Make/Do

The other day, a colleague asked me if I made most of my clothing.  I remember thinking, "I wish I could make this," and it reminded me of something that both my own sewing attempts as well as my participation in the Seam Allowance Project have made me realize.  Some things I just cannot or will not make.  For example, this Proenza Schouler dress.

And I don't have to.  I want to make more of my own clothing, but I still love, appreciate, and understand designer clothing.  When you've tried to make a dress or a skirt, you realize that it is not necessarily easy, and when you look at a Proenza Schouler dress or a Comme des Garcons skirt, you can appreciate why it costs what it does. (Of course, there are times or limits to what is justifiably compensatory, and the price is not just about the cost of fabrication.)

Proper Tension has just had its birthday (on the 6th), and this post sits at that moment of tension between the rustic and the refined. Crafting blogs seem to stay away from designer duds.  Frankly, I get a bit of a intellectual snobbery sometimes in them - "fashion is superficial; homesteading is where it's at." Fashion blogs, on the other hand, seem to believe that making your clothes is for, well - the less-than-financially gifted, Occupy Wall Streeters, and your mother.   But there's a tension here that I refuse to believe I'm the only one interested in.

So happy birthday, Proper Tension.  Let's keep the conversation going.