Since I’ve been blogging and become more involved in quilting and crochet, I’ve noticed that my way of seeing things has changed. I’ve been thinking a lot about fashion and style and about what is “in fashion” and “stylish” and what isn’t, and why. My vintage crochet posts have prompted me to re-examine my ideas of what looks good to me and what doesn’t.
Have you ever looked at an item of clothing and thought “gross, why would anyone ever wear that” and a few months later found yourself lusting over the same type of clothing? Looked at a colour combination or type of craft, thought “meh” but in a few months you were wearing or sewing or crocheting that exact same thing? Is it just about exposure and familiarity?
There are definitely fashions and trends in craft and dressmaking in the same way that there are fashions and trends in most other aspects of life. Who remembers the fad for sunflowers a few years back? For stars and moons? Are we going to look back at the things we love now with a tinge of disdain?
I peruse a lot of blogs. There are over 300 subscriptions in my reader. I read many in depth, but there are plenty that I roll over for the pretty pictures. They are sewing, craft, crochet, and dressmaking blogs. There is no doubt that we all jump on the bandwagon with certain projects – I’m definitely a bandwagon jumper! Is there a common aesthetic, or are we creating one?
I definitely make things now that I would have turned my nose up at years ago. I’m manging to develop an eye to see past styling and colour so that I can identify the underlying lines or design. At the same time I recognise that despite admiring the minimalist aesthetic that is fairly prevalent amongst those who are perceived to be “cool” and “hip”, I am not a minimalist. I like colour. If there is the option of choosing something in a subtle, textured grey or choosing it in vibrant teal, I’ll pick the teal any day. I like details – pleats, crocheted edging, yokes, pattern on pattern, applique. I also like a quick project, but if I’m going to sew something that’s fast, I’ll probably do it in loud fabric. Actually, I hardly have any solid fabrics in my stash.
Where is this ramble heading? I’m not sure really. I just know that since I’ve been blogging I look at things differently. I see colour and pattern in a new way, with new subtleties I hadn’t recognised before. I remember that when I was a teenager, I told a friend that she shouldn’t be wearing pink and red together. I thought that making shoes in any colours other than brown and black was a waste of time – why, didn’t brown or black go with everything? I wouldn’t have been been caught dead in a crocheted shawl in my twenties.
So maybe now I’m settling in to my own sense of style, both in terms of the clothes I wear and the sewing and crocheting I like to do. Of course I’m influenced by what I see around me – who isn’t? But now I’m more confident to choose what elements speak to me. I can see things a little better. I listen more to my gut instinct about what I like. I can appreciate what others like, but don’t have to feel the same way. It’s okay to think differently but still appreciate and respect the work and effort that others put into what they make.
Today’s my birthday. I’m 42. Will I be wearing loud colours and patterns in ten years time? Once I’m in my fifties and then sixties will I be able to make a crocheted shawl seem fashionably hand-crafted – or will I just seem old and cliched? Maybe I’m already cliched? Because I’m sure that as the years roll past I’ll still be sewing and crocheting and quilting and crafting. I want many more years to be able to wear the things I like to make without them becoming inappropriate. Mind you, it might be fun to be the crazy eccentric old lady; I don’t care all that much nowadays what other people think about how I look, so I will possibly care even less as I age!
How many of your crafting decisions are influenced by others? Are you conscious of the process, or do you think we just absorb it, almost by osmosis? I add things to my “to-do” list constantly as I see what others have made. You should see my Ravelry queue! And I’m itching to make some Dortje pants and some Feliz dresses. How do you think that you see things? Has your way of seeing changed over time – or has it remained fairly constant?
(I decided to keep this blog post photo-less on purpose so that my images wouldn’t distract from your own ways of seeing)
