As much as I enjoy Lagenlook, I have found it difficult to come up with good jackets. The main problem is that of fitting over Lagenlook tunics, especially regarding to sleeves. Because some of my LL tops have a very wide body with sleeves not starting until halfway between shoulder and elbow, or even lower, the jacket must accommodate all this extra fabric at the shoulder and armscye. What is more, it must accommodate it generously because you don’t want your top to look all crushed when you take your jacket off. This means the jacket has to fit loosely through the shoulders, which can make the whole silhouette look big and baggy if there is also a lot of volume lower down, — which is usually the case with Lagenlook.
Quite a conundrum.
Twotoast has shown some lovely ensembles with jackets on her blog, The Spotty Dog Social Club, but her tops are mostly sleeveles I think, so the sleeve issue doesn’t arise.
After giving it a fair bit of thought I don’t think it is possible to find one jacket shape that will look good with everything in Lagenlook. With very voluminous maxi skirts or dresses a short, relatively fitted jacket, at least in the shoulders, is probably the best solution. The top or tunic will show below the jacket, but that is fine.
With slimmer skirts or pants there is scope for a looser jacket, with room for tunics with extra fabric in the shoulder area.
My latest experiment with a LL jacket was supposed to strike a happy medium, and go with most of my wardrobe, at least the slim skirts and the pants, both Lagenlook and more conventional ones. I based it on the Tessuti Fave Top pattern, a TNT I have used many times before for tunics. One reason for this was that I only had about 1.80m of the fabric I was wanting to use, 120cm wide, which did no allow a lot of wiggle room in terms of patterns. I also like collarless jackets, because I almost always wear a scarf and a collar just gets in the way. And finally I really like a nice swing shape.
To convert a top into a jacket is easy, you just need to split the front and add facings. I also like to snug up the neck opening,, so it fits closely at the base of the neck. I lengthened and widened the sleeves, making a deep cuff which goes well with the swing shape. I also lengthened the jacket, for warmth and because I don’t like wasting fabric. That was pushing it, long AND wide can be problematic. Fortunately I do like the result.
Finally I had just enough fabric left over for patch pockets, but decided against them in the end. I like simple lines, the fabric looks beautiful without the disturbance of top stitching and a break in the tone-in-tone pattern, and in any case, in Australia you don’t need pockets to keep your hands warm. 🙂
I bought some statement buttons in Bali a few years ago, which were just right for this jacket. The fabric is a superb black matelasse, bought at Tessutis January sale, also a few years ago. Both had been marinating in my stash waiting for the right project.
This jacket has become a favourite in my wardrobe and has been worn a lot already with just about everything. Success!
This is linked to the blogger party RUMS.