Remington Steele
Remington Steele, courtesy of Wikapedia
The TV show that launched Pierce Bronson to American audiences is now available for purchase on DVD; however, it has recently been showing on American Life TV. Watching the show again, I am struck with how really naive we all must have been in the 1980’s, but I am truly intriqued with the clothing. Remington Steele (Pierce Bronson) wears some striking suits – Were they off the rack or custom made? Because his suits look like they were ’bespoke’. But, what I like best is Laura Holt’s (Stephanie Zimbalist) wardrobe. Yes, they have the trademark ‘linebacker’ shoulder pads. Her wardrobe is truly amazing. She doesn’t wear the ‘power suit’ per se (for those of us that hit the career path in the ’80’s you know the ‘power suit’) but her wardrobe is smart, elegant at times, and classic style. There are a few missteps regarding some clothing; however, over all I have really enjoyed getting reacquainted with this show if just for the wardrobe alone. On top of this, this show was filmed almost entirely in the LA area: lots of LA landmarks. If you like vintage clothes, then watch this show. I hate to admit that what we wore, or at least what I wore, in the ’80’s is now considered vintage. But I love it!
My Coat of 100 Mistakes
It is done! I just picked my coat up from the dry cleaners and I can’t wait to wear it. I have christen it, ‘My Coat of 100 Mistakes’. It has taken me about seven months to finish this coat and there are SO many mistakes in it – maybe 100 is a conservative guess. I doubt Iwill be making another coat any time soon. How many coats does one need in sunny Southern California? So, what did I learn by making this coat -a few highlights:
- Underlining. Yes, I should have underlined this fabric, which unraveled just by looking at it.
- Extra wide seam allowances. Okay, I made it with 5/8 ” as per the instructions, but with this fabric I should have used at least 1 ” since the fabric unraveled so well.
- Bound Buttonholes. I should have had professional buttonholes made rather than the bound buttonholes- why? Once again the fabric was difficult to work with and the bound buttonholes were tricky and not as nice as I would like or should be.
The fabric I purchased at Fabric Land (in Orange, CA). The pattern is Simplicity 3966. I think this pattern is out of print. Not sure, you would have to check on it.
Of course, what would a coat be without some ‘fabo’ lining. I normally use (in my blazers) silk charmeuse in some crazy pattern. I know, all you professional tailors and my fellow tailoring students are now cringing – traditional tailoring requires a sedate color lining, but I love silk and fortunately for me, Michael Levines’ (downtown) has a ‘fabo’ selection of silk charmeuse. But having said all that, I ended up using a polyester fabric for lining! Why? Well, I saw this at Journal Fabrics and just fell in love with it.
I used the not-so-right-side for the right side of the lining. To bad I didn’t buy more and I could of made a dress, too. Oh well, maybe next coat (in about ten years)!
So there it is. I have finished one of my many projects!
Next week I will be going downtown and will be buying lining fabric (no doubt – silk charmeuse) for my three completed blazers that just need lining and buttons. So stay tuned for me finishing some more projects and now, I’m going out. To where? Who knows- but I’m going to wear My Coat of 100 Mistakes!
