My discoveries with patterns!

 

Before you start reading this blog post, I would like to point out that this blog is a personal diary that I share with other Gudrunisata's! I am by no means a specialist in fashion styling, I am an artist and therefore I do know something about colors, but the opinions I express are personal. When I write that a piece of clothing is not for me to keep, it does not mean that others cannot use it! I make a point of not writing that a certain piece of clothing is looking good or bad as it is relative, and depends of the eye of the beholder!

I guess that most people who start buying clothes from Gudrun Sjödén will find it difficult to figure out which patterns on the clothes feel best to wear. For example, some of my first purchases were three different polka dot tunics/dresses. I thought that dots are just dots, but when I got them home and tried them I quickly discovered that I don't like dark dots on a light background. I also discovered that I like small, close-sided dots better than larger dots and dots with great distance! Although I clearly prefer light dots on a dark background, I found that if the dots are tiny and densely sided, then it's fine that they are on a light background, this is probably because they visually tone the fabric more than they make a very clear pattern. My favorite dots are the white dots on the black background! I want to let the pink tunic go as I don't like the pattern on me!

This tunic is a keep!

This tunic is to go!

I sold this dress it is just not my kind of dress!

We are all different and you might have the opposite experience of the patterns than I have! However now I will go on with floral patterns as it is probably with floral patterns that I have made the biggest mistakes. I had fallen in love with two dresses in beautiful warm green colors, which means that the green colors go more against red than blue!

To the left a warm green to the right a cold green that I like to wear!

I should have told myself that these two dresses would be totaly wrong for me, as my hair and skin tone are cold! It was the beautiful patterns I fell in love with!
The dress with green background and a large white floral pattern is simply not very flattering on me! The color and pattern make me seem smaller and wider than I actually am!

 

I was hoping that this beautiful dress with big roses would be more flattering, but unfortunately the big white roses in the pattern work like dots with very large distance, they make me appear even smaller and more wide than I am, so I also sold this dress!

Finally, I would like to show a green dress that is a keeper for me. This is a wrap dress that I found in a thrift store. It has a nice blue-green color that looks much better for my hair color. The dress has a very nice leaf pattern in a light yellow! Patterns in this style will be on my ISO list. I have the Pegasus and Carmen dresses in blue and both have a similar pattern!

 

Pegasus dress pattern

The Carmen dress pattern

The lovely Pegasus dress was a gift from my husband, so he is also a keeper ;D

February's purchase of G.S. clothing

To day all my February's purchases have been completed and I can show you what I was able to buy spending this month's $75 budget!

I've had this shirt with the pretty leaf pattern in my closet for a while. I have mostly used it for my jeans! I thought that it would be interesting to try to pair it with different types of T-shirt, so I searched for T-shirts that could  be used for this shirt as well as  create the base of my spring wardrobe. This is also an exercise in mixing patterns and colors for me!

Photos of me wearing the T-shirts will come in another blog post!

This photo shows what I bought for my $75
The scarf was  purchase at $12.28,
  I love the colors and I'm sure I'll enjoy it during the spring!

I payied $7.23 for the T-shirt with blue and white stripes. 

This yellow T-shirt with the small print was priced at $17.23

The long-sleeved t-shirt with orange and pink stripes was priced at $19.39

I also bought the yellow striped T-shirt at $7.23. I'm going to use it for Easter!

The mocha coloured T-shirt is really nice! It's made of linen! price $4.34

The off-white T-shirt was on the top 3 of the T-shirts I wanted!
It's very useful and this is my second T-shirt in this color!
The price was $7.23

Buy Second-hand Clothes or New ?

I enjoy buying new clothes from G.S., and I would like to support G.S. continuing to sell quality clothing, but there is so much second-hand  clothing for sale, and in relation to climate change, I think we should all buy more second-hand clothes and more secondhand furniture!

Secondhand 100% silk shirt from G.S.  $8

 I'm going to wear it when my family and I go to the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen next Saturday!

I will show pictures from the theater on Sunday!

I'm also worried about plastic waste in the oceans, which also comes from synthetic clothing, which is why I've stopped buying synthetic clothing altogether.

G. S. clothes are incredibly durable, so if you buy a t-shirt it will last for many years if you wash gently and ditch the tumble dryer.

I don't quite understand the fashion industry's idea that they can use plastic waste to produce clothes. Firstly, there is a good chance that these clothes can also end up in the oceans and secondly, who wants to walk with plastic bottles pulled over their head? It makes no sense if you want sustainable clothes!

Clothes made from natural products such as wool, cotton, linen, silk and bamboo are of course expensive to buy, but they have a much better durability and are more comfortable to wear!

Well I said it and I know I am a grumpy old lady 😂🤣😂

Basic G.S. wardrope planing

When you're on a tight budget, you need to plan a little to start building your G.S. wardrobe.

I have $75 to spend every month. This is my entire clothing budget so I have some tough decisions to make! I know some of you have a lot more to spend and others have less!  I decided to share what my budget is so you can follow along as I try to build my G.S. wardrope!

My plan is to start buying some  basic clothes that can be used in many ways together with the more special pieces of clothing. Stripes, polka dots and plain t-shirts, tunics and shirts are the first on my list of clothes to find.

A striped long sleeve t-shirt like in the photo costs almost all the money I have available per month if I buy it at the G.S. store, so it has long prospects if I only buy from new. Fortunately, there are plenty of secondhand G.S. clothes for sale!

My early spring colors was inspired 
by one of my fairy drawings :D

My early spring colors:

• Navey Blue
• Light blue
• purple
• Coral red
• Mint green
• white

My January purchase:

The Carmen dress was a gift. Therefore, it was possible to go $11 over my budget!

I bought the blue Carmen dress on sale at $53

Secondhand I found:

• Blue boots  $17
• Blue slip dress $11
• Purpel scarf  $5
• In total $86

Photos of me wearing it will come soon!

In february  I have decided that I will look for:

• T-shirt: red  and with dots 
• Blue or purple leggigs 
• Shirt in pink or coral red
• Long cardigan/jacket in blue
• T-shirt with red and pink stripes

The ideal would be to find a seller that offers more of the things I'm looking for! 
There is quite a lot of money to be saved on postage if I can get a combined shipment!
I have decided that I will try to find things that are like new or in really good condition! 

So I'm excited to see what I can find and at what price and not spend more than $75! 

I had to show you my orchid!

It is blooming in my kitchen vindow right now!

Finding my G.S. Style

We all have different body types, hair and skin tones and therefore it is important to find out which things will suit you best.

The different seasonal G.S. collections always consist of many colors and patterns, so it can be a bit difficult to choose between the many options!

If you order a catalog from G.S. please notice that there are four types of clothes:

• Close to the body
• Normal
• Spacious
• Extra spacious

What fit the clothes have is indicated on the sides where all the models are drawn. I'm telling this because I hadn't even discovered it the first time I had to order a dress. 

Much has been written about how to find your body type, so I won't go into that, but you will find a link to a Body Type Calculator in the menu to the right!

In this photo I'm wearing a lovely embroidered cardigan that I bought secondhand online. It is 100% wool and very comfortable! As you can see, I am a woman with a large bust, so there are some clothing styles that I avoid. I don't like clothes that have too many wrinkles across the chest, and I avoid wrinkles in the waist. Wrinkels work very well for me on ruffled skirts and on the sleeves.

I'm only 162 cm/63.77 inches tall, so I often need to have my skirts and pants hemmed to a suitable length.

When I enter my measurements into the Body Type calculator, I get the result that my body type is hourglass. My challenge will be figuring out how to get that nice layered look that I think is so fun!

In the winter catalog 2023 G.S. gives some tips on how to mix patterns! I know that paper catalogs has been critisized, because of the climate changes, but I find it very helpfull! The photos in the catalog are better than the photos in the online shop!

If you didn't get the 2023 winter catalog I have a link to Stitch Fix where you can find a guide on how to mix prints and patterns.

If you are on a mobile, click "view web version" to see the blog menu!

 

I only spent 25$ on the cardigan!
I will get into how my budget works in another post

About Me

 

I am a 61-year-old Danish woman who has been fascinated by the whole universe of colors and patterns Gudrun Sjödén has created!

The first time I saw her clothes was on Pinterest, where many people share photos of the layerd fashion she is so well known for.

I myself am a creative person who likes to draw, paint, sew and knit. In addition, I bake most of our bread and cake. One of my new hobbies is making ice cream on our new ice cream maker.

I am retired and live in Silkeborg, which is located in a lovely forest area with lots of lakes. My husband and I go for a walk every day with our dog Frodo, who is an old Danish Labrador.

My First G.S. Purchase

 The first purchases

As new G.S. fan, I would like to share the experiences I have gained in getting started building my G.S. wardrobe up.

I have a clothing budget that I prefer to stay within and therefore it requires a bit of planning and patience!

As a start, I went through the clothes I already had. The reason I want to change my wardrobe is because I wanted to get rid of all synthetic clothes, so I sorted them out first. Then I sorted out the most worn clothes.

The remaining clothes were then divided into colors.

I now chose the colors I like best, so I got an overview of how I could, as a start, supplement my old clothes with G.S. clothes. Since I had mostly clothes in the colors blue, purple, red and black, those were the colors I started buying.

Since my clothing budget is limited, I decided it would be best to first buy some G.S. basic clothing in the chosen colors. It would be way out of my budget to buy it all new, so I hunted down thrift stores locally, as well as online.

I started in the autumn and therefore mostly autumn and winter clothes were what I was looking for.

The photo below shows my first G.S. purchase.

On the left hang my first G.S. buy and on the right my clothes from my old wardrobe, which I still use.

As I have bought more clothes from G.S., I have learned which shapes and colors I like best. I have definitely made wrong purchases such as the green dress with white flowers. Both the color and the pattern do not suit me at all, so I have sold it again.