Our third translated from Japanese into English Bunka title, courtesy of Laurence King Publishing that is up for grabs is Stylish Dress Book: Clothing for Everyday Wear
As with many in this series, the designs are eminently wearable and casual. Again, styling is targeted to a younger demography but there are quite a few styles that would also work for older bodies. A lot of these designs would be ideal for back to school; there are a lot of classics in this one, items you’ll wear year after year. For a better idea of what I mean, see these page excerpts on the LKP site. It is possible that I may amend this entry. Some of this stuff is so cute that I may sew one up tomorrow.
Oh, something I neglected to mention before but I think that Bunka has revamped some of their sizing for the US market being that we’re such fatties. I used the largest size of the last one I mocked up and it fit me just fine (which in KF speak means roomy). I think I did a bust adjustment before cutting; I wouldn’t expect these patterns to fit fuller busts without some adjustment. As ever, your mileage may vary.
Details:
Stylish Dress Book: Clothing for Everyday Wear
200 illustrations, 87 pp
165 pages
9.25″ x 7.25″, paperback
ISBN 9781780673042
Publisher: Laurence King
List: $19.95
Published October 22, 2013
Note: I’m not certain about the precise page count. The publisher lists 165 pages but my copy only has 87. Since review copies are pre-releases and changes may be afoot in the final version, one never really knows. I am guessing that it is only 87 pages though because it fits in with the format and branding of this Bunka series.
Rules to enter today’s giveaway:
Leave a comment describing your idea of casual comfortable clothing to knock around in but that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to run out to the grocery store wearing.
My uniform is a pair of long twill pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt (I live in San Francisco, and it is never warm enough to wear any less). I start out with these looking nice and fresh enough to wear to the office (we’re very casual), and then as they get worn or stained they transition into around-the-house work clothes. They usually end up with paint stains, but they’re never so horrible that I can’t wear them to the store.
Anything in a knit that moves with me and is stylish.
A comfy dress at knee level, so I don’t have to worry about legs showing when getting out of the car, boat collar and bell sleeves with a little bow on each as a cute detail
My favorite season is Fall so my favorite knock around outfit is a duster length sweater over a long sleeve V-neck T-shirt with yoga pants.
I no longer can wear dresses or shorts since I must wear heavy, ugly compression hose, so I wear cotton jeans and knit tops with short or 3/4 sleeves. Fortunately, I still have a decent figure. Back in the day I would wear cotton dresses, sun dresses or shirtwaists, during the hot Tampa summers. I wish I could still, but I wear what works for me now.
I went to the market after the beach today in my Infinite dress. It was very chic!
Cargo shorts and a camp shirt. With pockets so I don’t need to wear a bra!
Comfy to me means being shoeless at home :) I do love shoes but I drop things frequently so I like being able to pick them up with my feet hahaha
I keep flats nearby for when I have to run out of the house but I live in t-shirts and jeans or simple tshirt dresses that I’ve made. Anything with pockets for my treasures is good :)
Casual pants and a tee shirt. I add a simple scarf to run to the store.
A fit and flare half-sleeved (to the elbow/waist) cotton dress in a fun foulard print! That, along with my underthings, I like to call my 3-piece-suit.
Also, well-made sleeves are underrated.
I love wearing sweats and t-shirt to the store. I don’t mind wearing them out. A lot of times I will stop by the store on the way home from the gym so it is not a big deal to me. I think the older I have got the more comfortable clothes I wear.
A great sweatshirt off the shoulder and a great pair of jeans. Plus some Minnetonka low boots.
I love to wear jeans and a perfect fitting T-shirt. I pair this outfit with flip flop to keep it casual
My favorite wardrobe pieces tend to be less fitted tips made from woven material. I’ve never liked really fitted garments so the items I do make tend to be easy to wear and make too since I don’t fuss much with the fit below the bust. I love Japanese sewing books for this reason. The styles are right up my alley.
And, me, I still love to wear dresses. I always am more comfortable in them, and frankly, I look better.
For a number of years they were so passé. Depressing, except that it did prompt me to return to the sewing machine. I often wear vest like things over the dresses, or even an occasional apron like contraption, but no one would know what that is anymore. And, always, there need to be POCKETS!
I love jeans and a button down shirt. Or yoga pants with a kimono sleeved jersey tunic two sizes too large. And my flip flops. I love flip flops….
I love a pullover 3/4 length sleeve top and a long linen skirt. Well, most any skirt will work, but I really love linen. A skirt or dress is so much cooler than pants.
capri pants and a tee shirt—Texas is HOT!
When it comes to dresses, for me comfort is defined by semi fitted ones. I must be able to run around and jump :) Especially at the knees it must be spacious. I love these japanese crft books. I made a lovely skirt from the femininewardrobe recently :)
At the moment my comfy go to wardrobe is a Miette wrap around skirt a fitted t-shirt and a cardigan, perfect from playgroup to sewing to school pick up
I agree with Kathleen. I wear only skirts/skorts in the warm weather, so much cooler than pants. My favorite comfy outfit is a jean skirt and nice tee.
mi ropa comoda es realmente unos pantalones cortos y un poco anchos y una camiseta
I like an easy dress with sandals and a cute but functional shopping tote. Its comfortable but boosts the confidence when I see a friend of acquaintance while I’m out doing errands. Thanks for the giveaway!
My casual comfortable clothing changes with the seasons.
Since we’re wrapping up summer, that first. A bright tank top under a “camp shirt” worn like a jacket, with summer weight pants or a skirt.
During the heating season (the rest of the New England year) I’ll wear a close fitting long sleeve “t-shirt” (woman’s cut) with well-fitting, slightly fashionable jeans.
Button front silk shirt and long skirt in some natural fiber. Leather sandals in summer, loafers in winter.
My comfort clothes- jeans and a tea shirt, jeans and a sweater and boots, jeans and a perfect cotton top.
I agree with a few others . . . it changes with the season. I love the Japanese books, and even have ordered some from Amazon.jp in Japanese just so I could get the patterns! In warmer weather, my ‘standard’ are sleeveless dresses at or just below the knee with sandals / flip flops. Cooler / rainy weather some leggings and flats with knit dresses. I get tons of inspiration from the Japanese books to ‘change-up’ my dresses.
Cotton knit, darkish color. Wide or narrow pants or even leggings, so long as they aren’t too tight, with a roomy tunic. OR a similarly roomy, comfy, longish skirt. Clogs or flip-flops and a big tote for all my stuff. A scarf around my neck — vintage silk print or cotton bandana or hand-dyed hand-knit wool — to make it me.
A tea length knit black dress with a fitted bodice and short sleeves. It would be comfortable at home and with a necklace and bracelet added, would like stylish out and about!
Thanks for the opportunity!
My uniform ends up being work clothes since I work five days a week. Usually pants in rayon/lycra and natural fiber tops. I might add a jacket or sweater to either dress it up or stay warm when it is cooler out. On weekends cotton/lycra knit pants, yoga style and a cotton t-shirt. Sometimes my work and home style mixes. I love dresses, but since I am tall I really need to sew them myself.
Jeans and a tshirt always works for me!
Hi Kathleen! Been a long time – but I’m still hanging around! Drop me a line to my e-mail when you have time – may be down your way later this year, or early next. Would love to see you. I’m still plugging away at dressmaking and patternmaking – however, old equates with slow, so everything seems to take a lot longer than it used to. I still wear lots of dresses, although my ‘at-home’ wear is usually jeans!
Good to connect with you again!
I promise I’m not trying to plug my own products, but I designed a line of simple cotton aline skirts that have modernized vintage prints (think Amy Butler) – super comfortable but pretty enough to wear out and about, I wear them every day in the summer with a plain colored tee. If I had a choice I would wear vintage dresses every day but boy, are they uncomfortable!
I like yoga pants and plain tees, myself. It’s a plus if they’re clean. (I have two toddlers and a dog. Don’t judge.)
Wow! This book would motivate me to make some things for ME personally for once! Just looking at the cover, I bet this book is full of “happy” clothes! lol I NEED to add some casual comfort pieces desperately to my lacking wardrobe. For me this would be any dress that either is a wrap front or in some way is adjustable, and has a few clever little details to boost my confidence. Fabric would be any breathable knit/stretch that will not PILL after the first washing. Oh, and lightweight with plenty of gathers to hide the true size of my bum- and any other “smoke and mirrors” cuts!
Now that I live in the southern part of the US, I’ve started wearing lots of simple knit cotton dresses. Much cooler than shorts; when it’s 106 F I’ll take any advantage!
For running about a like to wear a simple cotton short sleeve maxi dress. It provides both comfort and breathability in the hot Texas summers.
I wear leggins with a dress all the time, in winter with a sweater dress, in summer all kinds of dresses.
Casual wear that can go out in public? I’m trying to organize my closet to make a couple of looks easy and effortless: a skirt with either a tucked in shirt or flat front Capri style pants with what used to be called a ” shell”, which I like as a sleeveless or three quarter sleeve boat next top. If I have one or two favorite shoes right there, I can get out the door in a hurry.
Note: these looks work just fine with sandals, espadrilles or keds. If I add a scarf or bracelet, I might even look put together. Barbara
In the summer it would be a skirt with a knit top, and in the winter, corduroys with boots and a cozy sweater.
My casual comfy clothes are a 3/4 sleeve princess seam t-shirt and a pair of linen pants with a drawstring waist. Its step up visually from a t-shirt and jeans, but it’s like wearing pajamas.
Pants and t’s or dresses when it’s hot, but regardless, please, please, please let them be cotton or merino in as high a percentage as I can buy.
I like to wear jeans and t-shirt! Nothing serious!
First, you should know I have no shame for an emergency run to the grocery store. I once caught myself up at the local store wearing an unbelievably horrible t-shirt dress I had made (remember the ones when you took 2 men’s t’shirts, cut the bottom half off one and sewed it to the top half of the other?) and a pair of dollar-store flip-flops. the reason I had the epiphany that maybe I needed to rethink my out-and-about wear a tad more carefully next time was that I looked down and noticed my flip-flops were totally different colors (on the order of one orange and one green). So I do try harder these days. My favorites are either jeans with a reasonable amount of spandex (can breath but don’t look like an 80’s rocker) or ponte, one-seam pants I make and love the fit accompanied by a funky t-shirt which is another of my favorite things to make these days. Shoes could still be questionable. Recently went two work with mis-matched shoes. Same color but different heel heights (how does that happen?); it gave me an interesting, rolling gait.
My favorite comfy clothing is jersey dresses. I feel like I’m in jammies, but you can look dressy enough for work.
Today I am wearing loose capris with very narrow slate blue and white stripes and a loose white knit shirt with a small ruffle around the neckline. The capris are woven, but have a generous amount of spandex. This kind of outfit works for most places I might be in the daytime.
I climbed all over the park, climbing wall, slithering through tubes and all with my 5 year old, then went straight to a school with uniformed students and well dressed faculty to pick up my 9th grader. Strangely, a McDonald’s truck had parked across the school parking lot entrance, so I couldn’t pick her up in the normal place. I was glad I wasn’t wearing running shorts and a T shirt when I had to go in and find her.
I live where it is very hot so knock around clothes are mandatory for about 6 months. I live in shorts and skorts (mostly for golf) and golf tops made from wicking fabric. I also wear a lot of knit tops that are loose fitting. When I have to dress up in this weather I wear loose fitting jersey knit dresses. I make the dresses from a modified DKNY pattern.