Hi! Another fall (let’s face it, winter) is rolling around, and suddenly it’s all about the layers. My cold-weather wardrobe is pretty basic: leggings under dresses under cardigans, and cosy shirts with pants!
(Here’s me in winter clothes at the start of Me-Made May 2014… winter clothes in MAY, people! Thanks, Canada. I’m going to cry softly into my thermal clothing now…)
I’m feeling pretty uninspired thought. I’m re-pinning some of the same items I pinned last year (Truth – I’m just reusing the same pinboard!) I haven’t seen any new fall fashions yet that I want to copy, and the stores I usually browse for inspiration are feeling flat.
Can you help me? I tend to like getting inspiration from fairly basic, affordable shops for the fashion-aware but not cutting edge woman. My classic window-shopping stores are Old Navy, Reitmans, Uniqlo, Anthropologie, and sometimes Modcloth. I’ve looked through the Canadian and American shops I know (with a dash of Japanese), but I wondered if you could suggest stores from wherever you live?
Where do you think I would shop if I live where you live? Or alternately, where do you look for RTW inspiration?
Thanks for your suggestions!
Crafting A Rainbow 
It’s a good question! I honestly do most of my window shopping online, since I come from the land of chain stores (and the nearest Anthropologie is a solid 40 minutes away when the traffic is good). Sometimes I just browse the women’s fashion section on Pinterest and see what pops up. My inspiration board is a seasonless catch-all, and when McCall’s was running their Pinterest contest last month, I pulled about half of my pins from the fall-ish stuff I already had on there!
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Oh yeah, I window-shop online too! Funny that I took that as such a given that I didn’t specify! Whoops! I look on pinterest too, but sometimes I find it’s over-run with pictures of skinny women in boots, jeans, and a top with a giant scarf! Which I like, but I need more variation!
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My favourite clothes shop here in the UK has always been Dorothy Perkins. There might be some things there you’d like.
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Thanks for the suggestion! I can see why you like that store – lots of nice stuff! Makes me want a jewel-toned fitted sheath dress right now!
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I love JCrew for window shopping (and sometimes shopping shopping). I’d especially endorse the button down shirt under pull-over sweater look. The sweater hides any gaping issues with the shirt, and two long sleeve shirts means it’s warm and toasty.
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Thanks for the J. Crew suggestion, Carly! Looking through the website is making me want navy striped jersey tops and a gingham Archer… now if only I was brave enough to sew one! 😉
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I’m generally not a shopper, which is weird for someone who like clothes and fashion as much as I do. Pinterest is the source I go to most for inspiration. You can see my fall board here… http://www.pinterest.com/closingthegap/fall-into-fashion-2014/ I have already made the colbalt blue skirt and a sleeveless blazer. 🙂
If you came to visit me I would probably drag you to my favorite thrift store!
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If I came to visit you, I’d race you to the thrift store! I think 90% of my RTW caridigans are from Value VIllage.
I love the rich reds and cobalt blues in a lot of the fall stuff you pinned! And vests – I haven’t worn a vest in years (except the puffy down kind) but I’m kinda fascinated to see how I’d feel in one now. Thanks, Margo!
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I really like Eddie Bauer (cosy sweaters!!!) and Athleta (active wear-which I LOVE, but a lot of great dresses as well)
I also like google searching for “stitch fix box review” and reading other people’s blogs and seeing what surprises they got because I think they try to do unexpected things but also stay current with the seasons!
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Woah, I’ve never heard of Stitch Fix – when an fascinating concept! I could see spending a good few hour going down that rabbit hole… which sounds fun, so thank you!
(Actually, it makes me think how fun it would be to do the sewing version of the same – suggest patterns, colours and fabrics to each other based on our own personal style? We’d have to, I don’t know… pick another blogger to gather inspiration for each month?)
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I rip pictures out of magazines. Not necessarily of outfits or even pieces of clothing I like, it could just be colours or details, like a type of pleating or an interesting embellished hem or what have you. But I’m a luddite that way. I never got into pinterest.
I think we’re all battle-scarred still from last year’s Polar Vortex. Fingers crossed for a friendlier winter this year!
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Last years winter WAS awful – maybe that is why I’m so nervous about winter this year! (That and my husband has an hour long commute up into the snow belt every day for work – not happy about that one!) Will you get lots of snow too?
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I don’t think I live that far from you. You’re in the GTA, right?
Fingers crossed we don’t get as much snow this year as last year. I honestly still haven’t recovered from it.
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I find Your Big Sister’s Closet to be really inspirational. They are Toronto, Dundas West area, but their facebook page is amazing for regularly posting seasonally appropriate outfits and styles on real people. Their size range is 12 and up so you can try on the clothes and then go and duplicate them yourself. 😉
http://www.facebook.com/yourbigsisterscloset
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Very cool! I’ll definitely check them out – my FB feed could use some perking up! Too many pictures of people’s babies and vacations! 😉
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This is more offline than online, but I find noticing my daily needs/wants to be one of my biggest inspirations. I’ve been planning all summer to make a light canvas jacket for the fall, and now that fall is here I’ve remembered it rains all the time! So I’m thinking of changing courses and attempting some sort of rain jacket that isn’t super sporty. Another technique I like to use is sorting and donating the seasonal clothes that just aren’t working for me; it clears my headspace and makes wardrobe gaps more apparent. Or, what about some cozy house projects if you’re low on garment inspiration?
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Morgan, what a very reasonable suggestion! It’s more than a little crazy that my brain is searching for new things to want instead of thinking about what I actually DO want. What I’m really wanting right now is another pair of boots that aren’t black. I have three pairs of black leather boots in varying degrees of insulation… but I think a change of footwear would make me more excited about all the heaps of clothes I already have!
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I love window shopping at White House Black Market. So much structure!
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Thanks for the suggestion! my brain immediately thought it knew what that store sold (hoochy clubwear came to mind!) so I’m so pleased to click over and see that I was totally wrong. They’ve got some lovely wrap dresses that I’m pinning right now!
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I find it hard to get inspired by physical stores, just because they don’t carry clothes that fits me. Pre-babies I shopped almost exclusively at New York & Company, now it’s Old Navy but I hate the sporty style of old navy (stripes, uuuuugh!).
I really love reading the blog the Mom Edit. She wears such cute and yet comfortable outfits! Which I think you would enjoy.
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You don’t like stripes? Ok, now I’m not sure if we can be friends! ;P
I just had a good look through the Mom Edit, and you are right, it’s good inspiration! I like the dressing rom selfies – it’s nice to see outfits that don’t work as well as carefully styled “what I wore today” outfits. Thanks!
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Ooh I’m interested in seeing all this inspiration too. You weren’t the only one wearing winter clothes in May, Gillian… 😛
I also wanted to say I love your winter wardrobe. I want something very similar to it.
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You should definitely give Lola I try… I gained a bit of weight since last winter, but I was really pleased to put on my leopard ponte Lola and find the fit is even better than I remember! It’s so comfy, and I like the giant pockets. I think you’d like it too!
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I was going through a very bleugh phase last winter and got out of it by buying some new boots. Black ankle boots with a heel which go with trousers and skirts and look really cool! Doesn’t help with the clothing dilemma, but they transformed everything I wore snd really cheered me up!
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I was just thinking the same thing! In fact, I’m going to put some fabric money towards boots instead.. leather boots are so insanely expensive that it’s hard to justify, but they do last for years…
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Have you ever looked at Boden? It’s a British clothing company that is basically about really classic styles in crazy prints and colors. I love their color and print combos! (I go to their US site at bodenusa.com) It’s also crazy expensive, so you can feel really pleased when you knock something of theirs off and save, like, hundreds of dollars. Probably half of my inspiration photo folder (yes, I save pictures on my computer, like in the dark ages – what is this “pin-tee-rest”? 😉 ) is stuff from Boden.
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If you like Boden for inspiration, then I’m pretty confident I will too, since I want to knock of everything you sew! 😉 Thanks!
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Oh, dear! I wish I could help but I’m terrible! I have no idea what’s fashionable and the bulk of my inspiration comes from Pinterest, books, or my imagination. I love your style – it suits your bright personality!
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Thanks Sarah! I”m glad we’ve both found the way we like to dress! 🙂
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Have you had a look at european brands like Zara and Mango? I usually like their collections, but don’t shop there for ethical reasons (fast fashion) and Zara’s clothes never fit me. You could also check the infamous h&m (the leader in fast fashion with single-use clothes cut off-grain, but interesting styles to re-create).
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I did a walk-through of an H&M the other week, and walked right on out of there – so many cheap fabrics! Yikes! But maybe it will be better inspiration online than in person – that was I can see the big picture and not the yucky details, as you mention! 😉 Thanks!
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I went browsing at Forever 21 this weekend and was tempted to IG every other thing I saw because so many of them could be made with current indie sewing patterns. It was rather funny. I tried on a dress that had the greatest fabric but the fit was so bad I would have had to recut and remake the entire thing. (It’s the cool fabrics used for rtw that get me most of the time.)
I did end up buying some cardigans in colors I didn’t have because that’s one thing I can’t make since I don’t knit.
Anyway, you might find some inspiration on their website: http://www.forever21.com/
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Check out Fig Clothing. High quality, funky knitwear. They sell it at Pod on Carden st too. http://www.figclothing.com/en/collections/voyage/voyage/ona-11-928/
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Uniqlo and boden , but the girls already said. I like asos
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I really enjoyed this post!
You reminded me what I should be making and wearing. (Why do I have 20 sundress patterns? What about all the ‘smart suit’ and blazer patterns that are way above my skill level? When will I ever find a comfy cozy TNT pattern?)
The comments were fun to read as well.
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