more thoughts on tempting ii and tubey

on bras with tempting ii: i think i'd wear my good longline strapless, which lends excellent support; i bought it to wear under my wedding dress, actually, and get a good bit of wear out of it. but you're right--things that expose a lot of shoulder do present more brassiere difficulties than they could. i've been reading a lot of posts on the sexy knitters club blog from knitters (particularly those with larger busts) saying they'd like to knit higher necklines, to keep it on the shoulders--and, i suspect, to allow for wearing a more supportive bra. i personally don't think this is as pretty of a sweater, defeating the lines of the neckline as designed (i.e., if you can only wear it that way, it isn't the right design for your body).

on bras with tubey: tubey i think will be fine with a bra. if the bottom of the neck opening is too wide-set and threatens to reveal straps, i'll either wear the strapless or wear a crossover convertible with wide-set straps (those are so handy--hide straps under sleeveless tops as well).

on ribbing: lea makes an excellent point about ribbed knits. if your measurements vary greatly from one body part to another, ribbing may not be the friendliest thing you can do either to your body or to your garment. perhaps you can knit in some decreases or increases? darts? i don't know--i've never attempted such a thing, but it seems to me that some shaping might be possible, though it seems to defeat the clean lines of the neat verticality of ribs. both tempting ii and tubey use worsted-weight yarns, so i'd say moderately forgiving--you don't have to have a six-pack, but you shouldn't have rolls for it to get caught in ;)

on control undergarments and concealment thereof: again, i thank my wedding dress for forcing me to search for excellent, thin, seamless, detailless undergarments. i wore spanx higher power foundations, which slim from ribcage to thigh, and find them excellent if i'm wearing something in which i'd feel self conscious about a clingy fabric showing rolls or jiggles. and the material is very thin, adding zero bulk. but lea's right--you'd want to be careful about any added bulk at the waist or hip, whether from undergarment or from the knitted garment or jeans themselves.

on pleated skirts: i don't think pleats ever go out of style--it's just a matter of placement. witness this trend, in which i delightedly partook yesterday: $20 at target in exactly my size. the waist will require tailoring in the back (that too-large-at-the-small-of-the-back thing that's so annoying), but it's the perfect skirt to wear with tubey in the fall wedding. fits the largest part of the body (my hips) perfectly, the pleats flare out to balance out the hips and add movement (to avoid the sausage-casing effect--which really occurs most when the clothing is too snug, but can also happen if it's tapered, or even just straight where it shouldn't be). i had to have it. (n.b. "corseting effect" from a pencil skirt comes straight from trinny and susannah! i promise :) )

on the other hand, last night i wore pleats that probably weren't as flattering as they could have been, but i had a what-not-to-wear episode right there in my closet. i had a wedding reception to coordinate, and nothing in my closet was right--the c. 1959 vintage champagne brocade dress i would liked to have worn was about half an inch too snug about the ribcage, which would really have constricted my freedom of movement (critical for an eight-hour job of schlepping and rushing about) or the dress' ability to stay in one piece :) so i spent 30 minutes trying everything else in my closet on. this was too funereal (i own a lot of black), this was not juney enough, this wasn't warm enough (i love cool weather, but it's *really* hard to dress appropriately for 60-degree breezes in mid-june! for an evening wedding reception at a museum!). i finally landed on an outfit of which i was really proud, but those pleats weren't as flattering as they would have been over a flatter tummy: a black-and-white graphic floral print sleeveless dress with a medium scoop neck, a white 3/4-sleeve cardigan, black slingbacks with a white asymmetrical bow and three icy pastel translucent beads for detail, pearls, and a little black handbag. very 1950s. my hair was rather a mess, but other than that, i felt pretty cute. i'll see how i look in the photos when they come out. the photographer snapped a few. oh, but back to the pleats: in a very 1950s look, the dress has a belt right at the natural waistline (great), and two-inch pleats that begin right at that point (not so great on me). i wonder if my sewing-goddess friend could stitch those down for me...maybe when i talk to her about tailoring the new black skirt and shortening the silk wrap skirt i bought at the yard sale a few weeks back (one of many other things i tried on yesterday and couldn't wear).