The amazing Miriam from Madmim.com is here with us today to kick off the Make This Look Series! She's taken the basic idea from a fantastic shirt and made it her own. Thanks Miriam!
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Hello Peeps (I've got birds on the mind)! I'm excited to talk about recreating looks we love, and being inspired by all the design bounty that's out there. I'm a huge sucker for making designer looks on the cheap, but it's not very often that I let myself make a straight up knock off, as I usually like to take one or maybe two style elements I love and translate them into something Mimish by playing with the design, texture, color, scale and on and on and on. But every now and then I come across something that's already pretty magical, and I want to just recreate that bad boy in all it's glory. To be totally honest, this shirt wasn't one of those times. I mean I really like it, and I think I even pinned it, but it wasn't until I saw my sister Eirene knock it off that I truly saw it's Mim-potential. So this is a knock-off of a knock-off, if you follow me. The original beauty, upon investigation, has some really lovely details that are worth talking about. First of all, we can all agree it's a great print. Also the color is pretty and the boat neck is nice. But the sleeves really steal the show for me, I love how the pleats and gathers are actually sewn into the seam, it's very cool.
My $2 version: it's not like I-can't-tell-which-is-which close, but it is pretty straight forward. I used this soft buttery orange jersey, and self-drafted this tee pattern (so happy with it!) with a round neck and a-line silhouette. I like the fit of the original (and if I were really going for an exact copy I would have used my trusty Renfrew), but truth be told I'm just a bit more comfy in an a-line silhouette, and I think it's a touch more flattering on my very happenin' hips. It seems like I just can't stay away from hand-printing these days, and I once again used my reversible stamp technique, which is really a barrel O fun. I also added a nice rounded hem because I'm into them lately–they allow for more mom-bending, which heaven knows I do a lot of.
This shot annoys me because the gathers twist toward the front of my arm, which they don't normally do. I had just thrown the shirt on for the pictures, and hadn't straightened that seam. I didn't gather the entire sleeve as the original does, but just the center line using elastic. Check out my blog today for more details on how to ruche and gather your sleeves.
So overall? Yeah, I love this shirt. It's so go-to, and that ducky print is quackin' my name like every single day! (No one will notice if I wear it again, right??)
