I am fascinated by both of these outfits. They are almost completely unstructured with a lot of body coverage, yet still attractive in an arty, avant-garde way. And in a way that isn’t conventionally flattering. They are also very ventilated, allowing the wearer to stay cool and covered in scorching Summer weather. Genius. 

Although the outfits are essentially unstructured, there is just enough structure to make them look good to my eye. I spoke about ways to create structure last week and you can see some of those principles at work here.

First, there is the tailored footwear. Streamlined sandals showing a lot of bare skin. Second, baring skin in general adds structure to an outfit, which is especially effective in the version with the sleeveless top. The sleeved top is sheer and skin baring in a more subtle way, which again adds a little structure to the look. Third, the outer layer of the tops are cropped shorter than the bottom layers, which ever so slightly hint at a waist. Fourth, the tops are structured on the shoulder line. And fifth, the hitched up side of the skirt visually lifts the silhouette by providing asymmetrical and architectural interest, and shows more of the leg on the one side. The skirt, which is the same in both outfits, would not have looked as structured with a straight symmetrical hem.

Personally, I feel that these outfits would have looked even better with a short, modern hairstyle. I know a lady in her sixties who dresses to this effect daily, and she is extremely stylish. She has short grey hair that sticks up in a few directions, quite similar to my own ‘do, and it takes the outfit to another level by adding in just a little more structure and polish. 

This type of outfit is not for everyone because you have to be at peace with the volume. Many of us prefer to wear more structured clothing because it makes us feel attractive. Would you feel fabulous hiding your assets with this amount of volume? And if the look is not your cup of tea, can you appreciate it on others? 

Bright colours make us happy! At least, they make me happy. This list has everything from frocks and tops to shoes, bags and jackets. Look through all the colour options. You might even find a neutral and more muted version if the colour is not your cup of tea. 

1. Suzi Chin High/Low Jersey Dress (Plus): Stunningly elegant and on trend with its high-low hemline. Great length and cleavage coverage. 
2. Halogen Sheer Stripe Sweater: I want this in the yellow. It’s made of a linen rayon blend that is quite hard to the touch, yet feels crisp and Summery. Breezy and covered. Perfect with white bottoms. 
3. Suzi Chin Stripe Jersey Faux Wrap Dress (Plus): So flattering and comfy. Love the vertical and diagonal stripes. Runs large so size down at least one size. 
4. Suzi Chin Faux Wrap Jersey Dress: A sleeved dress with length and waist definition. Just what the doctor ordered. 
5. Anyi Lu Lola Sandal: A fun wedge heel that will pattern mix your outfits. Beautifully made, comfortable, and runs true to size. 
6. Valentino Rockstud T-Strap Pump: A gorgeous strappy pump, that despite the multiple straps is quite comfortable. It’s like wearing jewelry on your feet. Think about it that way when you look at the price. 
7. Vince Camuto Rose Print Blazer: Vince Camuto blazers generally fit well, and the light blue in this pattern feels fresh. I vote white all the way. Retro.
8. Lafayette 148 New York Sabrina Malay Print Blouse: Impeccably tailored and very pretty.
9. Lafayette 148 New York Larissa Dress: The two-way zipper is genius. No buttonhole gaping, and you can adjust the zipper at the neck and hem as desired. Also works without the belt, 
10. Marc Jacobs Classic Q Isabelle Small Crossbody Bag: Sweet, sassy, and hands-free. 
11. Poverty Flats Perforated Faux Leather Shoulder Bag: A vegan-friendly sporty bag with polish. Fun to wear with sassy sneakers. 
12. Vince Silk Pocket Tee: The silk tee trend in bright persimmon. Modern and trendy. 
13. Hard Tail Elbow Patch Sweatshirt: Wear it with jeans, silky track pants, shorts, a fancy skirt, or make it part of your lounging capsule. Super soft and comfortable. 
14. Nic & Zoe Modern Landscape Dress: An easy, casual knit dress that’s pull-on-and-go. Here’s the same silhouette in a different pattern. 
15. Vince Camuto Rose Print Pencil Skirt: Here’s the skirt to match the floral jacket. Again, I vote white because it looks extra fresh. Fab with a faded denim shirt.
16. Komarov Mix Print Maxi Skirt: Technically it’s a midi skirt with beautiful drape and soft layers. Arty and romantic. 
17. Rachel Roy Print Skirt: Here’s another playful skirt with stitched down pleats at the waist, through which you can loop a skinny belt. Warning: this is a full skirt so make peace with the pouf. 
18. Diane von Furstenberg New Cahil Silk Blouse: A chic kimono-esque style that’s great on a broad shoulder line and fuller bust. The tapered sleeves add structure back into the silhouette.
19. Clover Canyon Endless Summer Top: Quite the conversational piece. I like its soft drape and shorter boxy fit. Its length adds structure to the silhouette. 
20. Halogen Short Sleeve Collared Shirt: It’s nice to see a tailored short sleeve come back into fashion. This gives us another sleeve option that isn’t cap or sleeveless.

My clients generally wear more colour in Spring and Summer than they do during the rest of the year. I used to think that I did too, but actually, I wear neutrals and colours year round with the same frequency. How about you?

My apologies! It’s been a very long time since I posted here at YLF! The good news is we’ve launched our Spring 2013 Collection. The bad news is that the crunch time prior to launch meant our very small team was all hands on deck for the final month of production, photo shoots and web development.  We’re relieved and excited about being able to share and sell our third season, and about finishing our first full year of business.

Since my last post, which was about fittings and the marking and grading process, a lot had to happen very quickly. In this post, I’ll cover the immediate next steps in production, and in future posts, the additional steps it takes to launch the season.

Our patterns were finalized at our fifth and sixth fittings on the fit model. After the last few small tweaks by our pattern maker, we deliver the hand-drawn patterns to our marking and grading companies for scanning, grading and printing markers (large-scale printouts of all the sizes of the pattern) for our cutting room to use. It’s always a nerve-wracking process to hand over the manila envelopes of original patterns to the markers and graders; if they get lost, we have no time to start over on that garment. Once the pattern is scanned, the markers and graders have the computer file of the pattern and it can be printed anytime, which is a huge relief. It takes a few days to a week for the marker and grader to print our pattern pieces in every size on a marker, which is a big roll of paper that we deliver to the cutting room.

At the same time, we’re scrambling to buy and receive trim orders that are needed to produce our garments. In another post, I’ll explain how trim is chosen and how those choices affect the fit and quality of an item of clothing. The trim is delivered separately to our factories in anticipation of their sewing our line.

Once the markers are delivered to our cutting room (which is located on the same floor as one of our factories, conveniently enough!), we send the owner of the cutting room our size run, so that he knows how many of each size he needs to cut of a garment. The cutting room is a really amazing place. It’s a long, narrow room that houses huge cutting tables. Above those tables hang the electric hot knives the cutters use to stay as close to the pattern as possible when cutting our fabrics.

The marker and grader and the cutting room help us to try to achieve the best ‘yield’ as possible. This means that we all strive to use less fabric to produce our garments, and to lose fewer extra fabric scraps on the cutting room floor. The marker and grader does this by lining up all the pattern pieces on the marker in a way that there’s very little space in between all the pieces. These spaces are where fabric gets lost. The cutting room is able to further optimize our yield in the cutting process.

Here’s why having a ‘good’ yield is best for us and for the customer: if our fabrics cost $28/yard, not including the shipping costs it took to get those fabrics to us from Italy, we want to make sure that we don’t use more yardage than necessary to make one garment. Of course if we do need multiple yards it means we need to increase our retail prices in order to price the garment in a way that we still make a modest profit. We aim to keep our prices under $200, so the fabric cost and yield constantly factor into that equation.

When the cutting room finishes with a garment, they deliver large bags of all the different parts (pieces of fabric) of the garment to the factories for sewing. The factories then start piecing together the puzzle of sewing the clothes, all the while following the original pattern and the final sample in order to achieve our desired result. 

I just want to stress what an intense and complicated process the sewing of clothes is. At this point, apparel factories around the world, but particularly those in major cities like New York where our sewing rooms are located, employ very skilled workers. Clothing production is as much a craft as pattern making. The right machines must be used in the right way, with the right thread, and with finessed techniques that mean it takes weeks to sew our clothes properly. We want our clothes to stand up over time, and so we need to be patient while the clothes are sewn correctly, and not hastily. Details like the twist neckline on two of our dresses meant an entire extra week spent carefully sewing just that element over and over. If questions or problems arise or the factory needs additional or alternative trim during the sewing process, we run down to the factory to chat with the owner and the women sewing our clothes. It’s a very interactive process and we feel so lucky to live in close proximity to where our clothes are made. We can do quality control throughout the process to again ensure that our end product has integrity and is sewn for durability. We can’t control everything and we can’t be there at every moment, but we try our best.

As soon as the garments are finished in production, Catherine and I run a quality control on them and count the goods to make sure we have the correct amount per the original size run (and with known changes in yield, fabric shortage etc.). From there we inventory everything and get it ready for shipment!

In the next post, I’ll cover trim choices. So glad to be back at YLF!

These aren’t actually bags for your camera, but rather everyday bags that have been inspired by the retro camera bag. So fun! I’m not a crossbody bag lady, but this shape makes me reconsider the style. Granted, it’s a pretty bulky shape to wear on your side, but that’s also part of the charm. 

You might even be able to snap up an authentic retro camera bag in good condition from a vintage shop to  wear as an everyday bag. I’m a yay all the way. What’s your verdict?