Looks Like I Made It: Vogue 8912, Double Collar Shirt

I went to a talk on sustainability back in May and I've been thinking about it a lot since. I think I can definitely put myself forward as a shining example of slow fashion. I've been less and less interested in what Primark has to offer over the past few years, whether thats because their stock is crap, my tastes have changed as I've got older or because I have just generally been more aware of wastage and the ethics of fashion, I'm not sure. I'm guessing its a bit of a combo of the three. Also, making, by its very nature, can often be a slowowowow process, but a slowowowow process that lets me replace the instant gratification of buying, with the steady satisfaction of creating. To satiate those shopping urges though, going to the talk did confirm that it's totally okay to buy buy buy from charity shops and also hey take a look on Vinted at all this premium 2nd hand stuff people just want shut of. Phew!!

I was already a big fan of charity shops. The record shop I worked at between the ages of 15 and 22 (and still every now and then) is surrounded by them, so lunch breaks were often a bit of a thrift-fest. I found the pattern for this shirt on a trawl round the charity shops in Hillsborough in Sheffield. There was quite a stash of vintage Vogue patterns in the Sheffield Cats Shelter shop, and I fell instantly in love with the babe teaming chunky chainy gold belt with monochrome 80s shirt with double collar.

The pattern was towards the larger sizes on the scale, so I was a little bit reluctant to buy it for fear of never committing to making the fit alterations. Also as I mentioned earlier this year, I do have a nervousness when it comes to vintage patterns - Will everything I have learnt about alterations still follow the same rules with a pattern designed before I was even born? Despite my fears, I took her to the counter with a bundle of other patterns, because sustainability is buying secondhand, and I think she was winking at me.

She sat in my 'patterns' box for a few months. She made a few appearances on my Insta stories then I'd pop her back in the box. I was on the lookout for a suitable black fabric that would behave well, that I could team with the left over white slinky cotton (?) that I made my tuxedo shirt with.

In July I found this stripy fabric in Abakhan Manchester. The monochrome, the neutral tones, the drape of it... It was instantly very me, and although I had been looking for a plain fabric I knew that this might be the one to help me transform into the Vogue lady.

Fastforward a few months, I've put off making a start on the shirt because I know I'm going to need to make a toile and I know alterations are faffy. I used an old piece of curtain lining and it became clear that the arm holes were much too low, resulting in too much fabric in the underarm, a general feeling of suffocation and a difficulty in moving. The alteration turned out to be quite simple, but not one I had done before. Due to the sizing of the shirt, I worked out that the underarms should be about an inch higher than then were, so I took this inch out all the way across the front piece- ensuring the chunk I creased out was above the arm notches and below the dots for matching the sleeves. I replicated this on the sleeve head, following the same rules then filling out the curve where there was misalignment on the front and back of the sleeve. To match this on the back piece, I took an inch out across the back.

The next tweak had to be on the double collar pieces. One inch to come out of them, as taking this from the front had of course altered the neckline. I think I probably solved a gape there that I hadn't even identified was going to be a problem (yay).

I changed the facing piece to match the new neckline (yep, you guessed, I took out that magic inch) and then I was good to get assembling the real deal.

I know I followed rules, but it still seemed like a fluke when it all came together and the pieces matched up where they should. I made sure I cut all the striped fabric as symetrically as possible. Then that double collar! Again, the symmetry! I absolutely love it - I do feel like I owe a lot to that cream fabric doing exactly what it was told. Everything felt quite straight forward to assemble. I even enjoyed gathering those sleeves into the cuffs (hello volume!). Oh yeh, more about those cuffs while we're here? They really are the most curious kind of shape before they become 3D. I strongly encourage drawing those button hole markings on clearly, as accurate button and buttonhole placement at the final hurdle is what really seals the deal.

So the bottom half of the cuffs flip back over and then they are held in place by cufflinks. I'll admit I have never owned a pair of cufflinks, so I put a shout out on the family chat and my Dad came good with these from somewhere within the family archives. He supplied another pair or two as well - turns out what is great about cufflinks is you can just keep swapping them to match any outfit or occasion. I have no idea why they fell out of fashion. Just as a reminder to myself if I make this pattern again though- as the underside flips up, it may be worth treating the inside as the topside when stitching in those buttonholes, just to ensure the visible side is the neater side of stitching. No real drama though, as my machine is much more buttonhole savvy than my last one was and the cufflinks are distracting enough to guide the eye away from any wiggly underside threads.

The pattern calls for shoulderpads - I'd like to try some as again, they aren't something I've really played about with, and I do see how they could create a powerful silhouette for this girl. I didn't include any, so I think if I made the pattern agian I would want to narrow the armholes a little by taking no more than a cm off around the top.

I love the symmetry, I love the double collar, I love the cuffs and the cufflinks. I love the fabric and the contrast panels. I love my button choice - these cute gold ones from the local market stall. I love that the hem was just straight forward and er, straight, cause I always tuck in anyway so who really gets to see if I've done a sweet curve or not? I love how much I feel like the Vogue lady when I've got this on. Turns out this one was another job-interview winner, but I was on such a power-surge I turned the danm thing down. Wonder what damage I'd do with shoulder pads?