Welcome! I'm Holly Chayes.

This online space has been around in one form or another since 2010, it focuses on making, creativity and living a curious life, plus a lot of clothing.

Some of the projects I've worked on in the past 10+ years include...

Talking About Clothes with Holly Chayes

An interview podcast that's all about clothing (and also, not *really* about clothing at all). Find all the details and listen to conversations about comfort, style, change and shopping here. Or search for Talking About Clothes with Holly Chayes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Who Wears Who?

A personal style coaching and content practice devoted to helping you own and wear your clothes intentionally, instead of being worn by them. Discover your own style guidance, and learn more about the practice of intentional style at WhoWearsWho.com

The Self-Made Wardrobe Project

Predecessor to Who Wears Who, a year-long challenge in 2014/2015 where I only wore clothes I made. That year would have been a lot easier if the clothes had magically made themselves. Learn more about The Self-Made Wardrobe Project and explore the archives here.

The Shawl Geometry Book Series

Enough shawl shapes to keep you knitting for a lifetime. A multi-year exploration of math, shape and space in knitting, where I documented traditional shawl shaping, and iterated on those traditions to create new recipes of shawl shaping. Ultimately this lead to 75+ shapes, and 400+ pages of common and uncommon shawl shaping instructions. This project was inspired by a dozen individual shawl designs, each encapsulating a love of geometric lace design. You can find The Shawl Geometry Series here.

 

Thank you for being here with me. –Holly

A Black Maxi Skirt – super easy to wear, damn hard to photograph

At the beginning of the self-made wardrobe project there were a couple of days when I would make a new piece of clothing in the morning, and then wear it out that afternoon – this skirt was one of those projects, I made it on Day 12. The projects that I often end up wearing the most are these sorts of straightforward, simple to sew and easy to wear projects – and were often made at the last minute (the graphic silk circle skirt, and the cascading flowers skirt.) Fun fact about this skirt: If you look closely, you can see a bit of navy thread peeking out at the top of the slit. All of the internal finishing and inside seams are sewn with navy blue thread, because I was almost out of black – the only black thread in the skirt is the stitching on the hem and slit....
Read More

What if, my wardrobe and I are grand adventuresses?

I had a thought about wardrobe planning the other day, and since Friday was the birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh,* this (probably kooky) thought seemed pretty appropriate – since adventuring is quite a Pooh Bear thing to do. *or at least one of the birthdays – February 13, 1924 was when the poem “Teddy Bear,” which featured Pooh, was originally published in Punch magazine. The original Winnie-the-Pooh teddy bear was actually given to A.A. Milne’s son on August 21, 1921.   A small (but rather insistent) part of me has been feeling like I should be better at planning my wardrobe. That I should be sketching & swatching, picking out patterns and matching up fabric. But I have a pretty good record of NOT doing that for my self-made wardrobe – and so far things have (mostly) worked out. And then I had a thought. What if, my wardrobe and I are...
Read More

I’m racing through a new sweater, and living in my purple sweater – The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 28

The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made. It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels. DAY 190 – FEBRUARY 6th Transitional Weather Sweater Black Tank Top Cascading Flowers Skirt Grey Tights Various Rings I’ve said this before, but this is the perfect sweater for days spent working at home. I originally knit it for spring & fall, but it’s turning out to also be a fantastic sweatshirt substitute. The weight is just right, the zipper is fantastic, and the hood makes it feel that much more cozy. DAY 191 – FEBRUARY 7th Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater Black Tank Top Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit Black Tights Brown Boots Long Necklace Various Rings I’m going to apologize in advance for how much I wore this sweater this week, but it’s pretty much perfect for this weather. DAY 192 –...
Read More