Social Media & Fashion

January 24, 2025

Oops - a little late...teaching class on Friday!  So here we go....

I get it.  This is mostly a sewing blog.  But fashion is a huge part of what we sewists do.  Through my sewing I was not only able to keep up with fashion but often be one step ahead.  I wasn't dependent upon the store buyers, the store clerks or even the designers for what I could and did wear.  

There is no way I would pay for the smoking jacket outfit, cause the one I made was so comfy and exactly what I wanted.  The one from Yves St. Laurent was more structured and wouldn't fit me.  

The "Opium" dress wasn't available at all.  It was made with semi-precious stones and probably kept as pure couture in some museum someplace.  A few years later, Valentino came out with a pretty good copy in brown velvet, and I remember going to a ball after I had worn mine, and three ladies all had on the same Valentino dress.  The reputation dress shop went into the toilet for a while.  A dress shop that deals in magnificent garments like that should keep a record so that no one is going to the same party.  

But I did get a lot from the fashion magazines.  

And I never would have been able to do this without some of the ideas I got from designers.  Instead of the satin stripe, I did a whole satin pant that was way more feminine than the original.  What I realized about designers is that they had to be over-the-top to get the attention from the press that they needed to sell their designs.  I didn't so I could tone it down or make it less androgynous but with the same theme.  I constantly messed with designers' fashion and their "trademark" looks to get what I wanted out of the design.  

This was what was so much fun for me, as I was learning at the same time.  I learned about fashion, trends, what makes them, how they move and what to watch out for and above all what lasted and what didn't.  This whole concept of classic dressing is coming back, albeit clumsily and with a lot of problems.  One of them is the RTW industry extracting itself from the enormously addictive financial system that has trapped it for the last 30 years.  But it is trying to move away from that trap.

One of the ways is through TicTok.  And don't get me wrong here, I do not like TicTok, even though it's the "young place to be," it's not me.  I know too much about the code to get mixed up in that.  Some are even migrating away into Red Note which is unabashedly CCP, so that would be like going from the frying pan into the fire.  So Instagram remains king of the social media for me.  It's graphic, which I love and allows for a greater audience, young and old, and fashion houses pretty much have their place in Instagram, while TicTok is still figuring out what to do with fashion.  It's because of the younger viewers that make TicTok so appealing.  And it's because of those younger viewers that fashion isn't quite settled, but trending hugely.  

From the beginning  of fashion runway shows, when Charles Worth presented his clothes, he knew he needed to "get the word out" about his fashions.  The best way to do that the "new" fashions where in, or just that there was a "couture" shop to get your elegant garments.

There was no better way than having royalty wear your garments, then all the wannabes (aristocracy) would follow along.  

Same thing is true today and influencers and fashion designers have a very close relationship, not far behind.  There are as much about the fashion designer as there are about the hauls.  
 

I'm not much for the haul videos, it's like bragging you have too much money, and that's never been something that turned me on, much less to "brag about."  I guess that's why I thought this parady was so hilarious!  

But then if we're talking about a fabric haul?  

Well, maybe that's different!  And now that I'm thinking about it, I might do one, just so everyone can see where I'm getting my fabrics.  I dunno - what do you think?

OK - back to the subject.  

Because fashion has gone hand and hand with press, and now influencers, there's a need for them both.  It's almost like selling a feeling rather than selling something that protects you and reflects who you are.  

This isn't something I would ever wear, anyplace.  But it's a fabulous feeling thinking I could walk down the street with some chiffon thingie floating behind me.

But it is as if we're watching before our very eyes, Instagram becoming the old guard, classic app for fashion while TicTok is the new edgy place to have fashion. 

As far as TicTok's future, I know there's a hold on stopping it in the US, and looks like the ball is in the Chinese's corner - do they want to divest the app, reveal the treasured code and the data (which is even more treasured) or will the be forced to stop it in the US and lose their biggest market.  I'd like for them to make a deal, and that way their app code and data wouldn't be so dangerous, and I'd probably have an account then.  

The future of the "influencers" on TicTok will depend upon what happens to the app in the future.    But in the meantime, this is the sort of fashion that happens when it's unsupervised.  
 

Yikes!!!

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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