Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth!

Detail of the hand embroidery on one of my latest skirts.

Just thought I would give you a teaser photo of one of my latest skirts in process.  I will be posting an update soon of all my latest garments, but until then I have a little side story to share:)

Oh Facebook.   Although it can be a complete time suck for me at times, there are other times when I stumble upon things that are really interesting or inspirational to what I am working on.  I enjoy searching Facebook for these tiny tidbits of the world I would have otherwise never seen or known about.  Even though it may take many, many, many hours of procrastination and dilly dallying to find them.

Just the other week Facebook paid off.  Big Time!
Someone just happened to post a video of a woman talking about how she packs.  I decided to watch it, because, well, I just had the time to watch a few minutes of a video, and no one else was posting anything more interesting. 

After watching the video for about a minute my interest was peaked.  This woman Tziporah Salamon, was talking about "dressing" and how she loved to "dress" everyday.  And described an outfit like a piece of art work.  She compared her clothing, hats and accessories as paints, and the act of putting an outfit together as painting.  This lady is speaking my language!!  After watching the video 3 more times I decided to find out where this video came from and who this woman was, I needed to know her:)

My search led me to Advanced Style, a blog by Ari Seth Cohen where he photographs and interviews "advanced" (older) men and women about their personal style and the difference between fashion and style.  WHAT!?  I was in LOVE instantly!  I soon found my way to all the other amazing videos Ari Seth Cohen has on Advanced Style and was completely smitten;)  These women were talking about the very thing I have been trying to tell everyone here in the program.

"Clothing matters, and it has an impact on everyone you encounter." 
"You can have fun with your clothes." 
"Don't let fashion magazines and trendy stores tell you what you should wear or what you should look like." 
"Everyone can find their own personal style with a little help." 
"Clothing is fun!". 

I feel like I have been trying to articulate these thoughts and feelings for the past year and a half and it was so liberating and inspiring to hear all of these amazing women (they are indeed amazing, you too will fall in love with them after watching the videos) speaking about the very things I was so passionate about.

Although I adore all of these women, I think that Illona Smithkin, and Lynn Dell are my favorites.  Illona is a now, 91 year old woman who makes her own eyelashes from her very own vibrant hair!  Lynn Dell has one of my favorite quotes from all of the videos..."Fashion says me too, style says only me."  She just took those words right out of my mouth, I could not have said it better myself.  This quote will be shared for many years to come, and is at the heart of my practicum project.

If you are curious about why exactly I am making these garments and what my project is all about, check out these two Advanced Style videos I've posted below.  They should be a good introduction into the concept for my garments.




And if this post has peaked your interest I strongly urge you to head over to Advanced Style to meet some of these amazing women, and admire the work of Ari Seth Cohen.  He has a book coming out this May, that is available for pre-order on amazon.

Till next time!