I’m often stunned by the ready-to-wear clothes that pop up in my inbox or around the web — clothes that look freakishly as if they could have been made from one or another of the indie patterns popular in the handmade community (which, of course, were generally inspired by the runway or ready-to-wear, and around and around we go). Sometimes it’s downright spooky, as in the case of the Madewell dress above right, which is not only eerily similar to the Fen pattern (above left) I was obsessing over last summer, but is made in the exact same flowered fabric I had picked up around the same time and have pictured as a Fen on several occasions. In most cases, the timelines overlap in such a way that it’s obviously a simple case of great minds thinking alike, or tapping into the same zeitgeist (or following the same Pinterest feeds) for inspiration. But it’s fun to ride the inspiration merry-go-round, regardless!
The new Cadence pullover pattern (above left) is such an all-American classic/basic that its twin is currently on offer at none other than L.L. Bean (above right).
Madewell’s forthcoming overalls, above right, bring to mind the popular Turia Dungarees pattern (above left), with a few easy to swap out details either direction.
The Spring 2016 collections are chock full of capes, many of them admittedly more similar in shape to the Camden Cape pattern (above left) than this See by Chloé version (above right), but how great would Camden look sewn up in denim with classic blue-jeans buttons like that?