Black straight-leg jeans; a post mortem, and 6 different ways

So, I mentioned yesterday that my year-old black straight-legs had bitten the dust, but I hadn't gone into much detail and I thought it would be helpful to any others starting out with their own pair of jeans to list here the two reasons I think they had died so quickly.
Now I've made six pairs of things I would call "jeans", and these black straight-legs were only my second attempt so I did make a few rookie mistakes which are now glaringly obvious to me now, but at the time I just didn't see... so while I am definitely no expert, it is true that we are all learning with each new garment so if this aids anyone at all, then fabulous...
First mistake; the fabric I chose just wasn't suitable for the pattern.  I know, sounds glaringly obvious now doesn't it?  But at the time I had firmly decided I wanted black denim jeans, so as soon as I found some black denim that had a small amount of stretch in it I just bought it.  However, I didn't put nearly enough thought into it really; and my fabric really was both too thick and not stretchy enough for what is a very close-fitting jeans pattern.  Result, the jeans fitted like a stiff, tight glove, which was fine as long as I was standing and walking about, or sitting demurely upright in a chair.  Luckily, 90% of my day is spent in one of these ways.  If however, I wanted to curl up on the couch in the evening, which is also a part of my day, the jeans were pretty uncomfortable!
Second mistake; I used a dress zip, instead of a jeans zip. 
(at left, a dress zip in jeans, bad idea; at right; a jeans zip, now we're talking!)

 Another glaringly obvious mistake now, right?  But a person setting out to make their first pair of jeans might, like me, just blithely buy and insert a dress zip like usual.  Be warned; all will be fine for a year or so, then the combination of that thick, strong, non-stretchy fabric and a weak little zip, means that during one of those curling-up-on-the-couch times, something is gonna give.  In the case of these jeans it was the zip...
Lesson learned!
However, while I was a bit sad, I now have my new black flares to comfort me... and I did get an enormous amount of wear out of the black straight-legs jeans.  I went back to check through my own photos to see how many pictures I took... it turned out only seven!  However, you have to believe me, these jeans were worn a tonne during last winter...  I guess I just don't take my own photo nearly as often as I thought!  100% of the time I wore them with my biker boots, and it is interesting to me to see that in all of these photos bar one (and upon reflection, all the other times I wore them too) I tended to either mostly match the black, or to stick with a predominantly neutral palette.  I'm not a believer that black "goes with everything".  In fact, I view black to be as much of a prima donna colour as white is, and needs to be treated accordingly with respect.

Which winter-y outfit here would you pick as your favourite?

Turquoise pencil skirt; 6 different ways

These posts are a guilty pleasure to me; it's such fun to play around in my own closet and dream up a whole lot of new ways in which I could possibly wear an old favourite to suit a variety of situations... for this one I chose my turquoise pencil skirt, made from a real oldie pattern from the late seventies, Vogue 1023.  So old that my mother originally bought this pattern to make my concert band performance skirt, for when I was in high school, lol!  I can't believe I'm even owning up to that here... what's that old saying about, if you remember it the first time around then you're too old for it the second time around, or some such rubbish?  Obviously I'm ignoring that advice.  And anyway, Mum made the ankle-length version for me back then...
I made this version of the skirt about eighteen months ago now, details are here, as part of my then plan to inject Colour! into my wardrobe and life.  The colour has proved a slight challenge sometimes to this diehard neutral lover, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it turn out very useful, and worked really well with lights and light neutrals, and also with brights.  Not so good with darks and drabs, but meh... still been a great cheerful little skirt to have in a fab colour.
So here we go...
At left, on a summery day, going casual and primary-colourful; and more business-like at right, being a demure little pencil skirt it can suitably and happily go to the office worn with a tucked-in buttoned-up striped shirt

At left; contrasting that turquoise with its colour wheel opposite, apricot and orange; and at right, a more monotonal look

When the weather turns a bit colder the bold colour stands up to a bit of sharp contrast... at left, I am currently loving the slightly strange juxtaposition of blood red and turquoise; and at right, the turquoise manages to transform to beautifully winter-y when worn with winter white and strong chocolate brown accessories.

What am I wearing today?  Well, the richness of ruby red combined with the jolt of turquoise just above is such an unexpected and therefore striking colour combination; I just love it!  This is the outfit I am wearing today.  And although you probably can't see it in the photo, my toenails exactly match my skirt.  This minor detail pleases me...!  
Which look here is your preference?

Lacey, sort-of Duro dress; 6 different ways

Oooh, I do enjoy doing these more than is healthy.  Playing about in my wardrobe, I mean.
I made this dress, a modified version of Simplicity 3745 out of white dotted swiss voile and a crocheted lace for the border and bodice trim about two and a half years ago and have worn it tonnes of times since.  I'm sure I will wear this one to death.  I was inspired by a minor infatuation in the fashion world for the Duro dress. The funny thing is that initially I wasn't one hundred percent happy with it.  The shape of the dress with its V-neck and gathered areas both in the bodice and in the skirt was new for me.  I felt the bodice made me look a little bit matronly in the bust.  This is kind of hilarious as I am really the complete opposite of matronly in the bust area, so yeah, the dress was a new experience.  But initial "is it really me?" thoughts notwithstanding, the dress has had plenty of outings.  So I guess it turned out to be "me" after all.  The presence of lace helped, probably.
White is sometimes seen as a difficult colour to mix and match, a prima donna colour much the same as black which can swamp and downplay any other colour.  But I had no troubles playing with this dress and creating six different seasonal looks.  In fact it was heaps of fun!


The light colour, airiness and laciness of the fabric says "summer" all by itself, so in the warmer months the dress is ready to go with a colourful scarf as its only adornment, below left.  To be honest, the lowness of that neckline does mean a scarf makes me feel a lot more comfortable in this dress...
If a fancier summer ensemble is required the all-white look is always elegant, with a little cardigan, heels and an elegant bag all that is needed to dress it up for a half glamorous soiree, below right.

For a casual day, a few drab neutrals downplay the rampant femininity of that frothy white lace at left, and on a cooler day the freshness of white gives a lift to a warm richly textured and coloured scarf, a denim jacket and some slouchy boots, to make a nice outfit for meeting some friends or the husband out somewhere, at right.

On colder winter days, the dress has enough of its own personality than it can stand being toughened up a bit with all-black accessories such as biker boots and a little black leather jacket and a long skinny scarf. Actually I have worn this exact outfit several times last winter but never took a photo for the blog.  And for a smarter day look, the lace border of the dress looks interesting when peeping out from under a winter coat.

Which look here is your favourite look?
(The look I am wearing today is the drab one, with my dog in the picture with me...)