Every women needs some nice garments to wear after hours…and this new pattern collection from burda style magazine’s November issue is full of sultry designs. Shimmering fabrics and sophisticated cuts are seen in sixties-style coats and glamorous dresses.
This trumpet-sleeved Edged Dress has a slim line, thanks to its cleverly placed pleats. It has eye-catching edging on the pleat edges of shimmering sequin that makes the standing collar and trumpet sleeves stand out.
This pairing is a lovely version of a feminine suit. The Open Front Jacket features front bands and welt pockets for a classic look. We love it worn with this Tapered Skirt that has pressed pleats and section seams that make the wearer have magical curves.
Sweethearts don’t want to be apart for long. If you’re going straight from work to a date, this Piped Tunic is just the thing. You’re beautifully dressed up for going out, with satin piping in the waist seam and on the neck edge. A high hem slit and trumpet sleeves are elegant details.
Here is the lovely Quilted Coat. This combination of coat and quilted waist coat is a good companion for cold days. The two are brought together by the faux fur collar. The coat itself follows through on the layered look, with a horizontal pleat at hip level hinting at a jacket. Below this pleat, the coat is slightly flared to give you lots of room for walking fast in the cold!
This Side Tie Top gently swings in the breeze. It has casual dropped shoulders and sew on tie bands. When pulled through two buttonholes that gives a glamorous finish.
As sophisticated as you can get. This knee-length, slightly flared Elegant Coat features a magnificent buttoned in waistcoat, with front bands and Peter Pan collar of fake fur. The outer cotton coat has the same collar shape and is closed, edge to edge, with hook and eye fastenings – trés chic!
We love this Section Dress that is figure hugging in all the right places. It fits perfectly thanks to the neat set-in waistband and section seams.
This is the lovely Open Back Short Coat. The back fastening on this jacket is a single loop and button at the top, so that your dress underneath can show through.
Try making one or all of these sultry patterns to show your special someone.
Happy Sewing!
Nov 30, 2012, 09.37 AMby conejitoasesino
I have to agree with the general consensus. While the clothes are not bad, they do have a cool mad men-ish vibe, they are not good. Maybe it’s the styling? A lot of the pieces don’t go very well together. There is a lot of bulky layering. And the clothes do not fit the mode correctly. She is too small for them. I know she is supposed to be plus size (which she doesn’t look it at all, she looks average but I guess average is plus nowadays) but she is swimming in those clothes. Poor show Burda. Chics want normal clothes available in large sizes. Not large clothes modeled on small women.
Nov 9, 2012, 08.58 PMby dgporter
Ugh-ugh-ugly. No super-sized gal would allow herself to be seen in any of these. Get a clue!
Nov 2, 2012, 11.27 PMby Marusya Grace
Do these patterns only come in plus sizes?
Nov 2, 2012, 08.34 PMby nazzy
Hi could you do dress with lancer cut.A jacket round neck.I think in my opinion these designs are not appropriate for large sizes.Plain patterns and more fashionable.
Nov 2, 2012, 03.25 AMby auntchelle
I don’t think there is anything terribly bad about these patterns. The fabric choices here aren’t exactly the best. The styling however, sheesh, someone needs to fired over this. Terrible. This will not encourage most people to look twice (or even properly the first time) at the pattern. This is supposed to be an After 5 collection. I think it does ok at that.
For the past 2 years I don’t even bother looking at the photos – I go straight to the tech drawings. I actually think this is one of their better attempts in this period. I do, however, agree that I think the designer they are using doesn’t have the skills to design for people that don’t fit their smaller size range.
Bring back the glory days from 2007-2010, when we got a great collection each (most) months and then we also got different patterns in the Burda Plus special. (Now it’s just an edited version from these issues.) Those 3 years had some of the best, original, well thought through designs for Plus women. Sure there were some misses but they were the exception not a rule. (Maybe get the current staff to sit down with those old magazines and do some research!) I’m still using those issues and can see me using those for quite some time yet.
Nov 2, 2012, 03.24 AMby petsabock
These are so unflattering! Why does Burda design such things for larger people? Do you hate us? The next time I want to look like a tasteless,unstylish, older than my age woman I’ll make one of these in the horrendous fabrics chosen by you!
Nov 1, 2012, 03.35 PMby AJW5
I am a plus-sized home sewer who has always favored the Burda line because it just fits me better. When I received the most recent issue of Burda Style at home and saw these clothes I was shocked at the frumpiness of the styles and the ill fit of the clothing. What is not obviously too big is clearly too small — note the stress lines in the upper arms of the blouses.
Yuck. This most recent Burda Style, on top of the fall/winter Burda Plus — also full of some really uninspired designs — is causing me to turn to the other pattern companies to see what I can alter and use from their lines. SUCH a disappointment.
Nov 1, 2012, 08.36 AMby Ami Francesconi
I am a plump 70 year old grandmother who has always had a good fashion sense. I have started sewing agin simply because I cannot find anything anywhere except frump, frump, frump. I love Burds, but you just gave us more frump. I will be dressing fashionably until the day I die, and I am counting on Burda to make that possible. We want to wear what everyone else is wearing. Can’t you draft the same styles in larger styles? I know you can, because I have done it. I want to buy the pattern from you, not redraft a pattern. Thank you. I know you listen, and I am expecting great things from you.
Nov 1, 2012, 04.35 AMby arisaid
Yuck! These are just so awful I wouldn’t make any of them. Also apart from the model not being able to wear the clothes properly as they don’t fit, she is too tall! Most of us plus sized ladies are not 6 foot tall! In fact the average height of females here in Australia is 5’3’, which means we are petite height. PLEASE can you give us some stylish and modern patterns.
Oct 31, 2012, 07.45 PMby taxidancer
this collection should be renamed 9 Ways to Look Frumpy!
1 Reply
Nov 1, 2012, 04.35 AMby arisaid
agreed!
Oct 31, 2012, 07.40 PMby AArrington
Hello, all. Like many of you, I get BurdaStyle notifications via e-mail and I followed the link to the site because I thought the featured retro-styled retro-back jacket was pretty, as was the regularly-sized Designer Coat. I thought the Elegant Coat was lovely, and I liked most of the designs, but I agree that textiles are unremarkable and do not do the designs justice, resulting in looks that were mother-of-the-brideish. I actually thought the quilted coat was nice until so many attentive commenters correctly noted the poor fit – this outfit is, to my eye, at least one size too large for her. The clothes actually make her look bigger. I thought the section dress would be nice in a richly-coloured velvet, and perhaps a longer length.
Comparing the last three issues of the newsletter with older editions, it is obvious that the artistic direction has changed with the plus-size shoots. BurdaStyle user Cloff favorited a number of older plus-sized patterns where the models are better styled, the clothes better fitted, and vibrant colours are used. I can see both viewpoints – the consumer who sees things that are marketed to them but are not as pretty as the standard products – and Burda trying to access a valuable market but selling something that has to be widely adjusted without major alteration problems. That being said, the harsh criticisms from the posters show that the standard has changed.
I am used to pattern companies using size-8 models in plus sized products, but Burda did themselves a disservice when they used a model who was too small for the pattern’s sizing. If Burda didn’t want to alter the pattern to fit the smaller model, then they should have used a larger model. As a larger woman, I am honest enough to admit that larger plus-sized clothes, ready-to-wear and pattern-based, tend to be less complicated to accommodate different sizes and bulk, and therefore less fashion-forward, but Burda’s editors need to be equally honest and admit that the colour and fabric choices are not nearly as energetic as the ones they feature in the smaller-sized patterns, or in the ones featured by subscribers.
Since this is a common theme with the plus-sized patterns, I went through my e-mail archives, looked at the featured plus-sized patterns, and found the ones that I thought were very nice. I am not including blouses and skirts because I consider those to be design staples. To those of you who have seen a standard-sized Burda item that would be well-suited to plus-sizing, please join in:
“After Hours”, 11.2012: All, except for the quilted coat, which is not well-fitted. “Classically Cozy” newsletter 10.2012: Buttoned cape 10/2012 #140, Wrap coat #136, Flared trouser #139, Mermaid skirt #147 “Plus Size: New Patterns and Old Favorites” newsletter: Wrap Dress Plus Size 02/2011 #139, Jersey Dress Plus Size 01/2011 #133, Jacket With 3/4 Sleeves Plus Size 01/2011 #139, 10/2011 Plus size top with draped neckline #135 A Older plus-sized patterns (please note drastic differences in fit, colour, and textile): Sailors Neck Dress (plus-size) #136, 07/2011 Dress with Pin Tucks (plus-size) #138, V-Neck Dress (plus-size) #139, Velvet Jacket Plus Size #142, Velvet Jacket Plus Size #142
Happy sewing, everyone!
-AArrington
Oct 31, 2012, 03.43 PMby canei
I saw a few things that I liked. Some look boxy to me. Not too flattering for the fuller figure.
Oct 31, 2012, 02.39 PMby jw72085
Wow, what a tough crowd! I actually like these patterns. No, not all of them, but quite a few. I do agree that some of us sew because we either do not like ready-made choices or we cannot find what we want in our size(s). However, when I look at patterns, any patterns, I tend to visualize myself in the piece of clothing featured. Taking into account my figure, its pluses and minuses, as well as fabric color and drape. Sure, some of these patterns are boxy, but visualizing, as I do, I can see these patterns on me in different color schemes and in various fabrics. There is no need to be so cruel when you have an actively creative mind.
1 Reply
Nov 2, 2012, 10.22 PMby nadewas
Yeap! Visualizing. That’s the key. When I look at patterns I’ll always think how to work it and flatter it no matter how hopeless the pattern can be sometime. Cheers to a creative mind!
Oct 31, 2012, 11.09 AMby suz123
I agree with so many of these posts – I’m on the edge of plus size myself, and Burda constantly disappoints me by stopping some of my favorite patterns at size 42. I’m like 44/46. Yes, it’s possible to grade a pattern yourself, but I’m a beginner. Plus sizes are not all the same – some are just larger sizes and don’t need a different style of clothing, just a pattern for the regular clothes sized up. Burda is losing sales by segregating their patterns this way. There are plenty of people on the lower end of plus size who would never buy these styles, but will go to other manufacturers for regular patterns that come in sizes 12-18.
Oct 31, 2012, 10.53 AMby mommyth
Dumpy, frumpy and fugly.
Oct 31, 2012, 04.21 AMby wenoel
I often see patterns that would easily flatter larger sizes but they do NOT come in larger sizes. What’s up with that? I also feel many patterns made especially for plus sizes are not the least bit flattering. Why is that? I think you need a board of plus size consultants to give input on this issue.
Oct 31, 2012, 04.19 AMby wenoel
The fabric choices are truly unfortunate. Ugly, drab, washed out colors. Thick, hard to handle and unflattering hand. The styles are a bit sad and old looking. The only one I like I thought immediately what I would alter to make it better so – sorry but this one did not work for me at all.
Oct 31, 2012, 03.38 AMby arlenef
I think you missed the mark this time. Different fabric choices might have helped, but the one thing that caught my attention almost imediately……they didn’t fit the model…..as pretty as she is.. there were bunches of extra fabric in most of the garments, yet there were two where the upper arm appeared to be too tight, It looks like this issue was just thrown together as if you didn’t care and with no thought to style. Even the background sets were less than stellar….
Oct 31, 2012, 01.50 AMby Smarti1957
It is obvious by the comments that this collection missed the mark. People who aren’t the “norm” and can’t buy off the rack easily are usually the ones who like to sew for themselves so they can look their very best. They know what they should and shouldn’t wear. Believe me, the object of the game is for people to see our best assets, not to emphasize the worst ones. So why not let us choose what we want to wear and just make patterns to fit the common shapes that have been identified (pear, hourglass, etc…) in larger sizes. By segregating patterns by sizes, you are effectively telling plus sized people what they can and cannot wear. Personally, I find that offensive. The stores already do this so it’s very important that the sewing community doesn’t. And the choice of models doesn’t fool anyone at all now, does it?
Oct 30, 2012, 11.53 PMby audhead
Where these Plus Size designs created by a non-plus size person? My pet peeve is fashions that don’t complement a plus size body but you find that the buyers/designers are a size 7 or smaller. I’ve always wanted to design flattering clothes for larger size people, even if it’s just to show that there are flattering clothes and you don’t have to wear what’s available in stores.
Oct 30, 2012, 11.48 PMby hennybenny
Yikes. When your plus-sized clothes make a size 8 or 10 model look this fat and horrible, you know you’re doing something wrong. How that girl could manage a smile for the “quilted jacket” photo is beyond me.