I'm busy editing my comic novel A Visit From Voltaire for e-book release which is really exciting for me, but a lot of work on a short deadline. So this will be short and sweet. Once again Burda has been watching too many reruns of The Sound of Music. Somewhere, no doubt, there is a Julie Andrews fan club with members who need fresh costumes to replace their old ones, so they can sew this:
But I want to reassure the rest of the world that I live in Switzerland and nobody, and I mean even on national day, August 1, nobody is wearing an outfit like this. My musician son, who spent six months in Vienna to learn German and upgrade his violin playing, reports that nobody was wearing an outfit like this, and we just have to conclude that Burda loves women attending beer festivals in Bavaria so much, they devote one section a year to those hardy gals.
But seriously? This is supposed to be a magazine devoted to the latest in style, not the oldest. Please Burda, spare us the hokey gemütlich kitsch.
Meanwhile, in an issue that looks somber and even downbeat, I found one dress, definitely a "young" look for slim sewists, I like from the preview:
And this one, which is just right, I think, for Cruella DeVille's daughter by The Count. I mean, that neckline is scary and so is her pose. What would you think if you entered a room and saw that girl twisting hungrily your way? I'd run...!
Darn it, mine's not arrived yet. I have a mate who actually wants to make the Bavarian beer festival look so someone's going to be pleased with it at least!
ReplyDeleteBurda has been up for a lot of justifiable criticism lately. But in Australia patterns are quite expensive - $15-$25 each. So paying $15 for a Burda magazine is quite good value. I usually find 3 or 4 things that I definitely want to make in each issue and if I'm lucky another one or two that I might make. The Van Trappe shocker is not one of them!
ReplyDeleteI will never understand Burda's pattern choice, just like the inclusion of the crafty DIY items. Give me clothing patterns that I will actually wear, please!?
ReplyDeleteMy girls refer to the cut of the leopard print dress a "mullet". Short at the front, tapering to the back longer. I can't cut anything that resembles a mullet. I am ruined for life.
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I was in Vienna for a week this summer, and I was surprised by the number of shops selling "trachten mode". This wasn't just in the tourist areas, either. I also saw quite a few women dressed this way on the street, but not more than might be explained by employment at a traditional-style restaurant or shop.
ReplyDeletePerhaps there are Austrian holidays or occasions for which people get out their traditional clothes. I was surprised once by the way people dress for the Feria in Seville; I spotted a lady in a gorgeous wool suit with full flamenco ruffles around the ankles.
Guess what - I have to make one of these swiss national costumes for my sister. Husband is Swiss and she feels left out when they go to the club, so on their last trip, she bought the fabric and pattern - in High German and no pictures....HELP!! Here in Australia (Victoria) they do wear their national costumes. Fabric was extremely expensive so I'm a tad nervous, as you can imagine. I'm a visual person who can't read german. Maybe I should get this pattern, at least it's in English.
ReplyDeleteThat Cruella De Ville dress looks remarkably like the dress Heidi was wearing on Project Runway recently. It was a Roland Mouret Spring 2011.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tomandlorenzo.com/2011/08/judging-the-judges-heidi-vs-nina.html
Apparently there is a market for these patterns. I was also surprised because I've been to germany a lot in the past, and seldom have seen this worn in everyday life. Well, let's just hope that they will publish some better, moe fashionable patterns soon.
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