This season’s favorite trend, the bomber jacket, is literally everywhere. Examples abound of military uniforms like the pea coat and flak jacket being reinvented and incorporated into mainstream fashion; this is nothing new. Fresh takes on the traditional olive drab bomber jacket include silky fabrics at TopShop, floral brocade at Nastygal, and pastel pink at Acne Studios to name just a few. Oh, and of course Yeezy.
The hero piece, without a doubt is the metallic leather bomber by Gucci.
Released for the SS16 season, this bomber is classic meets sporty with a crinkled metallic finish guaranteed to make you stand out in the sea of other bomber clad fashion mavens.
I spied this lovely piece in action on SS16 runways and Net-A-Porter’s YouTube video How to Wear Metallics. It was fashion love at first sight. You know, that piece that keeps you awake at night. This was it.
Problem was…I’m on a spending diet and even if I weren’t, it would be tough to justify spending a small fortune on a trend item, especially one that everyone seems to be wearing.
So I decided to make my own, not an exact copy, but an “inspired by” version.
My decision to take on this DIY project was made even easier by the fact that I already had the metallic and brocade fabric sitting around since last year, waiting for the perfect project to come along. While I’m far from Project Runway material, I can construct a professional looking garment when I put my mind to it.
All I needed was a pattern, notions, and some rib knitting and I was good to go. While this post is not a step by step tutorial, I have posted pictures of most of the process. I used pattern M7100 by McCall’s and I purchased the rib knitting for the waist, sleeves, and neck bands from Discount Fabrics.
This project was all the more special because the jacket lining, a Chinese brocade satin butterfly fabric, was salvaged from the lining of the table runners I made for my wedding guest registration table. I came very close to donating this fabric during my Marie-Kondo craze (good thing this fabric “sparked joy”).
All told this labor of love cost $15 and took about 2 afternoons to complete.
The feedback from people on the street to bloggers that purchased the Gucci version have been overwhelmingly positive.
Remember, when you want something bad enough you can make it happen; especially if you’ve got a pattern and a sewing machine!
XoXo,
Ten Key Pieces
Outfit details & links: Everlane The Leather Street Shoe, Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag, Who What Wear for Target Shirtdress , Jacket – Bloggers Own!
