Alabama Chanin At Work

I'm just saying it's not all about cowboy booted-women in a field of wheat, or barefoot women on a dirt lane. Maybe that IS where you work, but I work in an office seeing patients, and I'd like to be able to wear my Alabama Chanin stuff everywhere. That's why I tried the T-shirt pattern from Studio Sewing and Design, though I did lower the neckline and cut it shorter. (And this would be the ONLY AC garment where you need to lower the neckline - trust me!) My corset and fitted top were in no way appropriate for the office - and I've only worn the fitted top with something underneath it to lunch with Robbie, because I've been told it looks like lingerie. Anyhoo, my office-wear also involved other fabrics, since the AC fabric is primo and I have so many knits in the stash currently. So you've seen these before, but here're the actual outfits for work. The blue top already garnered a compliment, and nobody asked if I made it!


Someone PLEASE suggest better shoes with both of these - I'm dying. I've been to DSW twice in the past few months and just can't find any spiffy flats other than my gangster wingtips, and they don't really go with EVERYthing. And I have this weird thing about open-toed shoes - I don't think they belong in the doctor's office - am I crazy? (Katrina - no offense if you wear them!) I had an attending who wore Birkenstocks with everything, and I felt it was just TMI, if I may borrow a phrase. Plus I couldn't wear sandals for years in public because I was so self-conscious about my feet. (Scott Kenny, my 5th grade boyfriend, squatted down to inspect my painted toenails one day at school then called everyone to come look, so I blame this phobia on him.)

Also, I should've done a close-up, but I did end up doing a twin-needle hem and neckline stitching on the blue shirt, and I thought the cretin stitch around the hem of the pink shirt looked fine and helped camouflage it's "unfinished-ness." I'm wearing that one tomorrow.


Oh, now have I told you the fabulous story about my AC Mardi Gras dress? I feel like I told somebody, so stop me if you heard this. A few months ago we had a fancy fundraiser to go to and I wore the dress. A colleague of mine, who shops bi-annually in Atlanta and New York City for her clothes, came up to me and said, "That looks like a Project Alabama dress." My jaw dropped - someone actually RECOGNIZED my dress as being Alabama Chanin! It turns out she bought one of Natalie's first T-shirts in NYC, and was a big fan of her work. She told the next person who walked up to us that my dress was worth about $6000 - high praise! Anyway, she decided she wanted to try to make something herself, so I gave her links to the AC website and Craftsy - wish her luck!

Okay, I'll let you know tomorrow how many people ask me if I made the pink shirt once they see the threads and knots poking out...and how many just give me a weird look.