What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Vintage Guidance Counselor

Suit: Gormont (thrifted)
Sweater: Rowan shell in Kidsilk Haze, knit by yours truly
Tights: Hue
Boots: La Canadienne

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: First Time and Last Time

First time wearing this sweater with this skirt; last time wearing the skirt - it's shedding!
Sweater: Rowan pattern, knit by yours truly
Skirt: Comme des Garcons

Slow Fashion Publication & Me!

I was fortunate enough to be asked to pitch a story to Less Magazine late last year.  I really only had one idea at the time, being a bit busy with two upcoming art shows and a full teaching schedule, and it was one that I'd been thinking about and wanting to write about: how slow fashion has affected the way I source materials for knitting or sewing projects.  Luckily, they liked the idea, and the fun began!

It's been awhile since I've written an "article," which I put in quotation marks because it's kind of a personal essay disguised as an article, but I'm into hybridity so it's all good.  I also hadn't worked with an editor in awhile, and it took me a minute to realize that there would be multiple drafts with accompanying revision requests.  My editor, Sofie, was great and working with her was productive.

I reached out to a few people I knew via Instagram or had met at the Squam Art Workshops retreat I attended last June (and will be at this year again - yay!).  Well, I initially put a wholesale call out in a post on Instagram and got a few bites.  I ended up soliciting input from three different makers - Tierney Barden, Jess B. Daniels, and Anna Strive (@saint_raven on Instagram) - and am grateful they agreed to share their experiences.  Not only did it give me some ideas, but it also let me know that I'm not the only maker who is concerned about these issues.

The magazine decided to make me a highlighted contributor and asked me to make a statement about the issue's theme, globalization.  Yes, I, too, was unfamiliar with the term when I first heard it, but I think I understand it now.  As they needed a high-quality picture of me (read - not from a cell phone or point-and-shoot digital camera), I only had a few options.  I sent them three, and this is the one they chose:

There are a number of things I like about this image, which also cracks me up.  Firstly, I'm making a very common face.  I think you could find me making this face in a million images that the ladyfriend snaps of me.  Also, I'm wearing a skirt I made, a turtleneck from 3 Dots (made in the USA), my beloved chambray shirt from Imogene + Willie (made in the USA), the tights are from Falke (made in Germany), and my Blundstones (no longer. made in Australia - sigh).  I am also on the property of a dear friend in the Berkshires.

You can read the magazine here.  Not only is my article in it, but it has great fashion spreads and other thought-provoking articles.  I think of it like an intellectual fashion magazine.  Please show them some love.

Also, here are links to makers, companies, or blogs I referenced in the article: Alabama Chanin; Island Wool Company; Rowan yarns; Fringe Association; Tanis Fiber Arts.

Some Reflections After a Year of Not Buying New Clothing

It started around Christmas 2015.  I really didn't want any clothing for the holidays.  I'd done the Life Changing Magic purge in October and was well aware of how much clothing I still had.  On this day, last year, I decided to go public with my make/mend/thrift pledge for the year, and here are some of the things I discovered.

1.  It wasn't that hard. 

This bare fact really hits home how my approach to fashion and style has developed over the past few years.  I had two moments (here and here) where there were dresses I coveted.  These moments happened early on, and I'd say they were more a knee-jerk reaction to associating liking something with owning it.

 

2.  It's not about you.  

It wasn't as though I were parading about, making a statement, but if buying clothes or fashion came up in conversation, I'd tell people that I wasn't buying any new clothes.  Some people responded as though I were judging them by my actions.  Others wanted to question my guidelines - for example, trying to undermine my pledge by saying that thrifting was buying something new.  Listen up, buttercup, these are my guidelines.  You can make your own if you want.

 

3.  I can make it if I try.

Okay, that sounds a bit more serious than it was.  I made the mustard sweater as well as the Brooklyn skirt in a gorgeous purple.  I have the pattern and fabric for the culottes (although it's not khaki), and I have patterns and fabric for all kinds of other projects.  That mustard sweater has become a staple in my wardrobe, as I'd imagined it might be.  The beautiful thing is that it goes with a lot of things in my wardrobe.  This year, I'm making jeans.

 

4.  Make what I like; like what I make.

Yep.  That seems like it should be "duh," but in previous years, I'd find that I'd make something and not be that happy with it.  I'd buy fabric, because it was cute, but then find it maybe too cute for me.   I also ripped out more than one sweater that had been knit years ago (one that I probably knit in the late '90s!).  I've already reworked the yarn from one of those sweaters (originally a Rowan pattern) into a cardigan from the first issue of Making (oh, be still my crafty heart!).  I freakin' love that cardigan.  Even the fact that I had to get more yarn (gasp - how would it ever match?) wasn't a total disaster.  I simply alternated rows of the old with the new, on the back (crafty, crafty, crafty) where I don't see it (hah!).  No one's the wiser!

5.  My personal style is emerging.

I know - it seems like my style is pretty finessed already.  But what I'm learning, still, is where my making and my investment in style and fashion are intersecting.  This is still under development, for sure, (currently working on an essay about it), but in a very deep way, I'm grappling with how my identity intersects with my style.  Yes, I'm asking existential questions around fashion - hey, why not?  I'm trying to get to a place where who I am is the identity communicated by my style.  Stay tuned for that one.

I haven't felt the need to make a similar pledge for 2017, but that's only because I'm really not into shopping like that anymore, and that's probably one of the best outcomes of last year's pledge.

Happy New Year!

Week One Plus for Me Made May 2016

Here's the round-up of outfits worn since May 1.

• Bottom right:  Rowan sweater originally made for the ladyfriend.  It got a little felted in the wash so it became my sweater.  The pants are J. Morgan Puett.
• Bottom left:  Me-made wrap skirt with Imogene + Willie shirt and my Blundstones
• Middle right:  Cappucino dress with Robert Clergerie shoes
• Middle middle:  Saint James top with Alabama Chanin skirt
• Middle left: Long sleeve t-shirt (worn with Prana jeans, not seen)
• Top right bottom:  Junya Watanabe shirt with Betsy Ross patterns pants
• Top right top:  Lisette top (worn with Prana jeans, not seen - again)
• Top left:  Wrap skirt with mustard top-down sweater, Blundstones, and a Wrangler jacket.

I'm in DC now, visiting family, and what I'm starting to realize is that I don't make enough things in black.  Putting together a little capsule collection for the trip (brought only carry-on suitcase) made me realize that while I have a fair amount of me-made clothing, I need some to make some things that are more easily integrated into my overall wardrobe.  As it happens, I've been mulling over a little capsule collection for the fall/winter although it's not black.  We'll see how all this pans out.

If you're participating in MeMadeMay16, how's it going?  Are you encountering any challenges?

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Suit Up!

Suit:  Gormont (thrifted)
Top:  Rowan pattern made by yours truly with Rowan KidSilk Haze
Stockings:  No label (thrifted)
Shoes:  Isaac

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Trying to Look the Part

Suit:  Gormont (thrifted)
Top:  Rowan pattern/Kidsilk Haze knit by me
Stockings:  Wool - brand unknown
Shoes:  Isaac Mizrahi

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Suited Up

Every day is Halloween

Suit:  Vintage - Gormont tailored by Craftsmen
Shell:  Rowan pattern knit by me
Shoes:  Isaac Mizrahi
Pantyhose:  Label missing

What I'm Wearing to Teach Today: Loosely Structured

Don't ask me what I was doing with my left hand; I have no idea.

Jacket & pants:  J.Morgan Puett
Top:  Rowan mohair shell knit by me
Shoes:  Cydwoq