A Butterfly did Flutter by…

Much has been said over the years about famous ladies and their style. Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Coco Chanel, Diane von Furstenburg, and, of course, a bevy of more modern beauties have all captivated the public imagination, and secured an impressive fashion following.

Today we won’t specifically be talking about twenty first century “fashion influencers”. According to Wikipedia, “A fashion influencer is a personality that has a large number of followers on social media, creates mainly fashion content and has the power to influence the opinion and purchase behaviour of others with their recommendations. Brands endorse them to attend fashion shows, parties, designer dinners and exclusive trips, and to wear their clothes on social media. If a salary has been involved, the influencer has to label such posts as paid or sponsored content. Before social media "they would have been called 'It girls'"”

For the purposes of this blog post, let’s think back to the more classic style icons. I won’t name anyone specific here. Just let your imagination pick the person that has inspired you most.

At the risk of oversimplifying things, one could almost say that the most classic of these ladies found one dress or outfit that suited them, and then proceeded to procure one in every colour and fabric choice they fancied, with minor detail changes.

Now, I love to experiment with pattern design, but when it comes to making something for myself, I know what works for me. I have neither the height, nor the delicate frame to support many of the styles that I love to see on other women, and, experience has taught me that knee-length pencil dresses are my best bet.

That doesn’t mean that things need to get too boring. (Okay, so at this juncture I will merrily choose to ignore a certain dear niece and nephew who call hubby and I "Rodney and Harry", and say that we are “Dry. Like. Toast.”, in reference to the first “Big Fat Greek Wedding” movie).

Changing up things like fabric, necklines, trims and sleeve designs can create a completely different look. In the grey and floral dress featured in this post, I made a simple pegged-pencil shift dress with a jewel neckline, and then added the flutter sleeves.

Vive la difference! ;)

Above: Gold Naeem Khan Flutter Cap-Sleeve Open-Back Sequined Dress from Bergdorf Goodman. Other flutter sleeve dresses from Donna Morgan, Anne Taylor and Nanette Lepore

Above: Green Oscar de la Renta Flutter-Sleeve A-Line Stretch-Wool Midi Dress, Club Monaco Coran Floral Flutter-Sleeve Cutout Midi Dress, Blue Milly Veronica Flutter-Sleeve V-Neck Sheath Dress - All at Bergdorf Goodman

BurdaStyle Retro Blouse Pattern 03/2012 #145

Flutter sleeve pegged-pencil shift dress from my own collection

Have you managed to button down your own personal style as yet? Let’s chat about switching up the details and keeping things interesting.

Complete the “Contact” form if you’d like to know more.

Until next time,

Caroline

#fluttersleevepencildresspatterndesign