bits and bobbins

this is a tad old (and i am hopelessly behind), but i have to pass it on anyway: threadbanger met up with bonnie simmons of simplicity pattern company, who gives viewers (i.e., you and me!) a lesson on how to make croqius/fashion sketches (those oh so important precursors to making your own designs). she makes it look easy, eh? speaking from experience with this sort of thing (i drew such things until my hands nearly fell off whilst a student at parsons back in ‘05-’06!), practice makes perfect. not suggesting you have to pull all day long drawings sessions like i had to…but if you keep up at it, you can get fairly good. give it a try!

as a related aside, two books that i found invaluable on this subject of making fashion illustrations (should you be interested) are 9 heads by nancy riegelman, and fashion sketchbook by bina abling. any of you designers out there have any alternative suggestions for fashion drawing/illustrating tomes? chime in!

a couple months back, the british charity/aid organization oxfam teamed up with “stylist to the stars” mrs. jones (who, according to their website, has dressed the likes of the killers, kylie, scissor sisters and goldfrapp) for a PR campaign that includes a spate of fun DIY how-to’s (which include instructions on making a skirt from a pair of old jeans, turning a tee into hammer pants, and spiffing up a pair of shoes). they also have a very cool collection of refashioned clothing designed by mrs. jones available for sale on their site (which is just plain fun to peruse) and a gallery of styled up discards that look anything but (see bottom photos above, and/or scroll down to the bottom here). good ideas abound, for mere pennies and the cost of your time and effort!

i have had this subject on my mind for a while: the relationship of class, social status/rank, and fashion…and how fashion firms see themselves and their target demographic. as well as how the wearers of clothes, meaning, you, me and everyone else out there, really, see themselves in the (inherent?) symbolic ranking system of fashion and style.

-is it really only (or should be only) for the skinny, tall, young, famous or wealthy? are those special folks the only ones who are fit or entitled to enjoy fashion, the only ones who should be allowed to wear “nice” clothes? why or why not?

-as an astute commenter mentioned on style bubble’s recent post, hogg roasted, is there a certain “physical archetype” to whom fashion belongs? has this person or body type changed over time? if so, how? should they be the only ones who are “allowed” to participate in the fun of fashion, especially high or luxury-level fashion? do luxury clothing firms perpetuate this notion?

-are clothes used as class markers? that is, does the source of our clothes define which class we belong to? do expensive clothes make us look rich? do cheap clothes make us look poor? is it a matter of the hirarchy of materials (i.e., fine materials look expensive, and low-cost materials look cheap), or is there more to it than that? if so, what? do some people use clothing as a way to separate themselves from other, often lower classes, or vice versa? is this a new development in fashion, or, is it perhaps one that has been existent since humans began donning clothes (i’m going with the latter myself!)?

-how much control can a designer have over who wears their designs, and in what way those individuals wear them? or how they behave in them? is money a factor in this? does one’s income determine whether they will ultimately have access to a certain type of fashion?