My journey through Fashion

It is said, those who cannot do, teach. It was said to me in my second year of fashion school a few months before the pandemic disrupted the lives of so many people. I was asking my teacher about the best seam to use in the round of the head of a sleeve. We discussed plain and flat fell. I tried to sneak a French seam in there, however, from experience I knew it would not work, and my teacher agreed. This was a mundane conversation, but only until now did I realize the implications of what it would lead me to.

The pandemic has been raging for months, yes school continues in online format, but for fashion, for what I wanted to do, schooling has halted. It is bittersweet. I miss the sound of the industrial machine, watching the needle flow through the two layers of fabric like butter. Effortlessly making seam after seam. Now I am reduced to a Brother home sewing machine that does not quite stalk up to the straight stitch of a Juki machine. I continue to work on special projects, but I have found my mind drifting away from what I once loved, the one thing I could not live without. I’ve come to terms with knowing that maybe a career in fashion will not be my future. It turns out this whole pandemic brought back an old talent I once possessed but gave up long ago, writing.

And so it goes. Because I cannot do what I once loved, I’ve decided to pass the knowledge I have acquired over the years onto anyone who will listen. Because, though I know that fashion is not for me, it could be for someone. Someone reading my posts about measurements, pattern drafting, learning to do fabric manipulation, the ins and outs of textile creation from fibers to classifications of fabrics, to couture embellishments, the history of fashion, fashion show reviews and so much more. Knowing that I passed the knowledge down to the next generation would mean that all I learned was not in vain.

Fashion is undeniably beautiful. Fashion is cold, dark, and mysterious. It is art. It is the life blood of society. Without fashion, we as a people would be nothing. Fashion is a beautiful creature, a creature that cannot be tamed. It is ever changing, yet always the same. It is alive, it breathes with grace and dignity. I have been enveloped in fashion all my life, and I did not know how much it would change it.

It found me when I was alone, afraid and scared of the world. Fashion saved me. It showed me a world that was beyond words. The colors, the glamour, the quiet, it was all this and more. It taught me discipline like I never knew. It was cold to me. It forced me to try, and try, and try, and try again. And even then, I did not succeed. Yet it forced me to keep going. And I continued to grow my knowledge to learn everything I could. Despite the pandemic cutting my schooling short, I learned on my own and grew my knowledge tenfold.

When I first started, before I enrolled in fashion school, I searched the internet desperately to find the knowledge for things I wanted to create. I realized quickly, there was not enough information available. Even during school I would only learn a fraction of all I wanted to. Most of the things I know I learned on my own. There were countless days and nights of failure after failure. From patterning French darts, to learning to sew yolks, and how to calculate the correct amount of pleating for a specific area. Anything I could find would barely scratch the surface. Or it would give me information that was misleading. Yet I learned; and I continued to grow my knowledge. My goal is to give anyone who reads this the knowledge and skills it will take to create something magnificent. To teach the history of fashion and why things are a specific way. Also to review fashion, to give insight in the construction of the high fashion brands and bring light to up and coming fashion brands. And also to help people understand and make educated decisions on buying clothing from department stores. Specifically, which materials should be avoided, and which ones would be most beneficial to the environment.

Fashion brings meaning to me. Despite how much I may hate it at times. It brings an inner peace. It is a truly beautiful thing that I could talk about for hours and still not even scratch the surface of all the knowledge that can be possessed. I hope after you read this and continue to read my weekly posts, you will come to the realization that fashion truly is art, and if you already are aware of this, I hope that these words help you appreciate fashion even more.

Like all things, there is a dark side to fashion. I cannot deny that it is destructive to the environment. With the high demand there is from fast fashion labels, more and more synthetic materials are used, poly blends, polyester, rayon are used more and more. Going to the local fabric shop, I’ve noticed a good majority of fabrics are woven with polyester, or poly blends. But that is another topic for another post.

Outsourcing to third world countries has caused many to work in poor, hazardous conditions. It puts them at risk. No matter how dangerous the work environment is, no matter how many deaths, it continues to be an issue. There are no regulations when it comes to the specific countries that the orders are sourced to. It all comes down to money, and there will be plenty more posts about it in the future as well.

For me, fashion is beautiful, fashion is dark and bold. It will never die, to be without fashion is to be without life. It is the armor we put on each and every day. My hope is to share all I know, to create an understanding and shed light on things that people usually do not talk about in fashion. Every week, I will pass the knowledge I have learned onto whoever reads these posts. So join me if you will on the journey of truth and art.