The Little Black Jacket: Metropolis in Drama Tweed
I told you that you'd never hear the last of this lovely jacket. For this new version of the Metropolis sewing pattern I decided to go all out!
The little black jacket
The inspiration for this pattern is the little black jacket. It is the trademark of the House of Chanel, an emblematic garment, an iconic fashion piece. It was Gabrielle Chanel's second coming, and its design which was so avant-garde for its time, has not lost its appeal. The designer had set her sights on tweed, a fabric associated with the men's wardrobe, and her jacket was distinguished by its clean lines. Chanel has reinterpreted this piece many times through its various designers, and even has a book dedicated to it.
Drama Queen in Drama Tweed, Metropolis gets in on the game
Metropolis is not a dupe of a Chanel jacket. While there are certain markers such as the absence of a collar, the boxy fit and the structured shoulder, I chose to play with the buttoning and added trimmings to emphasise the cut and give the look a stronger mark. When we received our magnificent black Drama tweed at the studio, I knew immediately that there would be a meeting between this fabric and this pattern.
And if you're going to go down that path, you might as well go all the way. Once the jacket was sewn, it was sublime but I wanted to emphasise the Coco spirit of the garment. So I added a black and gold embroidery trim, to underline the neckline, along Metropolis' double buttoning, the bottom of the sleeves and the pretty pockets.
To embellish your jacket you will need 3m of braiding, mine is 1.5 cm wide and unfortunately, I don't remember where it came from, but you can easily find beautiful braided trims in haberdasheries. I hesitated in using a simple black satin ribbon, which would have contrasted nicely with the texture of the Drama tweed, but I didn't have any of that width in the studio.
Sewing Metropolis in this supple tweed, which is lighter than our Scott cotton tweed, is no problem at all: the fit is impeccable, and the combination of the shoulder pad/cigarette sleeve head and the tweed band isn’t affected in the finished look... In short, I'm in love with my new jacket!
How to wear your tweed jacket
For these photos I paired my new sewing project with my Mia blouse in Jazz cappuccino jacquard, jeans and a belt with a large buckle. My make-up is discreet, my outfit rather low profile, highlighting the beauty of Metropolis. In our magazine L'Œil Fauve, we have a series of looks based around our version of the little black jacket: a classic French inspired look with the wardrobe staple Breton. And another with a play between fabrics, in a duo with my Luz Rose Shocking jumpsuit... I have a feeling I'll love playing dress up with my Drama Tweed jacket!
