It has been quite a week in the Fashion Sewing Community as Sarah Gunn‘s and Julie Starr’s newest book, A Stylish Guide to Classic Sewing, has been the focus of a “tour” on blogs and on Instagram. From the comments I received here at Fifty Dresses, it is obvious that enthusiasm for this subject is universal.
As all of you know, C&T Publishing is sponsoring the GIVEAWAY, and I am delighted to announce the lucky winner at Fifty Dresses, who is . . .
MERY (M A FULLER)
Mery, I will be in touch by email to obtain your mailing address. (I am quite certain you are a US resident, but correct me if this is not the case.)
Many thanks to all of you who wrote comments and entered the Giveaway. I urge each and every one of you who were not fortunate to win this time to purchase the book for yourself or put it on your wish list. And, finally, a HUGE thank you to Sarah and Julie who were inspired to write this book and asked me to be part of it.
Happy December to each and every one of you!
fiftydresses 
Congrats Mary
Thank you, Sew’l Sista.
Oh, how delightful! I’ve been looking forward to this but have not yet treated myself. I’m not going to wait until after Christmas to sit down with this and enjoy it. I shall do so right away.
Thank you, Karen for participating by example and for handling this. Thank you authors and publishers.
I received it Saturday and I enjoy it even more than I expected to. It’s a lot of fun and helpful too. Ideas galore for young and old to incorporate thirty classic pieces into one’s wardrobe, how to make them, and how to style them. Links galore, ideas galore, and quotes, all fun to read from cover to cover and then refer back to. The pictures on real people are awesome. Essentially everyone who sews or thinks about sewing would enjoy receiving this as a gift. This is the best source of inspiration for wardrobe planning I’ve seen in fifty years. What are you going to do with all those patterns in your stash? Look here for inspiration. Not a detailed reference book for how to construct a garment, but rather more of a guide to tie it together from planning, thru helpful fabric and sewing tips, to styling.
I bought my copy of Elegance by Genevieve Dariaux before my senior year in high school. Initially I enjoyed skimming it. I came to value it highly as I studied it for wardrobe planning. It saved me a fortune over a lifetime to always have some good basics in my wardrobe and not feel the need to shop excessively. I shared some tips from it especially with college students who worked for me. I wanted something similar with modern pictures to give to nieces and others, and this book is just perfect.
Mery, I am so happy you are excited about this book! It has been fun to see what various reactions there are to it, but almost everyone mentions how much wardrobe and sewing inspiration there is in it. (I, too, have Dariaux’ Elegance book, and I refer to it all the time.)
I hope the holiday season was good to you and I wish you all the best for 2020!
My holiday season has been very pleasant, thank you. And a happy new year to you. I do hope Sarah and Julie’s book sells well and continues to sell for a good long while. Karen, I think you might enjoy reading this article I bookmarked a couple of years ago when a couple of great-nieces were coming of age. When I go thru deleting bookmarks I keep this one and enjoy re-reading her article, Helen Frith Powell, author of Two Lipsticks and a Lover (which I haven’t read but might) lists her top five books about what it takes to be glamorous. Tho what she says about Dariaux’ book Elegance wouldn’t win me over, I want to make sure all young ladies realize the kind of things she says about other books in her list such as Out of Africa and Gigi and the Cat. Here’s a link to her article ..oops, it won’t let me link here for security, but a search by the following phrase finds it:
The best books on Glamour recommended by Helena Frith Powell
I loved reading this article, Mery. Thank you! I was so intrigued that she included Out of Africa in her list. Very fascinating! Please forgive my tardy reply… I have been “taking Christmas down” – and now I can actually start the new year! Happy 2020 to you!