On Shoes, Wearing, and Memory

I hadn’t paid attention to this week’s prompt when I wrote last week’s slow fashion October post, and I inadvertently provided a segue into this week's topic: worn.

While I was taught from a fairly early age (before double digits) how to hand sew simple things like hems and minor seam repairs on my clothes, I have, relatively speaking, led a repair-free clothing life, with one exception: shoes. I have been a regular visitor to any and all shoe repair shops/cobblers. I have always loved shoes, and while I don’t have too many pairs, I tend to take care of the ones I have. Part of it is definitely a thrift thing, but a large part of it is not wanting to give up on shoes that I love. How can I just glibly toss that pair that I have (quite literally in some instances) walked across entire cities in? Trekked across Route 66 in? Walked along the California coast in? Shoes have always contained deep personal memories for me, and thus my unwillingness to, oddly enough, either buy them used or give them up without a good repair fight. I need to form my own singular memories in those soles, thank you very much.

So my present willingness to repair things in my wardrobe isn’t quite such a stretch. I provide a wee pictorial of the repair I’ve completed on my Rustic Elegance shawl/cowl from last week:

Pardon the nighttime lighting, but here's the yarn I'll be using
to fix that pictured, very relaxed set of button holes on my
Rustic Elegance shawl/cowl.

I removed the buttons I originally used (the shank set
on the right) and will replace them with the round ones
to the left. They are simple mother of pearl buttons,
and I actually like the back of the buttons best.

Here are the new buttons all sewn onto the button band. 

And here's the repaired button hole band. I
used a 5.50 mm hook, worked one row of single
crochet across the entire edge, and then went back
with the mohair threaded into a tapestry needle and
"closed" both sides of each enlarged button hole
using a whip stitch.

Here's what it looks like buttoned.

And the final repair after a quick soak and dry. 

I have no idea if the techniques I used in the above repair are “traditional” or just a reflection of my more common sense approach.However, since this was one of my first prototypes, I actually hadn't perfected the art of blocking, because if I had the button hole band would not have been in quite such a stretched state. I cannot recommend blocking strongly enough - it is magic, really. Really. 

There are, as I’m now reading, several in the slow fashion community that focus on nothing but repair. I readily admit I hadn’t thought of clothing repair in such a deep and focused manner, although from an historical perspective, textile restoration is a specialty unto itself, so why not treat clothing in the same manner, especially when the whole point is to not just throw things away?

Nevertheless, just like my thought evolution on recycling and the environment, I’ve definitely had a shift in how I look at and approach my personal wardrobe.  As Katrina Rodabaugh succinctly put it in her slow fashion IG post last week, “. . . I think the most important thing might actually just be awareness … [a]nd realizing that one small shift can result in a huge change as those small shifts accumulate.”

I completely agree.

Fiber-watching During Fashion Week

Hello my fellow fiberistas - it's Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday. I'm doing something a little different this week. As you may or may not know, fall is one of the high seasons in the fashion industry. Throughout September, major cities hold "fashion weeks" when all of the major fashion designers show their designs for the next season. In September, several of these were held, and if you want to get a bird's eye view of street fashion, there's no better time to carry your camera and take photos. 

I have a Pinterest board dedicated to street fashion around the world, mostly curated through the lens of Women's Wear Daily. While the board has only a handful of followers, it's been getting some play, especially in the last two weeks. I thought I'd show you what (at least a handful) of people repinned from my curated street fashions. Take it with a grain of salt (or a stray piece of fiber, as the case may be). It nevertheless is interesting to see what outfits some people around the world are hanging out in. All photos from Women's Wear Daily, photographer for all shots (except New York Fashion Week) Kuba Dabrowski, New York Fashion Week photos snapped by Ryan Kibler.

The first from London's Fashion Week.
I loved the jacket as well as the
photo backdrop.

Again from London Fashion week. A
lovely, soft longer jacket and a great
overall palette.

I love this black and white pattern
against the leather (again, in London).

Doesn't this seem slightly out of season
during London's fashion week? Never-
theless, it was snapped and then repinned. 

The one outfit from Milan Fashion
Week that's been repinned. I like
this well enough, but others on my
board are far more interesting.

New York Fashion Week, of course.

Also from New York. Love the
glasses.

Do you think she had fun shopping
in Manhattan?

The last two looks are from Paris
Fashion Week. So classy in a muted
palette - and isn't that scarf felted?

What's a little military-inspired wear
along the Champs Elysee?

I hope you definitely head on over to Andrea's at Wisdom Begins in Wonder to see what everyone else is wearing on the street ... and maybe they even made the outfit by hand?!!!

(Just Another) Melange Monday

Hello everyone - it's Monday, time for melange.

I was recently picking up a few things in my local whole foods co-op, and I stopped by the magazine rack to check out what was currently on tap. I was instantly drawn to the above cover, the spring issue of Tricycle magazine. It shows a portion of one piece of Jakkai Siributr's textile art, Red Buddha. If you were to see this cover up close, you would instantly notice that a large portion of this piece is made up of crochet motifs, mixed with other found objects. It is absolutely stunning. (And, if you're interested in reading a quite different take on the annual Burning Man festival, definitely check out this issue - it's a fascinating spin on what happens in the desert sand every year.)

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I am a big fan of foreign films. While I normally gravitate toward French films, I will peruse all of the foreign language film section of my library to see what might look intriguing. I've come upon a foreign film distributor, filmmovement.com, and have been exploring their releases found in the stacks. The most recent I've seen, 2011's The Piano In A Factory, is simply superb. Ostensibly about a father's quest to provide his daughter with a piano, it's in turns comic, poignant, and quite visually appealing (in an industrial communist blue collar sort of way). Initially, watch for the story. Then, stay for the cinematography. And the costumes. And the music. And all the bicycle riding.

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Finally, I leave you with more of the current fiber on the hooks/needles. I cannot seem to get out of the way of projects lately (always a pleasant state of events). I must tell you how much I love the Dream In Color Wisp in a new-ish colorway, Rose Anguish, that I recently received. On the DIC Wisp page, they show the colorway on a different base, which is nice, but in Wisp is so delicate. Just yummy. 

I quite like my yarny life.