Dueling Patterns - Part II

The comments left on the last post about the dueling patterns from Simplicity and Butterick have been very interesting...

So Friday evening after work, since I was meeting a friend and needed to waste some time, I headed to the Borders Bookstore in the Time Warner Center hoping they would have a copy of the newly published book, "Isabel Toledo: Fashion From The Inside Out." Of course, they didn't so I've ordered a copy from Amazon. But I did stumble across this cute and inexpensive book, "Michelle Obama - First Lady of Fashion and Style" by Susan Swimmer.

The book is now in my possession because it has such great pics of Michelle's outfits. Now I know almost all of the pictures in the book can be found on the internet, printed out and stored, but why go to all of that trouble when this handy little book does it for me. There are some interesting candid shots of the Inauguration dress without the long coat...and from what I can see...the dress DOES have princess seams. So in that regard the Butterick pattern is truer to the original dress than the Simplicity pattern.

Then Debbie Cook posted a link to a picture of both the front and back of the outfit...

Photo from Stylefrizz.com

This proves that both patterns did not capture the essence of the back of the jacket...and Ann I wonder if the seams are so detailed on the jacket back because of the width of the fabric as you suggested.

Updated to include photo from Phyllis which outlines the actual seam lines in the back of the jacket!

Now I know that very few of us have access to the same type of fabric used in the original outfit...but whatever fabric we choose to use...it will give us a little more freedom and creative licensing when making our own version. However, it has been extremely interesting...at least to me...to examine the two patterns design so closely and to imagine how I will make my own version of this momentous outfit!

Next time I will cry less and examine the details more! *LOL* One final note...we all noticed the Inauguration Outfit (maybe because it soooooo resembled the original styling!) but none of us mentioned that Butterick also did a riff on the Jacket/Skirt outfit that Michelle Obama wore to the Concert on the Mall the Sunday before Inauguration Day...

Butterick's Version:

Michelle Obama's Actual Outfit



Finally I succumbed...I did purchase the Butterick pattern mainly because of the lowered seamline on the jacket front and the Club BMV price of $4.27! *LOL* Patterns are still on sale through midnight tonight CST. I also bought the wardrobe pattern pictured above...so now between the four patterns I can come up with my own version of Michelle Obama's wardrobe.

Well I'm off to sew...my Vogue dress is calling my name! I have no plans for the weekend except a brunch tomorrow...and if I use my time wisely, I may have not one dress but two dresses to show! Hope springs eternal! *LOL*

As always...more later!