Twist Collective Blog

Twist Style Friday: Winona

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Published on Friday, 03 May 2013 14:33

Every Friday we feature one of the garments from the magazine in a post about styling. We suggest different ways to wear the garment in question using mock-ups from Polyvore. We encourage readers to tell us what they think about these outfits via our Facebook page or Twitter, and if folks want to make their own outfits, please tweet them at us with the hashtag #twiststyle. You can find all of the Style Friday posts here.

This is a happy Friday indeed. I moved yesterday! I used to live on a major street in Toronto. It was super convenient, but also was about halfway between a fire station and an ambulance station and right on a 24-hour bus line. Now I live on a street where the trees are big enough to touch branches in the middle. Some of those trees have green buds on them today. I can see them out the window to my new deck. At least in this climate, it's that really magical time in spring where in the daytime it's actually hot out, but it cools right down at night. Yes, friends, this is prime cardigan season.

This sweater is super pretty. If you like wearing A-line skirts or dresses, this is the perfect thing to pair with them on a chilly spring evening. The low neckline is just a little spicy, depending on what you wear it with, and the full lenth sleeves and longer length read a bit more demure.

Because of the way that sample sizes work, and because Polyvore mostly caters to a "fashion" audience, and because fashion as an industry is mostly interested in dressing women with a very particular body size and shape, it's hard to show you, in the context of these posts, how different garments would look on different sorts of bodies. Without getting too political for a Friday morning before I've had my coffee (I found the box with the coffee grinder, but not the coffee itself), I'll tell you that I'm a really firm believer that all bodies are good bodies, and that you only get one, so you'd be wise to be kind to it. This is an aside to an aside, but pre-coffee Carly is prone to tangents; an artist friend of mine did a performance piece asking people to be gentler with themselves, literally beating herself up. You can see a little micro-documentary about it here.

All that was a meandering lead in to tell you that though I think this sweater would look awesome on all sorts of bodies, the shape of it might be particularly awesome if you look more like Wynonna Judd than Winona Ryder.

Enough about body politics, let's look at some clothes and shoes!

'Tis the season for chambray and florals and flats, am I right? The outfits on the far left and right may have been slightly inspired by watermelon.

I wanted to be wearing this sweater over my moving outfit last night (patterned leggings and a t-shirt), when I went to this amazing bakery in my old neigborhood for a post-move ice cream sandwich (you get to choose the kind of cookie and flavor of ice cream you want and they are all amazing). After ice cream and sitting in the shade for a bit, I got chilly!

How would you wear Winona?

Designer Post: Floriston

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Published on Wednesday, 01 May 2013 09:21

Elizabeth Doherty is the author of today's post about her newest Twist design, Floriston. You can also find it on her blog, here. Like Elizabeth's other designs (this and this), this sweater is wearable, clean, and just detailed enough to feel special.

I know it sounds funny, but I do a lot of designing on my bicycle. I live in a mountainous place, and no matter where I ride, there are always hills and more hills. To keep myself from thinking about my legs on those endless climbs, I pass the time working out the details of new designs.

On some rides last summer it was a cardigan design that kept me diverted. The idea was to create a modern shape that would skim the figure and be easy to wear, but with a bit of elegance…something feminine, but not girly…with lace details, but a geometric motif rather than a floral one…on and on it went, to the top of the hill.

The result is Floriston, just out in Twist Collective's Spring 2013 issue. It's an airy, open-front cardigan with clean lines and a little surprise – a sweet inverted pleat at the back.

Some more details:

• A wavy eyelet-and-rib pattern forms the cardigan's front bands and is repeated on the inside of the pleat.
• A bit of waist shaping keeps the silhouette sleek.
• The sweater fronts widen slightly at the bottom for some subtle draping without an excess of fabric.
• The bracelet-length sleeves have a little vent detail that echoes the back pleat.
• The sleeves and hem have a crisp I-cord edging.

I love the way that Twist styled the photos of Floriston. The model has such grace and charm, and that floral-print skirt is adorable. But I'm not a very girly girl, so when I had one made for me, I indulged in a lovely charcoal grey. So far I've only worn it with jeans and a tank, but I'd also wear it with some dressier ankle-length pants and short boots, or with a slim sheath dress. Pretty sure I'll steer clear of the bike shorts, though.

Quick Dispatch: Can we go back now?

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Published on Monday, 29 April 2013 16:35

Now that the weather is starting to warm up, can we go back to Paris?

Twist Style Friday: Alenia

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Published on Friday, 26 April 2013 00:35

Every Friday we feature one of the garments from the magazine in a post about styling. We suggest different ways to wear the garment in question using mock-ups from Polyvore. We encourage readers to tell us what they think about these outfits via our Facebook page or Twitter, and if folks want to make their own outfits, please tweet them at us with the hashtag #twiststyle. You can find all of the Style Friday posts here.

Happy Friday friends! By the time you are reading this, I am probably in the New York public library, working on my last term paper of the semester. I'm going to a wedding this weekend in Brooklyn, but I have to finish some school work before I can start celebrating.

As I write this I am trying to figure out if I can whittle down my footwear selection to just two pairs, and if decide if it's wildly unreasonable for me to bring wildly impractical shoes to a city where walking all day is pretty much the norm. I have a really hard time packing for trips because I dress according to my mood, and I generally travel with only a backpack, so my choices are so limited by what I can fit into the bag. I can't really complain though, I'm going to New York! The dress code for this wedding is "dress in what makes you happy" so I think there is going to be some seriously fun fashion going on. I'm basically going to be wearing a mirrorball, and one of the betrothed will be in these shoes.

You probably want to know what sweater we're playing with this week. It's a great one! Alenia is versatile and super pretty.

I really love the slightly raw neckline, and that the lace panels are echoed on the back panel of the cardigan. I am also really into the crystal buttons, but you could choose plainer ones to make it a little less precious. The belt adds a retro touch, but you can also leave it out on days when it doesn't mesh well with your outfit.

I've been watching a lot of (the original) 90210 and am having a serious 90s revival, so I want to wear Alenia every day, open over a slightly ill fitting floral dress that ties in the back; a high femme substitute for grunge's flannel shirt. You can imagine that one yourself. Here are some other ideas.

You can tell I have summer on the brain. The outfit on the far right is inspired by popsicles.

Have a great weekend everyone. How would you wear Alenia?