was about the definition of clothing. A side project that I’m undertaking for work is a portrait series. To find inspiration (and guidance – I’m going at this project blind and untrained), I’ve been looking at the works of Steven Meisel, Bill Cunningham, Robert Mapplethorpe, William Eggleston, Bruce Gilden, Diane Arbus, this list goes on. All of their photographs capture the subject at such a raw moment and that’s what I’m trying to capture.
On Vogue’s main page was this video that interviews Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the designers (and sisters) of Rodarte. In the short expose, they talk about how they came up with the name of their brand, their work relationship, and the importance of a unique viewpoint. They also talk about their definition of clothing. “Fashion is one way to express yourself but it’s also an interesting amalgamation of all the things we’re interested in. It’s not as simple as saying ‘I’ve made this dress.’ I feel like it’s always about making something and then finding meaning in that and then the meaning shifting. A simple way of looking at it is that you’re making clothes – you show those clothes every season and the clothes go into stores and people wear the clothes. That’s a main part of it but the other side of that it involves this type of more ephemeral idea of communication and how we’re trying to communicate with people and interact with people. And then once we make something and it goes out into the world, it’s interpreted, either individually or more in the mass culture and it becomes a different thing.”
They continue, “in communicating, you tell a story that’s a huge narrative or about a coat and the way a coat looks on somebody. People tell stories in different ways and I think that’s what our job is. It’s the key thing – you need to have people understand your language.”
Isn’t that an interesting take on clothing? I connect with them – their reasoning resonates with me. The Renfew top is a great knit top and pattern but I have no desire to make it. As Tasia refers to it, it’s cake, not icing. The clothes I make are icing – they tell a story. Not a simple story either, they tell grand tales. I made a white strapless dress two years ago for my dad’s wedding. That dress tells the story of that time in my life. It communicates to me, two years after the fact that I made it, who I was at the time, what I was interested in. It also communicates to you who I am as a seamstress, artists, and fashion enthusiast. What’s even more interesting is that the meaning and interpretation of that white dress changes over time. What the dress meant to me two years ago is not what it means to me now.
They make another true point: “”Anything you have an extreme love affair with, there are so many highs and lows.” And you really wouldn’t want it any other way because then it would just be mundane to the point where it would have that thread. The hard part of it is the extreme majors – you’re in a situation where you never imagine your would meet this person or experience these things and the next minute someone tells you something that makes you feel like…” How true is this? How many times have you made something, were so proud of it, and then went online and saw that someone else made something better or cooler and it is gut wrenching. That’s a sign of passion. It’s passion because you didn’t have this drive or fire, seeing others who are better than you wouldn’t matter.
