March of the Skirts

Back when I first decided to come to Boston for grad school, I realized I'd be moving from a place with ~1.5 seasons to a place with 4 very full, very real seasons, and that my spring/fall wardrobe, which took me through ~9 months in San Francisco, would last, oh, I don't know, about 2 months in the Northeast. And I decided,

1) There is no way I am living through New England fall/winter/early spring in pants alone,
2) There is no way I am paying retail for skirts to get me through that half of the year.

And so ... enter Project Skirt. Whereby I decided to make or refashion enough skirts to limp through the season of snow and slush. Because after all, I have not bought a new skirt since January 1, 2007 and I saw no reason to break the trend now.

And so, I don't know, 5 months later, now that the weather has warmed up enough to wear these on a regular basis and not just the spotty day or two between snowfalls and cold snaps, I present to you, march of the skirts, or Project Skirt, Season One.


Corduroy: Joann's. Lining [very shoddily put in and improvised]: Winmil Fabrics. You can't see the pocket and waistband lining but its this great Japanese tree fabric. This skirt goes with everything. I am also about 5 pounds lighter in that photo.


Thrifted in Palo Alto, refashioned in Boston. Took a size 16 pencil skirt and made it a Size Jessica pencil skirt. Originally I kept the bottom hem width intact and made it A-line, but then decided that all my skirts are A-line and that I ought to opt for a little variety. Unsurprisingly, this skirt also goes with everything.



This is as close to an Anthropologie-esque skirt as I've got around here. The plaid skirt was originally thrifted in Palo Alto with the intention of putting in asymmetrical pleats, but once I did that I wasn't satisfied with the result, plus I had to put in different pleats in the back and they just looked plain weird. Then I remembered this blue corduroy skirt, the second I'd ever made, which I didn't like how it fit in the hips so I never wore it. But the pockets had taken me forever and I couldn't bear to part with it.


So I picked out the pockets and slapped them over the back pleats, sawed off the bottom and attached it to the lining of the plaid skirt, put in a fake pocket and made myself a fabric covered button, and voila! I may add some topstitching around the hem in tan embroidery thread yet.

The most recent addition, I like to think of this as my "pockets skirt." Denim from Joann's, cut on the bias, I see why people 1) cut skirts on the bias, 2) use actual apparel fabrics to make apparel. It makes a difference! Ha. Anyways, I'm still thinking about adding some sort of rick rack to the bottom of this because I think it needs a little something else, but as of yet have not found a good source for trims and such in the Boston area so it will have to wait.

I've still got some thrifted skirts left in the stash, waiting to be refashioned and put into rotation. And now that I've made enough basic skirts to go with pretty much everything I can start getting ambitious with the embellishment and such. We'll have to see if any more get made this year though. As much as I love these skirts, I really, really cannot wait for spring. And that, my friends, has put me in the mindframe of light and airy, light and airy ...