Thursday, March 12, 2015

Newsflash: April Burda Preview Posted

The full preview of the April 2015 BurdaStyle Magazine is now up on the Russian website.  Although I wasn't overly excited by the early preview, I have to grudgingly admit there may be a few designs that are sort of interesting this time around.  Not a lot, but enough that I'm at least thinking about adding a few of these designs to my ever-growing and never-shrinking "plan to make" list.  In any case, let's take a look at this month's offerings:




I'm going to start things off with "the good stuff" because otherwise you might get so bored you'll skip the rest of this post and miss it.  The one pattern I'm actually excited about is the designer exclusive for the month:

From the front - ok, nice dress, interesting use of the print...

But the back... is awesome!

It has pockets! Want.
There are a few other pattern I'm liking this month:

I've never been a big fan of boob pockets, but I'm sort of digging this.

Love the line drawing!  Are those gussets under the sleeves?  Must look at the pattern!

Not sure how I'm feeling about the culotte trend, but,
if I'm going to embrace it, it might be with this pattern.


On the fence with this skirt - in theory I like the drape,
not sure how I feel about it being center front though.


This skirt shouldn't be so exciting to me,
but the gorgeous stripe matching has swayed my opinion.


Loving this skirt even more in the model photo.

This drab grey color didn't do much to attract my attention...

...but the line drawing has some nice classic details.

The variation with the stripes is interesting,
but looks a bit unbalanced and really emphasizes the hips.

Yet another variation, without sleeves.  I think it could be
really cute, but without the giant patch pockets.


I wasn't too interested in this shirt with the odd flap at first, but it is growing on me.


The fact that it is really 2 shirts makes it sort of interesting.
If you make a bunch you could mix-n-match.

Or you could just make it into a dress...

Speaking of dresses, there were a great number of dress patterns that seemed to have the Downton Influence:

Waists are dropping like it's hot!



That waist bow is all sorts of no in my brain.

I can appreciate the use of a bold stripe here.

Not sure if I like the version with color blocking.
It creates a rather boxy silhouette.


Giant ruffles = modern flapper?


It also comes in a shorter version.
We also get a vintage pattern this month:


Not overly loving this top.

The pants look uncomfortably tight in this fabric.

I'm thinking these might be more appealing in a different fabric choice.

The rest of the standard sized patterns were mainly consisting of voluminous patterns that generated little excitement from me:

Sack dress with cut out sleeves.

Also as a top.


To be fair, I do rather like it belted on the model.

Voluminous top...

...and dress.


Not in love with the shape of this boxy jacket.

But the sleeves have very interesting seaming.

I can't find much to love about this skirt,
except that it would probably be easy to make and wear.
Not loving the gathered pockets at all.


Voluminous tank top.


Liking the sequin fabric.  Not sure how I feel about the overall shape of this shirt.
I don't hate this, but, I am not in love with it either.


I can't stand the clown ruffle.

Look at it on the model - it is totally a ruffle of clown-like proportions.

And, yes, the dress is literally covered in cockroaches.


Burda has, at times, made me reconsider my stance on jumpsuits.
This is not one of those times.

I cannot with the bell sleeves.

The shorts version isn't much better.

The Plus section wasn't terrible, but it wasn't too inspiring either:

Well, ok.  So this dress is actually rather pretty.


And, ok, this dress is a cool way to wear cut-outs and a normal bra.



And this dress isn't terrible, it's just not exciting.


But this floral number is less than inspiring.


And we get the annual craftan/muumuu style dress in this issue as well,
We've had a lot of these, and they aren't super exciting anymore.


And that's it.  Overall I'm not super excited by this issue, but there are at least a few designs I like, so at least there's that.  It should come as no surprise that the Best of BS for April 2015 is going to:

The designer cut-out dress!
I love this!  Aside from the fact that it makes it rather awkward to wear normal undergarments, it looks like it would be a very interesting dress to sew and wear.  I also love the inspiration for using an unusual print.  Without a doubt the most interesting design in the magazine.

Similarly, I didn't have to work too hard to pick out this month's BWTF recipient:

Awkward jumpsuit!
The proportions, the awkward sleeves, the funny cut of the legs - none of it is adding up to a good look for me.  Although I have to admit the cockroach clown dress did give me pause for a moment, this pattern was less redeemable.

So, what do you all think?  Are you super bored by this issue, or does the designer exclusive pattern redeem it for you?  Any other patterns you are lusting after?  And am I the only person who is wigged out by the giant clown collar dress and awkward jumpsuit?  Let me know your thoughts on the April issue in the comments!

8 comments:

  1. I'm gonna give the culottes a try this month (April)! Fingers crossed!

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  2. I think my back issues of Burda are going to be getting a workout this year if 2015 continues like this, I'm just not inspired at all!

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  3. I recall posting somewhere that I loved April's issue. I'm not sure where I got that impression from, because after reviewing the patterns again I only see one or two patterns that I like. The designer dress is gorgeous though. All is well as I have a long list of other stuff I want to sew.

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  4. I like quite a few things in this issue. For myself, I love the cover dress and it's variations. I also like the blue jacket and the sequined top- I wouldn't use sequined fabric, but I think it would be nice over a tank or cami with jeans on casual Friday. My daughter likes the ruffled flapper dress and the blue romper. And we have already decided together that I must make the designer cut-out dress for her. As far as the green jumpsuit goes- I hate the bell sleeves, too. I wonder though, if leaving the lower portion of the sleeves off (like the romper) and using a better fabric would transform this into something nice. I think part of the problem is the fabric that Burda used which looks like sloppy pajamas.

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  5. Yeah, Burda just isn't doing it for me this month....

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  6. Thank you for the review! I actually like quite a few of these, I think the April issue is much better than the first 3 of 2015. I don't care much for ruffles & bows & I'm sort of tired of asymmetric dresses - & although my style is more of straight/sheath dresses and pencil skirts, but I do like that ruffle neck (as you call it clown ruffle!) dress, I think it's cute.

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  7. I am very excited about the dress with the open back! And love the asymmetric patterns too.. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Funny - I love this issue, specifically the jumpsuit, oversized jacket and color-blocked dress! Different strokes for different folks I guess ;-).

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