Friday, October 23rd, 2009
what about fashion?
I realized I don’t talk about fashion much here. That’s strange, because I do think about it. And I’m curious about what others think about it. How important is fashion to you?
A little of my fashion history:
- When I was very little, my mom made most of my clothes. She knit and sewed and I was thrilled to have interesting, unique items.
- When I was in elementary school I became obese, and only wanted to wear loose, shapeless things. I tended to wear a handful of items over and over. There was something about not having to figure out what to wear that was comforting.
- Towards the end of middle school I began to shed some weight and suddenly clothing became really interesting. I knew how to knit and sew (from my mom) and making things I could wear became really fun. My dad loved fashion (still does) and liked taking me shopping, searching out unique places and items that were different than the usual mall stuff. We would also go to art galleries and museums, and in my head I think I started to think of fashion and art as related.
- In college (architecture school) I was all about wearing plain blackish clothes and blending into the background. Too busy discussing design and being cerebral to care about fashion:)
- In grad school I went through a period where I thought fashion was frivolous. I wanted to save the world through design and thought fashion was not important, socially conscious work.
And now? Well, now I’ve come to realize how clothing can simply make you feel good. If you feel good in what you are wearing you are a happier person and a better friend/employee/spouse/partner/parent/person. It can make you feel confident. I think the best fashion is something that you don’t have to think too much about. You can put something on and feel yourself and yet special.
Personally I think I am at a collecting and layering stage. I like finding unique and interesting items that work with what I already have. Putting items together for an outfit is an enjoyable passtime for me at the moment, and I especially like texture and layers. I guess I’ve come full circle.
And those are two of my favorite fashion magazines up there - MetroPop and surface. Have I mentioned I have a bit of a magazine problem? um, yeah.
So, how do you think about fashion? Do you look at fashion mags? Which ones are your favorites?
on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm:
I was just thinking the other day about how people tend to end up who they were when they were about 12. After overcoming the teen hormone disease they slowly find their way back to what they liked in jr high. Interesting. Me & fashion - the less I weigh, the more I like fashion. It’s hard to be interested in it when nothing fits right. But a comfy but taylored, good fitting outfit can make me confident and happy. 2 things that improve everything else in life.
on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 2:28 pm:
I started demanding I select my own clothes-for-the-day at about age 4. When I was in high school (late 80s) I worshipped Madonna & Vogue (comical, I know…). As an adult, I flipped through Nylon for a while, but I quickly grew tired of it. Now, no fashion magazines, but I do peek at a few fashion blogs every now and again and I am a big fan of your scarves. I don’t consider my attire “fashion”. What I wear is usually quite simple.
on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 4:38 pm:
I so appreciate this sentence, “You can put something on and feel yourself and yet special.” Exactly! And I would say that I’m in a collecting phase. And lately layering is an important part of whatever it is I want to wear. Of course, I should probably attribute that to the season!
on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 6:31 pm:
I follow fashion only very sporadically and very peripherally. We have lots of parallel experiences learning to knit and sew at an early age, having mostly handmade clothing & sweaters as a child. I outgrew my fashion bug after working in what was essentially a sweatshop, making high end, high fashion knitwear under really inhumane & dangerous conditions. I still created wearable art but came to realize that I’m just that kind of gal who feels comfortable flaunting ’statement’ pieces. Martha, you absolutely got it right, at least for me: “You can put something on and feel yourself and yet special.” Feeling like myself and being comfortable on lots of levels is of paramount importance now. It’s freed up my mental space, not to mention time, I need to conceive ideas, designs and create them. It’s matter of priorities.
on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 6:32 pm:
Always a typo. Should be: ‘I’m just not that kind of gal who feels comfortable flaunting ’statement’ pieces.
on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 8:55 pm:
oh my, this is so very well said and so interesting! I, of course, think about fashion daily in my new job (I worked all day with a $1000 Helmut Lang jacket *thrown* on my desk by someone, to think!), which is a lot more than I did this time last year. But I have to say its helping me formulate my own style more than ever. I love looking at fashion as art. I think when people who do that well (like you) its easy to see.
on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 10:33 pm:
I tend to not read fashion magazines because they only make me want to go out and buy clothes, or they make me feel like my wardrobe is inadequate — and I find neither sensation particularly enjoyable, so I just stay away entirely! I think my sense of style, at the moment, is influenced by … crafting blogs … Asia … what’s already in my wardrobe … my current lifestyle [no heels please! They hurt my knees. And no formal clothes if I can help it] … whatever I find in thrift shops … and always that hunt for a bit of whimsy or slight hint of outrageousness. I’m pretty finicky about fit and cut and quality, so being able to make/modify clothes has been a real boon! But I do think fashion should let you express who YOU are and not just the latest trends. I also personally prefer personal style to achieving a certain “look” because frankly I’m more curious about an individual than about something that a sophisticated team of designers put together.
Hm, that was kind of a lot. Thought provoking post!
on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at 11:10 am:
I love this post. I’ve always been really particular about what I wear. I was a fashion obsessed teenager and spent a lot of time combing through fashion mags. I think during graduate school I started buying more well-made, classic pieces, many of which I still have today. I will always buy a few trendy pieces every season, but I won’t spend a lot of money on them since I don’t expect to wear them the following year. These days I rarely look at fashion magazines, since I feel like most of the content is too trendy and/or doesn’t suit my body. But I loved living traveling in Asia, I get a lot of inspiration looking at real-life people [particularly in Japan].
on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 6:56 am:
i like to look through fashion magazines from time to time for inspiration, but my wardrobe tends toward simple and practical. when i was younger, i went through an esprit stage and then a leon max phase when i worked at my mom’s friend’s boutique. in college, i began to seek out vintage pieces but i find shopping at thrift stores frustrating. i do notice that some days i throw on something simple, and other days i feel more creative and try to create a new look using what’s in my closet.
on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 7:53 pm:
thanks for all of your thoughtful comments on this. I think maybe I should do a week of fashion posts…
anna -that’s so interesting! now I’m trying to remember what I was like when I was 12….that must be 5th or 6th grade? I think I got my first pair of Levi’s in 6th or 7th grade.
it seems that for most of you, when you think about fashion on your own terms, not on having to own the latest thing, it can be fun. and putting together a look from disparate places lets you use your creative brain.
I especially like mixing one really nice piece with other less expensive things.
on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 9:13 pm:
i used to be much much more fashion conscious.
i LOVED reading your timeline [and can’t picture you overweight at all].
these days i don’t have time to think about my clothing as much. i wish i had more time to make things for myself. i tend to like to mix vintage pieces in - but these days comfort and utility are always on the forefront of my mind. i just “dress up” for work these days.
but i totally agree that clothes can make you feel good and thus make you a better person
it’s always always fun to see what big designers are doing and how they do it - but i could never ever buy that type of clothing - even if i had the money. that’s where it starts to feel frivolous [although i think they do deserve it - i just can’t fathom it]
on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 1:24 pm:
My clothes were mostly homemade or hand-me-downs, which might explain why I love style and fabric and am uncomfortable with fashion. I like to look at clothes, but I can’t stand reading about dieting or exercise, so maybe I need to expand my reading beyond the news stand.
on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 9:08 am:
i have a love/hate relationship w magazines.. i love to collect them, hate to see how much money i’ve spent! i get very side-tracked by the details in images.. a lamp, a rug, a door handle. so i suppose i’m as interested in interiors as in fashion.
for fashion i like: another magazine, british vogue and kidswear.
i love layering as well. but lately have been thinking about color. goes to wardrobe.. can not find a piece that isn’t black or grey.. ;
great post martha.
on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 8:13 pm:
my mother sewed, and i couldn’t wait to get my hands on her sewing machine. when i was ten, i received a tiny pink sewing machine, and i was so disappointed…it didn’t really work.
we were living in france at the time, and i decided that i would become a fashion designer, or an artist. girls were required to take hand sewing and embroidery classes on saturday (the second village we lived in), but i was excused from that boring class so i could draw with the boys. i did learn how to make french knots, but never mastered faggoting.
i started sewing a dress every week-end, and cut up old sheets and clothing for fabric. not well-made, and my mother was horrified at my lack of craftsmanship, but i was obsessed.
i started drawing clothing, planning imaginary wardrobes on paper, and took a home ec class. i swore that i would never, ever take another one. i had to follow rules, and that wasn’t my style.
a math teacher suggested that i became a math teacher, but no one ever suggested fashion. i was odd looking, and always a bit behind trend.
so, i grew up to major in apparel design (yes, home ec), and teach it, and i would like to take the grown up me back to the junior high locker room where the well-meaning coaches had each of us stand in front of class, and blankly accept the comments that others made about our appearance. one comment was about my glasses…you need something more trendy. i was too embarrassed to admit that my glasses were free, and available from only one dispensary: the US military. i quit wearing the glasses, and learned to navigate the school halls without them.
i tend to be wear simple clothing, love fashion magazines, and subscribe to Elle and Vogue. i wish i had the imagination and sensibility of this artist, who was not born with the self-confidence she now exudes:
http://elsita.typepad.com/thehiddenseed/