Fashion
Fashion in a dystopian world
As my children grow older, their tastes in reading have naturally changed, from picture books to Pony Pals to girl detective novels. Suddenly, almost overnight, the jump has been made to post-apocalyptic teen fiction, for example Mortal Engines, The Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner…and movies The Matrix, Oblivion, After Earth, to name a few. Which…
Read MoreDestination: Quant
Mum and I got back from a road trip last week to see the V&A’s Mary Quant exhibition in Bendigo, Victoria. We drove from Adelaide, 8 hours away. Mum did the driving and I navigated with an old-school paper map on my lap. When we got really lost we used the car’s sat nav! We…
Read MoreBlast from the past: 1991 grad collection
While digging around in the shed in last month’s cleanup, I found a box containing some of the pieces from my graduation collection from fashion college. I was 18-nearly-19 when I graduated with an “Advanced Certificate in Pattern Technology” and my three-piece collection was called Cycle into Streetwear. The header picture in this blog post…
Read More4 pieces of advice for fashion students
This week’s short post is inspired by a conversation I had with a high school student. What would I say to someone planning to study fashion? What would I have said to my 17 year old self? Learn how to sew. If you understand how clothes are constructed before commencing your fashion studies, you’ll be…
Read MoreRe-creating Thayaht’s Tuta: mission complete
Folks, I’m happy to report that I’ve finished the Tuta and it’s an outstanding success. Read the previous posts here: Part 1 introduction, Part 2 the toile and Part 3 work in progress. I love the utility feel of it…..the pockets, the way the top blouses, the leg cut, all those opportunities for topstitching… The…
Read MoreRe-creating Thayaht’s Tuta Part 3: work in progress
Hello! Read the previous posts on this project: Part 1 Introduction and Part 2 where I got started on it. I’ve never worn a jumpsuit in my life and I think I’m a convert. This week I fitted and finalized the pattern, cut out a navy blue Wear-out-of-the-house Tuta….and haven’t finished it. (It’s school holidays…
Read MoreRe-creating Thayaht’s Tuta: Part 2
Hello, welcome to my second post following my quest to re-create Thayaht’s Tuta. Read last week’s introduction here. This week I made a pattern, cut out a toile and ran it up to check the fit. I kept thinking how glad I was not to be living in post WW1 Italy. Much as I venerate…
Read More99 years of the jumpsuit: re-creating the Tuta
Photo source: Wiki commons Do you own a jumpsuit? Maybe you have many. Have you ever sewn a jumpsuit? It’s been 99 years since the launch of what we now call the jumpsuit. Its inventor was Italian futurist artist Ernesto Michahelles (who adopted the palindrome pseudonym Thayaht) in collaboration with his younger brother Ruggero Alfredo…
Read MoreA lifetime of sewing patterns: a tribute
Last week I got a call from a man offering me his late wife’s sewing patterns. Her name was Carol. I took the patterns to my sewing class, but before the class I looked through them all. Carol’s pattern collection reflected a lifetime of sewing, beginning in the late 1960’s with some cute maternity patterns…
Read MoreBlast from the Past: 1989 Prom night
The 1960’s dress I wore to my Year 12 Formal/Prom night is on display in a clothes exhibition for History Month. We went to the opening on the weekend. The blurb reads: “Sewing book author Liz Haywood wore this 1960’s dress to her year 12 formal in 1989, amist a sea of 80’s hair…
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