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CFPD Preview!
Transformational Reconstruction 3, Origami Depth
Coming Soon . . .
This one goes deep into the origami magic of folds, illusions and questions of mystery, "what am I seeing?" It thoroughly satisfies the urge to wear something no one else could possibly do, let alone, find! Watch for email announcement of publication.
[Please note that the web page says 'sold out' but it is not sold out. The sold out message is built into the shopping cart template when an item is not for sale yet and cannot be deleted. TR3 is at the printers and everyone on the email list (sign up on the home page) will be notified when it's available for sale.]
Think, start-up in a box! Collections include mens,
costumes, lingerie, beach & tennis, aprons and accessories.
Yours truly on Madeleine Vionnet at the
Spring Fling Luncheon Program for the
Scroll down for registration info
Drape Your Own Pants Workshop
Check for class date soon. Only 6 spaces.
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The Fashion System That Was
Lots to read . . .  It happened -- it's over. And it has a name: The New Pragmatism. A name that not only takes in the financial realities of more people with less money (forcing production and marketing to reroot) but it also includes the design end and the wearing end -- the real END. The reason we are not wearing humongous shoulder pads or towering hairstyles is because they physically do not fit under coats or into cars. Thus, the reason we have The New Pragmatism is because nobody can physically buy and store tons of perpetual collection stuff every month -- physics rule! I love it! Background, in western fashion no cycle changes until it has exhausted itself and physically met the limits which is why it has taken so long -- was a big cycle.
Fashion firms are now in trial & error mode as they hack their own systems. For a good guide: French Fashion Federation Rejects Calendar Overhaul, B of F's guide to fashion immediacy tracks new operating models and approaches, brand by brand. The leaders so far: see-it-now-buy-it-now and DTC, Direct to Consumer, a la wine or books or name your must have obsession . . .
So now we'll show less, waste less, spend less, shop more intelligently and -- if one is secretly missing one's youthful/artful self -- make more. Sew, save a fortune, look amazing, discover your body, support the textile industry, create jobs! Being brainy about it may even lead to the return of wardrobe planning, the concept of taste, the art of dressing and clothes that fit. Heavens, could we be delivered??!!
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Confirmation
Lisa Armstrong for the London Telegraph: Is going back the best way forward for fashion? She says, "Trends are out. But dresses that take six months to make and necklines that frame a woman's diamond necklaces are eternally in".
The New World Order, a special print edition from the Business of Fashion: An outright admission that the fashion system is broken and the disruptors are riding to the rescue. Caveat: Disruptors are usually impatient and operate in start-up mode. Creating quality clothing takes time and money -- how does that work?
Different is Beautiful: Oilily's Catwalk Show in Amsterdam, a flat out focus on the customers and their lives rather than the company, its designer du jour and his clothes -- huge difference and another step toward reality on the hoof.
Here's a brand breakdown. But 'luxury' is rejecting show-sell, preferring to stay with show-wait-sell, claiming that unless you make 'em wait, they won't get used to 'outr�' looks, be able to save up or build anticipation. Are we doing nothing else with our lives?
Written by Rob Walker for the NYT on 11/28/15 but more true now than ever.
"A variation on the process that rebrands the dated as "vintage," "traditional" or "artisanal." The very marginalization of the analog has propelled it into the realm of luxury. It turns out that while the digital often comes close to crushing its analog precedents, that process can do something curious to its putative victims: underscore their virtues, elevate their status and transform the formerly workaday into something rarefied, special, even luxurious."
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 Lessons in How-To
The Baker Museum to March 6, 2016
Catch the end of this one for lessons in functional design that were able to span income levels and generations.
The de Young Museum, San Francisco, March 12 - May 30, 2016
For how to stay on top -- classy reality every time, focused on the client. Very little 'theater', often known as 'inspiration' in the fashion world.
At the Driehaus Museum, Chicago, IL, 2/9/16 - 5/8/16
1920's fashion (no waist necessary, real inspiration) from one of the most widely watched television dramas in the world, Downton Abbey�. Walk through a costume chronicle of the period in this now traveling exhibition that showcases nearly 40 period costumes and jewelry.
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A Great Coat
Think sheer for summer -- free and downloadable!
Pattern and Instructions designed by Patrick Kelly
Philladelphia Museum of Art
Woman's One-Seam Coat, 1985
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Caring About Clothing
A really great piece on what you think looks good when!
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Or, how about this fellow?
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Gibb Zea is Fort Ticonderoga's artificer tailor; "artificer" being an 18th century term for a skilled soldier who had a trade prior to joining the army, like carpentry, tailoring, or shoemaking.
These are great -- especially for 'emerging dressers'. Two personal stylist sites for girls and guys where they put it together for you and it comes in the mail! A no-brainer -- perfect for those in the middle of "fake it til you make it"; you know, that stage in life. Ahhh . . . the time I could've saved.
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So know that in 2016, right on schedule, we had a big change in a 20th C. system, how we get our clothes. Since clothing is one leg of the critical 3-legged stool of food, clothing and shelter, it will be a significant change in world energy use, resource distribution and just plain caring. It's a good change and maybe we can look forward to a century that is more fair, more responsible and more creative.
Shelter patterns, next up!
Be kind to all,
Sandy
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