I don’t read many mass market magazines, but when I feel the itch for something glossy, I nearly always reach for Vogue. Sure, I can’t afford to buy anything in it, but I never fail to take inspiration from the designs, and the articles are generally of a higher intelligence level than “eww doesn’t celeb X look fat??” you find in most fashion mags.
So I was utterly, utterly thrilled to discover that the November 09 issue of UK Vogue is almost entirely about DIY fashion, sewing, and customising. Quite literally, Make Do and Mend, though Vogue for some reason insist on using their awful “More Dash Than Cash” tagline (ick). In any case, this is seriously the best issue of Vogue that I’ve ever seen, and is a must buy for anyone with even a passing interest in sewing or DIY fashion.
The first reason – there’s a feature where they take three different vintage Vogue patterns and remake them with a modern twist. Here they’ve taken Vogue 1084 and sewn it in grey marl jersey and teamed it with a bustier and petticoat, and on subsequent pages they sew up Vogue 2934 in selvedge denim for a really modern cropped jacket, and then also team the blouse from Vogue 2859 with a floral Liberty print and pair it with a high waisted black leather skirt. And if all this isn’t enough – we’re offered a half price discount on all three patterns. Thanks!
Then, a few pages later, there’s a feature where a bunch of designers take high street clothing and customise it, providing step-by-step instructions on exactly how they chopped and changed it, and how much the transformation cost them. All of the customised clothing is then featured later in the magazine in a photo shoot of DIY style heroines.
It isn’t all wearable DIY, though – there’s a “Make Do and Mend” photoshoot that’s definitely more art than fashion, where the stylists took items like carrier bags, marigold gloves, bin bags, cotton balls, tea towels (my bolero jacket was WAY ahead of its time, ha!), and mop heads to make interesting clothing. I think my favourite is the jacket made from pink striped pick-a-mix bags, though you’d want to check the weather forecast before stepping outside…
And although it’s not the last bit of goodness in this issue (there’s a ton of cheap makeup and high street clothing tips spread throughout), I also really liked the DIY directcory that listed everything from button and haberdashery suppliers (quite a few of which were new to me, hooray!), to where to get your designer bag repaired, to making your nail varnish last longer.
This issue should still be on sale for at least another fortnight, UK readers, so make sure you go and pick one up. After the amount of effort that went into making this issue DIY and budget friendly, I’d love for this to end up being their best selling issue of the year!! Hopefully we’ll see more where this came from, but in the meantime, I’ll be filing this issue away in my sewing room next to Burda, Patrones, and KnipMode, and this is one that definitely won’t be seeing the recycling bin anytime soon!