Tales from the Dressing Room.....the "SHORTS" Edition

I'm finding that the older I get and the more I sew, the less I like to shop for clothes. I do enjoy a good clearance sale like anyone else but to go and spend hours looking for clothes just wrecks my nerves---especially when I could possibly go home and sew it. But I have reignited my enjoyment of the instant gratification and curiosity satisfaction that comes from going into a dressing room and trying on lots of clothes to gain a sense of what does or doesn't look good on me. This ALWAYS provides me with helpful information that I can use in my own sewing plans.

Well a couple of weeks ago I attempted to sew up a pair of shorts but really didn't like the particular style on me. So I thought I'd embark on a journey to Marshall's to try on several pairs to see what looked good on my body type. Now mind you I totally forgot about last year's post. The info gained from it was helpful but I felt like I needed further investigation. So I grabbed a handful of shorts and headed to the dressing room. Here's my findings.......

Pair #1  The Cuffed Cargo shorts

(I was pleasantly surprised with this pair. These were actually cute and didn't make my legs look like twigs. I wouldn't want to wear this out to the mall so to speak (a little too short for my taste) but it would be cute on the beach over a bathing suit.)

Pair #2  The "I'm someone's-mama-and-

I-wouldn't-be-caught-dead-in-these-itsy-bitsy" shorts! LOL!

(These shorts were TOO short! I think the inseam was like 3"! Can you say Scandalous!!!)

Pair #3 The At the Knee shorts

(I liked these at first but after second thought I'm not a fan. The length is all wrong and pretty much just cuts my legs in half).

Pair # 4  The CAPRI--- in between a short and a pant

(I know alot of you gals aren't fans of capris but I love them. I realize they don't work well on all figure types but they do on mine. The key for me is the longer they are the more narrow the capri leg needs to be. I've never been a fan of the obvious culottes look.)

As a result of my sleuthing I've come to the following conclusions:

1. I can actually do "short shorts"--as in pair #1--- not the hoochie #2 version! LOL! Again, I don't really want to wear them out and about but at least I've dispelled the myth that really short shorts wouldn't work on me.

2. Knee length shorts aren't very flattering on my figure. They need to either be longer or shorter. Tapered at the knees is a weird look for me.

3. Capris, as I've always known, works wonderfully on my figure type. I especially now like the one's tapered at the hem. They make a slim girl like me look curvy!!!

Out of all 4 of the shorts I tried on  Pair #4--the capris--- ended up being a winner and for $7.50 a steal as well!!! So now I know, if I sew any shorts for the Summer then I'll opt for capris. We've got a few more months until it starts getting chilly around here so I'll see if I can squeeze a pair in.

Ok, that was fun!!! I've definitely got another trip to the department store to investigate another article of clothing planned real soon. Stay tuned..........................

Tales from the Dressing Room........

I've decided to add "Tales from the Dressing Room" as a regular (and fun) feature to my blog which showcases my analysis of Ready to Wear (RTW) fashions. I really like trying on RTW clothes and analyzing their fit. I'm able to incorporate what I learn into what I sew for myself. Plus it's another easy way to figure out what works for me and to test drive new styles. It's funny because in the past I really dreaded going to Fitting Rooms, especially before I could sew. I was always disappointed when things wouldn't fit right or be off a little.Once I realized that I could customized my own clothing I stopped being disappointed with RTW. I  If I want something I can just go make it myself or I can choose to buy RTW at a good price. Having options has really relieved my stress and now I love dressing rooms. Anyway here's the first post:

I went into town this past Saturday to pick up elastic at Jo-Ann's and made a stop into TJ Maxx to see if there were any major clothes or shoes sales. I'm not one for buying clothes unless I can buy them for much cheaper that it will cost to make them. Case in point when I was in Florida a week or so ago I bought those 10 pieces of clothes for around $34 which averaged a a little over $3 a piece. Now that was a steal!!! Out of the clothes I purchased one item was a brown pair of comfortable capris which I paid only $6 for but retailed at around $40. Come on, at $6 I'd rather buy the capris and spend time sewing up something else.

So back to my story, I went to TJ Maxx and noticed that there were rack's of capri on clearance. During Spring & Summer, aside from dresses, capris are pretty much all that I wear---especially at work. I definitely could stand to get a few especially since they were on sale. I grabbed a few of them and went to the dressing room to try them on and here's what came of my efforts........

(I found this cute pair of black sateen capris with zippers at the hem. They fit like a glove and were very cute. Since I needed a pair of black capris I swooped these up to buy.)

(I thought I'd give some short shorts a try. Well once again I'm reminded why I don't like to wear short shorts. I just don't feel comfortable in them. I like short shorts, just not on myself. Since my legs are so long I just think capris balance out my body much better. I love to see others in them. If I were just a little thicker and a little shorter I'd sport these because they probably wouldn't look SO short on me.)

(Now this is more of my speed!!! I love cargo style capris with lots of top stitching, zippers, etc) These are just awesome and oh so comfortable.)

(Look at those details up close. These are great!!! To be honest with you I would hate to sew this. It would honestly drive me insane. There's more details on these pants than I'd care to sew up. Isn't that sad. But for $13 I'd gladly buy these.)

(I loved how these tan capris fit near my hips but the longer length aged me a bit. I needed a shorter, hipper style. So I had to skip on these.)

(These were cute cargo pants in black with a ruffled hem but they didn't not fit my backside well at all. They weren't contoured to fit my bottom and the lack of pants depth caused them to stick out away from my body instead of cup it.  Look at all that excess fabric. If I were wider and flatter in the seat then these would have fit me. But that's just not my body shape.)

(Well I started with 8 pairs of pants/capri/short. I don't have the best luck with finding pants & capris since I'm super picky about their fit. Being a seamstress will make you like that (wink)!)

(These are the only 2 capris that I ended up with and I'm happy with my finds.)

Well that was my dressing room adventures. I'll definitely have more in the future.....

What about you, do you like to try on clothes? If you sew, have you found it easier to face dressing room disappointments? Or do you like to skip the dressing room all together and take it home and return it if necessary (I often do this)? What say ye?