Does a fabric says it all?

When you buy a fabric, you always immediately think of a certain style. This is because it is not only the garment that determines the style, but the kind of fabric says it all. For example, a dress in a leather look normally has a completely different look than the same dress in a linen floral fabric.

The fabric determines the look
Another great example: suppose you have a very nice sewing pattern for flared pants. These flared pants will get a totally seventies look if you make the pants in a corduroy, for example brown or green. But the same pants have a super modern look if you make them from sustainable fabrics such as Tencel, Bamboo cotton or linen. The flared pants are now super trendy and the model even fits perfectly with the choice of fabric.

We have many more examples. Fabric types are 'the big thing' to fashion trends and new fabrics are developed rapidly. In recent years, the focus has mainly been on recycled materials or environmentally-consciously produced materials. Great!

Design or print?
But it is not only the fabric type that determines the appearance of a garment, especially the design or print. A uni-color is something completely different as a very 'busy' print. And prints can radiate a certain time, mood and status. Or think of typical 1960s or 1970s designs. Green, brown, orange, lots of circles and geometric prints that almost make you dizzy. Nice for parties but otherwise those colors and designs are really too out-dated.

Prints often determine the fashion image. Sometimes objects are completely trendy. Think of owls, skulls, butterflies or feathers on prints. And sometimes, for example, stripes are very in, or color-blocking or very beautiful fine patterns with subtle designs.

Inkjet prints are very trendy at the moment. These are more environmentally consciously produced than 'ordinary' printed fabrics, and we can appreciate that.

Look at me

Timeless chic

The businesslady of the year

Let's party!

What's your style?
And then there's the final style of clothing. You want to look business-like? Forget about 'holiday' or funny clothes. A tropical print for a blouse is really not done if you want to look like a clever lady. Be careful with other prints as well, it is just not the best way to dress yourself neat and clean.

Or how about a printed dress at a wedding party? Oops, not such a good idea because the attention really has to go to the bridal couple and not to your lavish clothes.

Or a tiger print to a job interview? That is possible, but be aware that with a 'tiger print' you can get a cheap look. But of course it largely depends, how many prints you wear, what the garment looks like and what your outfit looks like as a total picture.

Ocean Leopard print
At Budgetstoffen we bought a tiger print in the color: Ocean Leopard. It is a beautiful vicose fabric that falls nice and smooth. We wanted to show that fabric often determines the style but it also depends heavily on the sewing pattern.

On the left you see a neat, chic bouse, sewing pattern Butterick B6747. This blouse has a classic model, falls straight and neat and has a standard collar. We made the collar and cuffs extra beautiful by making it with a matching suede fabric from Petrol.

On the right you see a blouse of the same fabric in casual style. The sewing pattern is: Butterick B6378. The blouse is a tunic and has a nice, long bow collar. The blouse falls wide and wears very comfortably. The blouse is very suitable for holidays or leisure activities.

Summarized:
The fabric largely determines the style of the clothing in terms of fabric type and design.

But this is not a golden rule. Sometimes a tiger print can also be very chic. It's just what kind of sewing pattern you use and how you 'style' the clothes. We are very content with the tiger print and dare to go to a job interview or a neat reception. But then we're talking about the left blouse. smiley.

We would also like to see your examples of "the fabric says it all!"