Reign Water

ocean the siren ( repurposed sari) , fresh water the naif

( yard sale fabrics) and the practical swamp vixen, witch of the wetlands (vintage fabric)

I am in the midst of designing an installation that tries to connect emotional, visceral and literal communication. The recycouture dresses mix with other mediums in an art meets science wedding. Biology, ecology, psychology and chemistry, natural and manmade systems have patterns that resonate. This is not a surprise as we humans build from that which we know. Our awareness of this is the issue, as we seem to have gone off into ego and lost our way.I guess this makes  FashionRIP Project todays Little Bo Peep. 

I have sewn three of the gowns and they are ready for the embellishments that will create their personas. The dresses are from repurposed, remnant and vintage, or secondary market supplies and are real, wearable pieces -functional. My couture, custom garment background left tracks. These dresses are an expression of my art..whatever that is at the time it is.

Fresh Water is sweet, graceful and innocent, but not naive. She maintains a higher standard of purity and clarity than the human species and wants us to get with the program. She personifies the small rivers and streams of the higher altitudes and is therefore still fairly pristine. She is a dancer.

Ocean is pissed off. She is experiencing major acidification - aka acid reflux- which is damaging to corals, her underwater nurseries and thus it effects the survival of all her children. In response she is fighting back with tsunamis, hurricanes and giant swells that erode human habitats. She is not able to discern who is innocent and who is responsible, she sees our species as a threat. She understands that it is human activity that is making her suffer and she will not be placated by our fairly small attempts to change our ways. That we are hindered by those of us who are blinded by ignorance, greed and ideology is not her problem. Her problem is her children's survival. She is a mother, a creator.


Swamp Witch is the sorceress, the scientist, the amazing alchemist, the liver of the water system. Her job is to detoxify and cleanse the water bodies meeting grounds. She is a permeable, organic flexible and shifting border.  She works with dissonance and harmony, she knows when  to juxtapose and when to blend. She understands and values diversity. She is species wealthy and happy that humans are finally getting to know her. However, her work at times is far too challenging to go it alone. She is seeking our help, our greater understanding and our appreciation. She is the musician.

Fashion as anarchy

Excavate your convictions photo from Huffington Post ..would make a great organic hemp tee shirt graphic, eco alt is just sane and an element of the slow fashion next.

When fashion was designed by individuals with an esthetic vision they wanted to manifest there were more options. Fashion by corporation has glutted the market in cheap, fast fashion,  horrors. Ok the basics aren't that bad, but how many of anything does anyone really need?

The overly manufactured trashion that hangs on countless racks in countless stores is a tacky and irresponsible use of resources. Really, I am bored out of my mind unless I go super high end (or indy, vintage and custom)

Fashion is something i can still appreciate;  however the idea of paying the high end ticket for a garment made by questionable labor practices, just seems wrong. (even if i had that kind of money!)

If those dollars went towards worthwhile investments: like starting a pool for a community solar grid, or a neighborhood cistern, or start the people's bank of ethical funds or help buy up land for a pea patch. There are so many better ways to spend a couple grand. If wealth went towards that which supported health and wellbeing we would have something to be proud of and happy about, instead of a garment worn once or twice then recycled or tossed into a landfill. .

Creative diversity can be unchained from the old economic model. In a world cooperating for the well being of all- and animals,plants, insects etc, too- we will shift worldview and possibilities will expand.

Life is a many connected agreement of collaborative species. We have mucked up enough already.

My current hero is Ross Carne, author of The Leaderless Revolution. Enjoy the interviews but do read the book, great read, insightful and full of hope. Anarchy can be less chaotic than a government hooked to an economic system that is suicidal.

Hobbles

Bergdorf Goodman email clipping

modern constraints...really doing a double take after all the womens rights issues being put back on the table. Like how can a woman run for the metro, drive with any sensitivity or even walk gracefully in these hooves. Is this about being a femme fatal or fatality?

MOHAI moving

 

The above photos were taken at the Museum of History and Industry's closing party. Love the checks on that sweet gown and the hat...okay the red bag and shoes are a nice splash of color and who is the lady wearing purple. Seattle is a good town and the bruises will heal.

Next stop (the new display home of Seattle artifacts) will be south  Lake Union at the old the old armory building. In the meantime check out MOHAI Minutes,  a flash course of local history.

Fashion Tyranny is Over

"The women of Athens were free. So was the woman of ancient Rome. She dressed like the men of her time. She was comfortable. Nothing kept her from moving. Nothing weighed her down.


The woman of today is free, and she may dress as practically as a man. Her body has escaped the prison that help it captive for 20 centuries.


She is truly free, and will no longer submit to the tyrannies of Fashion. Fashion must now serve her.

The slave has become the master. "  (Page 64)

From, Art and Fashion by Marcel Vertes in collaboration with Bryan Holme, 1944

This is a a nice sentiment but sadly  was not 'true' for long  as marketers kicked ass to make up for the rationing of WWII. 

Dior introduced the New Look with voluminous skirts, cinched in waists and girdled hips. The new femininity was fresh and glam, made the most of bumping up fabric sales and helped push women back into the home after Rosie the Riveter became a domestic 'threat' to veterans.

Fashion is an art form that combines social mores, economics, technology and history in a most interesting manner.