top: self-made, pattern here // shorts: AE // earrings: c/o Michal Golan

Burdastyle generously provided a copy of the pattern for this post, but all opinions, thoughts, and ramblings are my own.

I’m so so excited about how this top came out but there was quite a process to get here. I started off with a gorgeous purple and white stripey fabric that was going to be an epic backless maxi dress. Except then I remembered that something like that is pretty far out of my wardrobe comfort zone and would rarely get worn so I decided to go with something a little shorter, possibly with a bow in the back. And then I was doing some spring cleaning and came across this lovely pale blue linen blend and remembered when I pinned this top and decided that I was going to go with a flouncy hi-low peplum top instead of adding yet another dress to my ridiculous collection.

Seriously. SO glad I did. I wear tops and bottoms way more often than dresses these days and I can already envision wearing this with skinny jeans (which I would have worn in this post except that I really really sucked at packing for this trip and completely forgot to bring pants) and heels. Maybe I’ll even try a pencil skirt!

Sidenote: please ignore the shameful zipper. I ran out of invisible ones and had to make do. That one’s being replaced as soon as I’m reunited with my stash. Although i do actually really like the coral constrast.

Did I mention that I’m in California for the week? I don’t think I did. I also finally finished my Masters program! I’m basically a real adult now. (hah!)

Fit-wise this was a bit of an adventure. I think the linen stretched out a bit during the sewing process because while it seemed like it was going to fit great, as soon as I sewed the top to the lining, there was quite a bit of side-boob gape-age. Not in a good way. I added an extra dart there to close that up. The back pieces also didn’t quite fit the shape of my back quite right so I ended up having to cut zipper edge of the fabric at a bit of an angle to compensate. In the future I’ll definitely be doing this instead.

I definitely want to make more of these. I love how the peplum turned out but I think I want something even more exaggeratedly high-low. I left off the sleeve ruffle but it’d be interesting to add some kind of sheer sleeve to it. Maybe a flutter sleeve? Maybe a criss-cross across the back? Maybe shoulder bows a la Laney??

And in closing, I’ve now typed the word “peplum” so many times my brain has turned it into “pee-plum.”