First the flapper color blocked dresses:
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| Why are the buttons there? Why? |
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| Cleverly trying to use a yellow sash to distract from the fact that this is a rectangle. Clever, but not cleaver enough Burda. |
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| Makes me want to sail the seven seas... Ok, actually this *is* sort of cute, if you ignore the fact that it looks like it has been in a moldy trunk since the 1930s, but I would probably only wear it as a costume. |
Then there is the minimal effort creations:
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| Did we even need a pattern for this? Really? |
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| My crotch is exploding! |
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| Ok, this shirt *is* sort of cool, and a nice idea for fabric with square blocks on it. That still doesn't mean Burda gets a pass for the most basic shirt design ever. |
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| Well, ok, at least the scarf shirt has better drape than this one. |
If you pull your patterns from the Burda Plus section you are in luck this month:
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| A cute wrap top with coverage and style... |
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| I love the shape and details of this skirt. |
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| I love it even more without that print distracting me. |
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| Classy, modern, and sophisticated. Appropriate for a hot date and for work. Applause. |
And, well, it took some effort, but I did find a few things I actually liked:
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| I don't know *why* I like this shirt so much, I just do. I think it is the texture of the fabric? Maybe I just like the fabric. |
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| I have a thing for swooshy summer dresses. I don't wear them necessarily, but I like them. Even if they are made of scarf squares like this one. I think this could be my pattern for making Xanadu costumes. Heh. |
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| My favorite of the 1920s inspired patterns. |
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| Still my favorite regular sized pattern. |
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| Here's the line drawing. |
There are, of course, lots of other patterns for you to look through, but I thought they were really too boring to mention. I mean, they are fine, and you shouldn't be hurting for summer shirt patterns ever again, but nothing terribly exciting. Which means we have reached the awards section of the post - time to crown the best and worst patterns of the month.
I had a bit of a debate over which dress to give the award to. I mean, there are a lot that I liked, but none that were far and away fabulously spectacular. And though I have been liking the navy dress since the early previews went up, in the end I think I am going to have to give the Best of BS July award to:
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| The classy green plus sized dress! |
The worst pattern also had stiff competition (stiff - because those cotton shirts have no drape! Haha!) but in the end it was also rather obvious that BWTF Award for July should go to:
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| The "I had a strip of fabric and now I have a shirt" tie-top pattern. Seriously? Though those shorts are really bad too. |
So, there we have it. Not a very exciting issue, or, at least not exciting in a good way. With half the patterns being so blah as to not worth a mention and the other patterns being almost too costume-like (or too ugly) to be wearable, I won't be anxiously awaiting the arrival of this magazine. If you use the Burda Plus section you should be excited though, because you are getting some awesome patterns.
So tell me - what is your opinion of the magazine? Good, bad, or so boring as to not be worth your time and attention? What are your picks for best and worst pattern? Did I miss anything good that should re-form my opinion of this issue?
*UPDATE* After writing this post, the Russian website put up a full preview (how much do I love this new website format? Oh, so much!) and I have decided to change the Best of BS pattern for July to the Vintage Dress Pattern that wasn't shown on the German Previews:
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| New Best of BS July |
I'm with you on that bias cut top - I love the colour and texture of that fabric. The fitted dresses are also nice. Less impressed with the flapper dresses and scarf-based items. Perhaps the pattern cutter was on holiday when they were preparing this issue...
ReplyDeleteMy subscription expires next month. Based on this issue's offerings, I'm not sure if I'll renew.
Thanks again for the issue review, always a good read.
"My crotch is exploding!" Burda pattern reaction quote of the year! Very funny. I do like that black dress, hopefully the pleats are as flattering on my tummy as they are in the image :)
ReplyDeleteROFLMAO about this seriously unfortunate pattern placement!
DeleteHmm yes lots of rectangles sewn together in this issue. That said I think the black dress is stunning and I really like the plus sized skirt enough to grade it down. June & July always seem to be the least interesting issues of the year for me so I am going to remain hopeful for August!
ReplyDeleteThose flapper dresses do nothing for me (nothing positive, anyway). The last few issues have had more Plus size garments that appeal to me than the rest of the issue.
ReplyDeleteThe first 5 certainly are um, interesting. That is if interesting is f**king ugly. As someone who is a Burda plus, the patterns are nice as pictured until I mentally put my body in the clothes. Most people (not the Burda models apparently) have bulges and lumps and bumps. Both of the plus size items would look great on someone with a flat belly and thinner waist, I for one don't need the bulk of addition fabric gathering at a problem area. Take a look at plus sized women next time you are out wandering about. How many do you see that have flat bellies?
ReplyDeletePS-I didn't compose this comment very well, forgive me, it is 5:25 am. I haven't mainlined my coffee yet. 8-)
I suppose I do see your point - it does depend on where a person stores their excess energy... With that said I still think the wrap top could look good on a lot of people, and since I am usually at or once size down from Burda Plus sizes for my bottoms, I tend to get a bit more excited about things I think will look good on me or my sister and don't consider the Plus population as a whole.
DeleteI maintain that they are still good designs, but perhaps would be more popular if they were drafted in the normals size ranges. Also, as someone who was formerly considered plus-sized (still am for some RTW) and did have a waist and had problems finding clothes for people who were larger in size and had any sort of fit or shaping to them, was difficult. If I had sewn 8 years ago... these Burda Plus designs would have been a miracle for my wardrobe. I suppose that colors my view on the plus sized designs a bit as well.
Good point, and something to think about. Maybe I will write a more in-depth post over the weekend...
I think I was in a mood this am when I wrote that comment, I agree they are nice patterns. Ignore my morning attitude. Please.
DeleteI snorted out loud when I read the "crotch exploding" caption. So true. Lol.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm totally with you on the swooshy dresses. They are not the most flattering thing on me but I love them. I actually like that pattern.