Sophia Loren ~ Style Icon!
- Tara Deighton
- Jul 20
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 21
My ULTIMATE Summer Style Inspiration!
I have never been a Summer person and as such, have often found it hard to dress in a way I find both pleasing yet practical in the warmer months or in warmer climes.
That is, until I began to look more closely at the way one of my all time favourite acting Goddesses dressed herself! I'm not sure there is anyone who does hot weather dressing better than the wonder that is Sophia Loren!
I've put together some outfit ideas to sew to create some Sophia Style outfits and as always, I now want to make all of them!
Haute Boheme
I love the 1950's boho look and Sophia did it so beautifully. This first board was the inspiration for a recent sewing project ~ A Romantic Summer Outfit, which I filmed for my YouTube Channel.
An easy to wear, traditional folk style blouse, {I don't like the terms Peasant or Gypsy but that's what it's been known as} is the perfect Summer garment and I made mine from my Greta Blouse & Dress. Then add a swooshy, tiered skirt for perfect summer style ~ I used my Calypso Skirt.
Linens and beautiful cotton lawns are perfect hot weather fabrics so I try to make sure the fabrics I buy for Summer sews are 100% natural fibres and are really good quality. I LOVE Liberty London and Merchant & Mills for their fabrics and I thought this stripe Silk Twill would make a beautiful Calypso Skirt.
Calyspo is perfect in any cotton or linen though and you only need 2 metres of fabric so it's an opportunity to treat yourself to something really special!
A Broderie Anglais, or even mixing a linen or lawn with some vintage embroidered cotton would make such a stunning and cooling blouse. Do make sure that you use a cotton Broderie though as so many of them are polycotton and they feel horrible in sunny weather. I thought this one from Midland Textiles was ever so pretty and vintage looking.
I just LOVE Sophia and her Dolce Vita attitude and the idea of a patchwork Dirndl skirt in Liberty Scraps has really caught my imagination! I'll be sewing this project for an upcoming video ASAP!
I don't think you can beat Merchant and Mills for their quality fabrics and I loved this organic white voile for a Greta Blouse with either this Calamine Linen or this gorgeous
off white linen for a simple gathered skirt.
My third 'Sophia does Boho' look is a more structured variation on the Haute Boheme theme. As one of the ultimate 1950's pin ups, and probably my favourite, I wanted to include a look that had a little more va va voom.
A well tailored pencil skirt would be a good addition although I haven't included one here as I thought the Butterick B6870 could be interesting and would give you a lot of bang for your buck.
Use the short sleeve bodice option without the collar to get the look of Sophia's blouses. Or sew a dress version in a cotton sateen ~ I liked these and there are lots of colours to choose from.
I'm a HUGE fan of Hood London and would style my Sophia Inspired looks with their beautiful vintage inspired straw hats ~ I especially LOVE this tassel confection!
You could sew the bodice in one colour and then the gathered skirt option from B6870 to create an illusion of separates. This was a popular thing to do in the 1930's ~ 1950's although I like the options that separates gives you in terms of outfit building.
Eat, Drink & Be Merry
Sophia loved her food and living the good life ~ such an inspiration especially as women are often shamed for enjoying food in popular culture. Food is such a pleasure as far as I'm concerned and something I'm not prepared to not enjoy! I feel some Al Fresco eating is on the cards and a picnic would be the perfect opportunity to wear a Sophia style handmade outfit.
Some Sophia Dolce Vita inspiration ~ that patchwork skirt!
Pretty Dresses
Although I'd steer clear of very structured dresses in hot weather, a few pretty dresses are always a lovely addition to my handmade wardrobe. Made in lovely cottons, they feel wonderfully cool and topped off with a big hat, are ever so stylish.
This repro McCall's pattern gives you the sundress look with a hint of 50's boho with that tiered skirt. I liked the shoulder detail ~ sort of a scarf/belt situation so very Sophia to my mind.
I like the easy wear personality of this Simplicity Repro pattern and threw a bit of a wildcard into the ring in terms of fabric. These Dobby cottons from Merchant and Mills are so soft and cooling and lovely to sew with. Not an obvious choice, but I thought lined with the voile, they'd be wonderful.
Sophia often wore this sort of late Forties style dress and it's a real wardrobe staple as far as I'm concerned.
This retro Butterick pattern would look {and feel} stunning in a Liberty and as I always think of Sophia in terms of heart and love, these heart print Tana Lawns are perfection!
Match Your Accessories to Your Curves
When it comes to accessories, Sophia went large! And I like to think she balanced out her assets with her accessories! She had her own glasses line in the 80's and I've had a pair of Adele Mildred sunnies on my wishlist forever!
My ultimate accessory is Sophia's 1955 Mercedes Benz Gullwing ~ a car almost as beautiful as the icon herself!
You can watch my YouTube video all about Sophia Loren Style Icon ~ My Ultimate Summer Style Inspiration here ~
I've had a wonderful time delving into the Summer style of one of my all time favourite muses and am overflowing with ideas for things I want to make {and things I want to eat!}
I hope it's been inspiring for you too and wish you the most Dolce Vita of Summers ~ I hope it's filled with pasta and limoncello and sweet Summer evenings with those you love!
Tara x
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