Cutting Fashion Look #3: Red Shorts

So maybe it's a not so secret of mine that I love shorts, and despite the sometimes craziness it is to sew them, I love making and designing shorts. I had actually only made one pair before the show (here they are!) but they are like one of my favorite things ever, fit perfectly, are super cute, and are totally modest. I have been waiting for summer and warm weather so I can wear them again! Luckily, I think that day will be here soon. :) But yeah, anyways, shorts are great. I like making them too because a lot of times you can't find cute shorts that go to your knee. There are plenty of shorts out there that are cute OR that go to your knee but there are far and few between that contain both.

The shirt part of this look was not my favorite. I think had I given myself more time, it could have been more interesting, but in a time crunch I made a white shirt with a cool stripe in the back. The shorts were the main thing I wanted to showcase so I suppose it was okay.

Sketch:

Oh and it didn't happen with the first few looks, but you'll notice that some of my designs were changed as I made them. Obviously that happened somewhat with this one.

In person:

Also, I know they don't look super fitted here, but I took them in a bit after the photoshoot.

On the runway:

What do you think? Sound off in the comments! (Oh and thanks to Emily for being the gorgeous model!!)

Layering and Fall Transitions

blouse & shoes: BYU Bookstore; dress: Kohls; 

Well, summer (and probably fall, now that we have snow) is definitely over, but believe it or not, I definitely wore this outfit last week when it was still warm. Anyway, now about fashion stuff. In my religion, one of the things I believe in and do is dressing modestly, which means we wear skirts and shorts to our knees, always wear sleeves, and don't show anything revealing (like cleavage, open backs, or our stomachs), and a lot of times this can be a hard thing to do. I have to admit that this can be a pretty difficult rule to follow sometime because it's hard to find stuff that goes down to the knee or isn't sleeveless. But one thing that I have learned from dressing modestly is how to layer well...like this outfit shown. I love this shirt because it's totally great for layering or wearing on it's own. You've probably seen this blouse on my blog a lot because I love it so much. Sorry 'bout that haha.

I think the point i'm trying to make though is that to layer you don't always just have to put a plain white t-shirt under something sleeveless...you can try to be more creative by putting a fun blouse with an emphasis point like a collar under or something simple but still creative, like a button-up or a chambray shirt. Oh and you can always cover up with a cardigan or a blazer as well, but then you run the risk of getting warm and not being able to take it off. Whenever I do that I usually layer with one of the above choices or at least put a white shirt under just in case I do get warm and want to take off my cardigan or blazer. Better than nothing right?

One more thing...layering is also a great way to transition from summer to fall. The dress below is obviously for summer but by layering it with the blouse and pairing it with socks and oxfords it became more of a fall look. You can do this with a lot of your cute summer clothes and it lets you be able to wear them for a longer period of time!

And there you have my tips for the day...have a wonderful Monday. Peace out! :)

(also, this is my 600th post!!! Isn't that amazing?!)

kaileemade: Printed Shorts!

I finally decided to give a name to all my designs I make. kaileemade. As I started making these shorts, I started to think of them as "kaileemade" and the name just sort of worked. I made a tab so people can check out all of my kaileemade stuff :)

And now..I'd like to introduce you to my printed shorts! I made these with no pattern (but used another pair of shorts that fit me well as reference) and they took about 10-ish hours to make. This cotton fabric was actually found at a home fabrics store for like $2 a yard (all the fabrics there were really cheap, it was amazing!!) and when I saw it, I fell in love and a vision of these shorts came into my mind.

I love these shorts...they are simple, uber-comfortable, modest, and definitely unique. My favorite part is the pockets. They're just on the outside of the shorts lined up with the material which makes them very subtle.

I tried to pair them with a black shirt, but it was a lot of black, so they ended up going with this white blouse, one of my favorite tops I bought from the bookstore where I work. These shorts are great because there's a clean front so it's easy to tuck a shirt in, but at the same time, you could definitely wear them with the shirt untucked as well.

These are probably the most well-made garment I've done. They literally fit me perfectly! I've never sewn any fitted bottoms before, so I am extremely pleased with the way these turned out.

I am really trying to focus on honing my design and sewing skills this year, so I hope I'll be sewing a lot! Of course, if school gets busy it gets a little harder but I will be trying my best. I love these shorts. They are a great start to my new (and last) school year!

Ehhmm...Thoughts

As an aspiring fashion designer, I have certain dreams that one day I hope will come true. One of those dreams is definitely to have my own fashion line one day. I think that would be super amazing. And being an LDS woman, it would probably end up being modest clothing that I’d design and sell.

That being said, I do not want to be another one of those companies that fits under the “modest clothing” category. I think we all know what I mean—the companies that make the cap sleeve tees and tank tops to make your clothes modest (like here), with a bunch of knit dresses and shirts that we’ve seen way too many times before (here). Yeah, it's kinda cute, but ever heard the term "modest is hottest?" I don't feel like that completely rings true with these type of companies. Is this really what modest clothing needs to be? Can’t LDS women look super cute and fashionable while still keeping their values?

The obvious answer is yes. There are hundreds of fashion blogs out there, like Clothed Much and The Daybook that have shown us that yes, we can look cute while staying modest at the same time. But what about for the people who don’t want to search all over the place trying to find modest clothing from the fashion forward stores? There aren’t many places out there that are super fashion forward and completely modest. The only companies I can think of that do this well would be Shabby Apple, and possibly DownEast Basics (which does sell the modest cap sleeve tees mentioned above but also a variety of apparel, some of which are really cute and keep up with the trends).

I like Shabby Apple because they appeal to all types of women, not just Mormons, and I think that ultimately my goal is just that—to be able to attract people with any values to wear my clothes, not necessarily because they’re modest, but because they are cute. People generally wear immodest clothing not always because they are purposely trying to do so, but because that’s what’s out there, and that’s what cute. I mean, they’re not trying to be modest either, but when they see a dress like this and a cute sleeveless dress like this, the choice is obvious of which one they’ll pick.

My goal is to design clothes that are cute and fashionable but still cover up. Clothes that, when people have an option, they can choose to wear the modest outfit and still know that they will look even cuter than they would if they had chosen the other one. Hopefully this dream will become a reality, and one day, you’ll see my clothing on models walking down a runway in New York Fashion Week (okay, okay… we’ll work on one goal at a time haha).

(note: this post is in no way trying to minimize modest clothing companies, just trying to make a point. Mostly, these are just my random thoughts on a Saturday night)