bits and bobbins

i wanted to address something here that i feel VERY STRONGLY about:

wardrobe_remix is fundamentally about the simple, HEAD-TO-TOE photograph, documenting you in your amazing, everyday clothing.

with a head-to-toe photograph, the viewer can get a sense of one’s outfit, from the tip of someone’s head, to the tips of their toes. the shoes, i believe, are just as significant to a total look as one’s dress/shirt/skirt/pants/whatever. when you can’t see the whole ensemble, something is quite literally missing. like, for instance, your legs and your feet. it’s a huge question mark.

the easiest way to get a head-to-toe photograph is to enlist the help of a loved one, friend, or even a nice stranger(!) to take your photo, at your direction. the second way is to set up your camera, use the self-timer feature, and experiment until you get a good head-to-toe photograph. when i use the self-timer to take my photograph, i have to experiment a little until i get the right shot that shows the whole look. this sometimes takes a little time, and this experimentation takes effort, but the effort and time is worth it.

head-to-toe actually has a rather broad definition, if you think about it, and i strongly believe that it leaves plenty of room for creativity. head-to-toe could be you standing straight and looking into the camera in the most basic sense, or could be you laying down, sitting, sideways, diagonally, hanging from the rafters, standing on your hands upside down, whatever!…as long as we can see the head to the feet clearly, the sky is quite literally the limit! working within boundaries can be fun….ask most artists!

fact: professional photographers often take many, many photographs of a subject in the effort to get the perfect one. we are not all professional photographers, of course! but this is the age of digital cameras, and we have the gift of being able to take many, many shots in order to get the right one, without wasting film! digital cameras and the fact that they have this feature inherent within them is really a great blessing for us all, professional or not.

and another way to think about it: you probably put effort into your outfit, right? putting a little effort into photographing that outfit, from the arrangement of the clothes to the documentation of it, takes your whole statement to the next level.

threadbanger (whom i’ve mentioned on bits and bobbins before) was at the maker faire! check it out!:

(the video will give you a peek into what the faire was like, with like, moving images! sweet.)

so, yeah, i spoke at the maker faire last sunday, about my baby, wardrobe_remix!

what’s the maker faire all about, you ask? you who weren’t there, and don’t live in the bay area? what did i talk about there?

well, i’ll tell you! it’ll be almost like being there! whee!

according to the makers of make:, who make the maker faire, the maker faire is this:

(for those who are living under a rock/don’t know, make: and it’s sister mag, craft: are two hugely popular periodicals devoted to making and crafting. both make: and craft: have blogs, too, for you RSS fiends. check ‘em out!)

twas a huge, huge event for crafty girls, resourceful boys who love to tinker, and everyone and anyone in between, as long as they appreciate creativity and making stuff. kinda had some burning-man-like qualities, some said.

seen around the faire (held at the san mateo county fairgrounds): mini-rocket launches, a huge mousetrap/rube-goldberg style contraption, a swap-o-rama-rama where people donated and then re-styled used clothing with sewing machines and silkscreening, tricked out bikes of many a stripe, bike RIDES (meaning fairground-type rides utilizing bikes!!), a big thing that picked it’s nose with the help of people walking on a giant hamster wheel, battlebots, all sorts of scary fire-breathing machines and even a tesla coil!

and on the more crafty tip, there was the bazaar bizarre, with the cool goods of many a crafter ye might know (like, cathy of california, my paper crane, or the new orleans craft mafia, of which miss malaprop is a part, for starters!), craft booths from some major companies, and a craft: demo area where you could peep and learn about a myriad of ways to get your craft on and be creative (i especially enjoyed the demos by susan (jewelry-making), nancy (sewing), and bonnie (make your own yoda doll!)).

look, i can’t even begin to describe all the kick-ass stuff and people there. suffice it to say, it was all extremely cool and more than a little overwhelming!

at the maker faire, i told the world about my ever growing DIY street fashion community, wardrobe_remix! i spoke in that craft: demo area. for those of you who weren’t there, here’s what i talked about in a nutshell:

• how i started wardrobe_remix in 2005 (i was inspired by street fashion mags and sites like fruits and hel-looks)
• how wardrobe_remix got off the ground (it started with me in my NYC apartment and a self-timer feature on my digital camera, and me posting the photos and pics in my blog, and soon i started the group on flickr, with the prodding of some online pals)
• what wardrobe_remix is like today (over 4100 members, over 17,000 photographs)
• what makes wardrobe_remix cool, and why you should join (diverse, egalitarian, DIY-feel/ethos, great photography, envelope-pushing fashion, no rating, being kind to others, etc.)
• how you too can get on wardrobe_remix (get to flickr, join the group, upload your photos)
• what makes a good wardrobe_remix photo (head to toe shot, clear/well-lit/high-res, YOU looking awesome in your everyday clothing)
• not just that! that’s not all! i also showed off the cool peeps and cool trends around wardrobe_remix land of late, and made suggestions on how people, like you, can do it themselves, whether it’s styling a cool outfit, or making their own clothes and accessories.
• i handed out this fun flyer, with info about how to get on the group, but also tips for “remix(ing)” their clothing and being creative. since you weren’t there, i’ve decided to make that flyer available to you, too! click on the image below to download the PDF file (which is actually 2 pages total). enjoy!

(print it out! share with a friend, spread the word! just give credit where credit is due, of course.)

thanks to natalie z. of craft: for getting me to speak at the maker faire despite my trepidation, and thanks to all the wardrobe_remix(ers) who make the community what it is, and whose participation and awesomeness allows me to get out there and do stuff like this. rock on!