Claire Kennedy Design

In praise of the home sewists

This probably won't be the last of this topic, but it's something I feel very passionate about and it gets very little, if any play - at least not as much as it's worth.

Catching up on my blog reading, it's just plain fun to see all the different details, techniques and methods that home sewists use today.  What's even more fun is to realize that these techniques and details are hardly ever found in RTW. 

So what's new about that?

Well, the very fact that home sewists are creating such beautifully detailed and styled garments that would cost far more, if they could be found in department stores of today. 

I was altering a client's dress and the seams were all detailed with pick-stitching.

The very detail of this was so unusual to me particularly on a print.  I'm used to seeing this all the time on solids and a nice detail on exclusive men's clothing, but not on RTW print dresses, until I got a  look at the price tag.

This is the bottom line (no pun meant) on these types of garments.  And here in lies the detail that we, as home sewists, often add to our garments that make them just a notch (or even more) above RTW. This raises the hair on any RTW fan, but the truth is that as a home sewist and sewing enthusiast, we often have the time to add these special details to our garments that really make them beautiful and look very pricey!

So what's all the purpose of this rattling?  It's just that I think too often we compare our efforts to RTW and more particularly RTW pricing, when this is like comparing apples and oranges, or more pertinently apples and diamonds.

More often than not our home sewist garments are much better made, better fitting and more detailed than RTW, so to compare these with RTW, and particularly the pricing, is not in the same ball park  just not pertinent.

It's probably more appropriate to compare these beautifully made garments with couture and couture pricing.  Go out and price some couture dresses  and ensembles.  After you pick yourself up off the floor, give yourself a pat on the back!

Fashion Magazines

I've been wrestling with this post for a while trying to keep it from sounding so ill tempered.  But this has really been bothering me and excuse me I just have to rant!

For the life of me I'm not sure I know what these editors are thinking....maybe they aren't...who knows.  But the pages of the editorial, features and advertising sections of the major fashion magazines, are filled with irrelevant material. 

Even as a young pup and my first foray into the fashion world, I understood the value and purpose of these fashion magazines, and they knew they had a responsibility.  They knew that if they reported irresponsible spending, fashion and styles that they would be laughed at.  The best example was the nudity on the runway of the last 90's and early 2000's.  That's the Emperor's New Clothes mentality.  Even W coined a phrase for it:  The Fashion Victim, who wears anything because it's "in", whether it looks good or not.

I don't so much mind this preoccupation with a "post-apocalyptic/world war trauma (whether nuclear, or from an errant asteroid)", fashion style, even though it's nothing close to pretty.  And I don't mind that the magazines want to display some sort of art form in the display of clothes, albeit that they are difficult to tell if the hem is really even (OK I'm sorry for being so mundane as wanting an even hem - I'm so passe!).

What does blow me away is their preoccupation with handbags (and this is only an example, it also pertains to clothes, jewelry and other accessories) that are $14,000 and shoes that are $2,000!!! Who can afford this stuff?  Who wants to afford this stuff?  Is there no revolt against this sort of behavior?  There isn't even a whimper.

This sort of cost is being presented like it's the "norm" - the norm for Madoff maybe, but not only is it not the norm, it's truly exorbitant pricing.  It's like a barrier has been broken that too much is OK and go buy more.  What happened to modest style and modest cost?

There used to be so many designers who designed for style and longevity.  It was always a bargain to purchase their wares, cause the clothing, accessories would last for 20 years.  It wasn't cheap, but it could be worn for 20 years and lasted forever.  I remember buying a suit for college which took me all the way through college and into my working career which was about 10 years.  In today's value, the suit would have cost $1,500 - and since I used it for 10 years it was $150/year.

Here's the stinger on this.  the suit was worth $1,500 in today's $, but when I bought it I paid $90 for it!

Holy Cow!

I often alter clothes, and you would not believe the quality of workmanship in expensive clothes. These clothes are made to be worn once or twice, and discarded.  This is not only the worst way to purchase clothes but to build a wardrobe.

Hmmmmm.  Maybe I think I need to re-think my pricing!  Oh wait, I forgot, I'm in business to sell, not to go out of business...what was I thinking?  Silly me!

OK - thank you for letting me get this off my mind!

Girlie girls

OK - before I start, this is not a blog against or for any sexual orientation - we are all what we are and it's not my job to be in charge of all that (thank heavens!).  So pardon me while I rant.

Now, that said, I do get a little upset that women who have some looks don't seem to get as much authenticity and/or legitimacy often simply because they look cute, pretty or just plain ol' good lookin'.

Now today there's a study that comes out that says almost the same thing.

The study says that Palin was not thought of as bright as.....

What?  The thinking on the study was that not as much is expected from Angelina as from Sarah, therefore Sarah appeared less bright/smart as Angelina.

To a certain extent I suffer from this.  I may not be an Angelina nor a Sarah, but I ain't bad to look at either

And there are times, more often than not when my smile and pleasant demeanor is misread as being weak, stupid and just basically an airhead, much less capable of making a coherent, complete and cognizant decision.  Really irritating. 

Another example:

Wow!!!  Isn't she cute?

But don't mess with her - she knows how to beat the socks off your women's basketball team.  She's a real deliverer.  She brought a program that was not only bad, but about to close, to national prominence - and that doesn't come from just her good looks!!!

OK - I feel much better now.  So it's OK to look pretty AND be smart too!!!  Let's knock their socks off!

Thank you for letting me rant!!!