I’m increasingly coming to the conclusion that what makes clothes look smart or not-smart is less to do with style and more to do with condition and fit. I have definitely seen people looking much smarter in well-fitting jeans than ill-fitting ‘work trousers’, for instance, or well-fitting t-shirts instead of badly fitting blouses. And I realised today that the reason I’ve struggled to find outfits I liked this jacket in isn’t that it’s too long, or too boxy, or a bad colour for me; it’s that the fit at the shoulders is all wrong, and the shoulder seam slips backwards and makes the whole thing look sloppy. Which is a real shame, as I love the colour.
Scarf – Godiva
Jacket – East
Dress – Boden
Boots – Duo
The dress isn’t a great fit, either, which probably contributed to my feeling rather like a sack of potatoes all day, though that was worst when I tried on a couple of jackets in the sale in Monsoon at lunchtime. Dear oh dear, I don’t know what shape of woman they cut their clothes for, but it isn’t me. Still, I did then wander into Gap and come out with a shirt with cats on, which is totally frivolous but great fun. And, in non-clothing related cheerful news, I spotted these on my way to work this morning:
Spring is on the way!
(And a third good thing is that while I was writing this post the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in favour of equal marriage. Hurrah!)
Monsoon cut all their clothes for meeeeee!
They’re my default High Street shop, although since you started talking about Boden I’ve been looking at their stuff and really like their more formal dresses.
Well, I’m glad they fit someone though I do wish they fit me too!
Could you get the jacket altered somewhere? It is such a lovely colour, it is a shame not to be able to wear it happily.
Hooray for the cat print! Though you had me staring at the snowdrop picture looking for a kitten in the undergrowth…!
I’m not sure – it would need the shoulder seam moved forward and the seam allowances have been trimmed to nothing. Maybe I should just try standing up straight and throwing my shoulders back?
No kitten there, though there is a tortie-and-white that always seems to be hanging round in the undergrowth by my bus stop in the mornings!
I love the colour of the jacket too. But I doubt whether you can improve the fit if as you say, it is too tight across the shoulders. Fit nowadays is a constant bug-bear. And why does everything have to have immensely long sleeves. (just my two pennorth) Glad you are back into colours. You are enlivening my flu-ridden state – I’m looking forward to wanting to get dressed again.
Try a pair of thin shoulder pads, the kind with a curve going over the shoulder rather than a straight edge. You don’t want them so thick as to add lots of extra padding, just thin ones to give support to the shoulder seam. Makes a lot of difference to the way a jacket hangs. I can see the little pucker at the top of the sleeve cap…classic sign of not enough support to the shoulder seam.
Thanks, Isabella – I’ll give that a go. It did strike me today that maybe it just needed a bit more structure to the shoulders rather than being completely reshaped.