I had an interesting conversation with my youngest son , surfer, gardener, landlord, entrepreneur.
One of the things he does is be the Atlantic rep for Sitka a Canadian surf board clothing company.
I was looking at their latest catalogue and remarked to him that it all looked like him, right down to the building in the woods thing he has going - the new catalogue has a tool belt and a carpenter's apron.
What he said about this interested me.
"Well the line has to be consistent and express exactly a certain lifestyle."
This immediately made me think about my wardrobe and all these clothes I sew.
If this was a "line" what does it reflect?
If I was offering my closet as a line (OK this is pretty out there, and you have to be out there yourself to know what I mean) what would I leave in and what I leave out?
Is there a direction? A theme? When I think of the fall do I have a theme for the season for instance?
The other thing about a line or a collection is that it has to be consistent with you, not because everyone is making something, you feel you should, or it's good for you to produce this (still in Chanel recovery) or because it's in this year.
So if you were presenting your own closet as a line what does and doesn't fit in it?
You see where I am going with this.
Make any sense at all to you?
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- Barbara
- I am a mother, a grandmother, and a teacher. But whatever happens in my life, I keep sewing. I have worked as a political communicator and now as a teacher in my formal life. I have also written extensively on sewing. I have been a frequent contributor and contributing editor of Threads magazine and the Australian magazine Dressmaking with Stitches. My book Sew.. the garment-making book of knowledge was published in May 2018 and is available for pre-order from Amazon
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9 comments:
Wow! What an interesting thought. I am going to ponder it for a while. Maybe my Fall sewing will be a little more consistent and coherent.
Lois K
Oh, this is an interesting question. My sewing ranges through decades and colours and styles with no real thought to cohesion. Every year I sew for SWAP and make 11 garments that work together and for a while after I keep sewing things that add on to my SWAP, but then I decide I really want to sew another colour or style and start making things at random that don't fit with anything else. The same holds true for my fabric stash. I buy fabric that I love with little thought to what it will become or how it fits in wardrobe. Rarely do I buy collections of fabric, all planned to work together. I think I need to go home and go through my stash and start seeing if there is, actually, any theme to it! Thank you (and your son) for the inspiration!
How timely! I was just giving this some serious thought this morning, and am considering constructing my fall wardrobe as a collection/line. God knows I have enough fabric to pull it all together!
Oh absolutely. I have given away/thrown away two bags of clothes (perfectly good clothes) because they just never seemed to fit in my "collection". Now I take my most used and loved garments and sew items to compliment them.
I pull items from my closet that I want to wear and then pull fabrics/yarn from stash. Then I figure out styles/silhouettes that work with the existing clothes and that I want to wear.
I sew in capsules-last season I used a lot of browns and taupes and rose colors. I am now thirsty for water colors and will add those in, hopefully merging with the brown collection. I generally use similar style lines but I do get wild from time to time. I experimented with blousey tunics this year and decided elastic waisted tunics are NOT for me.
I think my closet's line would be called "jumble sale" lol.
The idea of everything being pulled together and consistent is tantalising, but in real life I am scatty and conflicted and disorganised and life has multiple demands with multiple groups of friends.
My line would be called 'smorgasbord' LOL
Lately, I've been thinking about it because I can pick any top or any bottom but all too often I don't have anything to 'go with' whatever piece I picked out. Time to start thinking a bit more about making things that 'fit in'.
The things in my closet that don't "fit" me are most usually items that my dear mother bought for me -- she thinks that I ought to have them. Usually, I leave them on hangers for a decent period, then quietly donate them to thrift stores. Much to her dismay, I have chosen not to make a habit of wearing fussy, ruffly, dry-clean-only polyester suits and dresses. Ever. But especially not during summertime in the southern U.S.
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