overestimated my short-waistedness, for once) so for this dress I let it back out again. This dress, too, has a button at the waist!

Instead of using the Pellon Shirtailor interfacing on the collar and button/buttonhole facings, I used silk organza, which turned out to be the right idea. It's not too stiff but it does reinforce the fabric just enough. I can't remember where I purchased the organza I used for this dress (I have a suspicion it was left over from a fancy dress I made in 1995), but I just bought some more from Dharma Trading, which seems fine. Since I sew with a lot of light colors I mostly just buy off-white organza and use it for everything. If I did more dark sewing I'd probably buy a couple yards of black silk organza to have around.

Because the lawn and the organza are both so light, I just basted the organza to the facing (just inside the fold) with a long running machine stitch, and then finished the edges by zig-zagging all around them. It sounds more complicated than it is, believe me.



I forget the actual name of this Liberty print -- in my head I call it "martini olive." I bought it on the first trip to Shaukat, I think.

Tomorrow: a long-sleeved corduroy version.

Shirtwaist #1

So far, in my new obsession with shirtdresses, I've made the pattern above three times.

Here's the first version I made ("the beta"), in the gray polka-dot cotton I bought in Japan:



I was pretty ambitious for a beta version; check out the rickrack on the collar and the inserted cording along the front dress edge:



I did make some alterations to the pattern: I added pockets (they're hidden in the front skirt seam, under those pleats); I shortened the sleeves (a LOT), and I gave myself more room in the waist.

Of course, it being the first go-round, I did screw up a couple things. First of all, Pellon Shirtailor interfacing could probably compete in an Ironman. (Heck, it's probably used in IRONMAN's suit!) That stuff is STIFF. I didn't really want the dress to stand up by itself ...

Also, I messed up the placement of the buttons. The pattern suggested the spacing I used, with no button at the waist, since it will get caught up on your belt. But I forgot that I don't plan to wear a belt with this. This means I don't have a button at the waist to hold it together, and have a hook-and-bar-tack closure instead. I *hate* hook-and-bar-tack closures. (I suppose I *could* break down and wear a belt, but I have a huge ranty post coming up about the current belt insanity, and I'm afraid wearing a belt now will hurt my credibility later.)

Of course, looking at the picture, it looks like I could sneak in one more button just a teeeeeny bit under the waistline, and have the buttons still look more-or-less spaced. Hmm. Must consider.

Despite these gross errors, the dress is still wearable -- I've worn it two or three times. I like to wear it with bright tights and a matching cardigan (that is, a cardigan that matches the tights -- especially a yellow tights/yellow cardigan combo).

Tomorrow: version #2, in which I make significant improvements.

Dress Mashup

Tressie at Funkoma Vintage on Etsy sent me this link to her pattern (on sale now, click the image, B38, yadda yadda), which struck me immediately as a mashup of the recently posted McCalls 8858 and any of the innumerable shirtdresses I've been acquiring.

This is super-cute, of course, but I would definitely interface the neckline with that heavy-duty Pellon ShirTailor stuff; I recently used it in the collar of a shirtdress and that collar would withstand waterboarding, it's so crisp.

The image is great, too. Don't you see this as some kind of mother-daughter team, where the mother is not quite sure what she's getting into (hence her hanging back and looking a bit lost), while the daughter is looking around appraisingly and is about to jump right in? She even has one glove off, all the better to punch somebody, if necessary. (It's really hard to get blood out of white kid gloves.)

I'm getting a slow start this morning (I think it's all the snow!) which is a shame. There's an enormous pile of new fabric (yeah I finally broke down and bought that damn gray people print from Fashion Fabrics Club) on the sewing table upstairs waiting to be ironed, which seems like a lovely thing to do on a bright snowy day. And yet my inbox is not at zero, which means taking an hour to go iron should not be on the agenda ... I need to figure out how to get an ironing setup in my office, what a nice thing that would be to do while on conference calls!

Just ... One ... More ...

Drat that Julie. If she hadn't linked to this pattern I never would have bought it. Well, okay, I *probably* wouldn't have bought it. Possibly wouldn't have bought it? Might not have bought it on FRIDAY? Hmmmph.

But I saw that little buttoned cuff on the short sleeve and it was lurve. That, along with the pocket, meant I had to have it. As well Julie knew. Hmmph again, I say.

I even did some sewing yesterday, but it got to the point where the dress and I had a little difference of opinion, so I left it alone in a time-out to think about where it went wrong. I used this fabric, with a pattern I swear I've blogged about before but can't find. Oh, well. There will be pictures someday. (I used red trim, too, on the pockets and collar, and red buttons.)

I'm traveling the next couple of days so posting may be spotty. And sewing will be non-existent, unless I lose a button ...

Still thinking about shirtdresses ....

I've made three shirtdresses/shirtwaists so far and I have to tell you: it's NOT ENOUGH. I have three more patterns lined up and just bought this one, too (from The Sisters Five on eBay).

A few things: making a shirtdress takes roughly TWICE as long as it takes me to make a dress that doesn't have thirteen buttons and buttonholes. It's not a four-hour task to make a dress any more; it's a lot like eight. Or possibly ten. And, no matter how many buttons I buy when they're on sale, I either don't have the right color, or, if I have the right color, they're not the right size, OR, if I have the right color & size, I am short THREE. (One or two, I could fake, but THREE is really impossible.) But despite all this, I am committed (or is that, I should be committed? Different "committed") to doing more of them. Like this one, which caught my eye with that fabulous color green, but kept it for the stripes (with that jaunty half-turned-up collar). I seem to have purchased quite a bit of striped fabric lately and the thought of matching them all ... is not a good thought. Thus the raglan sleeves, yay!

Oh, and for interfacing, especially of light cottons, I've been using silk organza, instead of any fusible stuff. You can buy it cheap at Dharma Trading, and it really works well. Nice and crisp without being crisp-y; sewing it in isn't too onerous, and it never bubbles the way cheap fusible can. I bought some Shirt-Tailor interfacing but it was just WAY too stiff for me. I only use the organza to interface the collar and the front buttonhole/button facings; I baste it in just inside the foldlines of the front facings and then zigzag over both the fabric and the organza to finish the raw edge -- and it's worked out nicely, so far!

Eventually I will have pictures of the three I've made, I promise.

The More the Merrier!

I think my new obsession is definitely the shirtwaist. This is just fair warning for all y'all. There are all sorts of patterns (like the one above, which I just bought last week) going very cheap, and with my new sewing machine I can do all those buttonholes FAST, and I have all this fabric piled up that will just be perfect and ...

I'm also feeling strangely validated in this new obsession by the fact that, weirdly, some of the Big Fashion Mags are also all about the shirtwaist this spring. There were some really nice ones in Real Simple, and a page of them in Bazaar, too.

You all know I care something slightly less than a fig for being "in fashion" but I do feel a small measure of happiness when what's "in fashion" agrees with ME (I was thrilled when the Duro took off, f'rinstance). I'm absolutely not one to groan when Something I Like becomes "too popular" -- that's ridiculous, and possibly un-Kantian, to boot. If you think something is good, wouldn't you want to spread the greatest good to the greatest number (or something Benthamish like that)? Also, it just makes me happy to see lots of pretty dresses on the street. (Unlike those godawful short-shorts that are also supposed to be "in" for spring. They'd look cute UNDER A DRESS.)

The truth is, even if something is EVERYWHERE, you can make it your own just by being yourself. A stylish woman can wear head-to-toe H&M, accessorized by Gap, and look one-of-a-kind; an unstylish woman can wear couture and look as if she was extruded from some high-throughput plastic mold.

But back to my obsession: what should I make first? A black bandana-print version, or that brown roses sateen that I bought way back?

Possibly A New Obsession

Flight back was fine; empty plane, plenty with me to read, and my only disappointment was that the in-flight movie, advertised as "Ocean's Thirteen" (I love a good -- or even a bad -- heist movie) was, in fact, "Hairspray" -- which, fine, nice dresses. But. Whoa. I am sooooo jetlagged -- woke up at 5 this morning, feeling as if it were noon. Ulp.

But I have managed, at least, to open my mail to find this pattern, which I ordered before I left (from eBay seller Treasure from Galilee Shore):



If you look at view D you can see those are FRENCH CUFFS. And on view A, yes, that is a bias placket. This is a serious dress, requiring much contemplation and selfless dedication. And serious interfacing, which I'm not much for using, but this needs it, the good stuff.

Needless to say, if I can master this pattern I might make this one over and over, forever. This dress never goes out of style (not that 'going out of style' is something I usually consider, but ...) and it fits with my cardigan-and-penny-loafer lifestyle.

I'm pretty set on the full-skirted version (for better inclusion of pockets) but the perfectly coordinated woman in fuchsia is very, very tempting. She has fuchsia shoes; *I* have fuchsia shoes (and four yards of fuchsia shantung) ... I don't have the hat, although I do have pink eyeglasses. Think that will do?