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November 9, 2018
So the ongoing saga of the site after it went "poof" is still happening! The nice thing about this is that when everything goes ka-plooo-weee, that means we get to change a few things that were either glitchy or didn't work the way we wanted. It's sorta like when your phone goes ka-plooo-weee and you have to repopulate your address book which means you get to leave out some folks that you really
don't want in your address book anymore! Nah, that NEVER happens does it!!! So that's where we are, and I'll keep you all up to date. The Resource Center is going to be fabulous once we get everything loaded again, and working on that now. Hopefully I can organize it even better than before, and of course if you all have any suggestions, please let me know (you can always hit "Reply" to this email and it will come right back to
me.
We're thinking about organizing this in such a way so that it will be easy for you to see things. If you have any suggestions on this, I really would love to hear them. There will be techniques, inspirations, ideas, guidelines, guides, and of course the upcoming book - in total and
parts.
What I had originally envisioned the Resource Center to be was a place where 1.) you could find what you need easily, (and would love to hear any ideas on that), 2.) you could get what you need. If you need a whole complete session on darts, you could get that; if you need simply how to construct an FBA, you could get that. Packages would include groups of resources that fall into the same category, 3.)
Inspiration and ideas which may be time-sensitive and replaced frequently - like trends, fashion ideas, especially when we are moving from one trend to another, how to implement them and finally 4.) Guides and professional information on how to stay focused, what to do with all those ideas, how to manage your time and basically how to deal with issues that are common with all artists - yeah, yeah, I know - you think you're not an artists, but you are and my bet is you have those common
artistic problems: how do I remember all the stuff I was thinking of yesterday?...how do I get more done in less time? ...how is the best way to start when I don't know what to do? Those are all typical artist problems and there are guidelines and professional methods artists use to get past those problems.
I have a new blog up, which is rare these days as I'm writing for the Resource Center, and the new book as well as this report every week, but this was inspired by one of my young choir members (yes, I sing in the church choir but before you go all a ga-ga, it's volunteer and they are very nice to
let me sing there), and she had found some Chanel earrings at an estate sale, but they and she didn't know what they had. They were at a very nice price and she thought they were classic.
This brings up a very interesting and important feature of Chanel's designs. Even the uninitiated, the uneducated and the uninformed on fashion and designers, can see that her designs were timeless and yet innovative. This is a savvy young girl, and she understands what timeless and classic is. She pours over Ebay and Etsy looking for garage sale type items that are of good design and quality and yet
at a less-than-normal price - usually way less-than-normal. She's experienced and very good at this, and as she gets older she will learn how to recognize the styles and fashions of certain classic designers and styles. I am continually amazed at the still timeless aspect of Chanel's designs even though some of them are now a century old. Her
classic LBD (little black dress) will probably never go out of style. The whole concept of having an LBD as a necessary item in one's wardrobe is also something that will never go out of style.
When I commented on her earrings, she was all surprised, as she didn't know they were anything special or really who "C" was!
That started me thinking how many people really don't know that much about Chanel, other than Karl doing the cool stylish jacket thingie. There's so much more to know about her.
She really did have an enormous effect on fashion like the LBD (little black dress), the quilted bag, the perfume (and the whole idea behind designer perfume, which is a huge profit part of the design business), THE jacket, the two-two shoes, jersey for dresses (holy cow, she should be canonized for that alone), and essentially promoting elegance and comfort in the same garment. Granted she lived a long time being in the
fashion business from the 20's to the 70's and made an impact as much in the 20's as she did in the 50's. Whereas today the bean counters demand artistic directors of design houses be innovative and create one-of-a-kind masterpieces every season, she actually did this over and over. This is really true talent. And an important effect on the fashion of this time as well as for decades and now going on a century later.
Much the same way that Newton's laws had a tremendously important effect on physics, Chanel has the same effect on fashion. A lot of this is due to the fact that the dang lady lived forever, but a lot of it is due to the fact that she plainly did not stop living, breathing, thinking and innovating fashion. Had she died at a "normal" age, we never would have had the famous jacket, nor purse, and even the
perfume might have been iffy. But she didn't die. Dior died early at 52, but Yves Saint Laurent lived to 71, Balmain to 68, Main Boucher to 86, Balenciaga to 77, and her old nemesis Schiaparelli to 83, but Chanel continued to innovate, invent, inspire and just generally cause problems for all the rest of the design world.
And although a lot of these designers lived long lives, they may have had one or two inspirational trends (well, maybe YSL had more than one - he comes closest to Chanel in competing in this as he did Le Smoking, Mondrian dresses, pants suits for women and the safari look which is a lot). But Dior did the "New Look" and as important as that was, that's what he's known for and not for much else.
Schiaparelli did the austere look with an art piece and that's what she's known for.
Chanel started with introducing jersey as a viable fashion fabric and for women, not just men. So how much jersey do you wear today?....it's not a trend that has died and if anything has grown bigger and better with the years.
Chanel introduce the LBD (little black dress) as a staple in a woman's wardrobe. Have you ever owned an LBD, have you almost always had that LBD or some form of it in your wardrobe? This is another look that has even gotten better with time, as Audrey Hepburn will testify!
Chanel introduced perfume from a designer. This is so innovative, that if it weren't for this alone, many houses would be broke. Today it is the perfumes, accessories and licenses that keep a design house in the black, not the fashion. It's the fashion that brings the attention and recognition but the other brings in the money,.
Chanel was the first to introduce a purse that had a shoulder strap. It was quilted and the strap was really a chain, but it left the hands free to do other things. Today, how many shoulder bags do you own - well, thank Chanel for that.
Finally - as if this weren't enough - we have the jacket. I remember the first time I made the jacket and it was lovely and I had a blast doing it, but I was constantly amazed at the technique and how in the world did she come up with this technique. She had to play around with that loosely woven bouclé over and over to come up with idea of making it stable enough to endure, but not add a lot of weight to
it. The whole process is amazing which is what you discover when you make a Chanel jacket.
She was difficult to work with and for. She was contrarian, she did not make very good choices in her love life (except for Boy Capel who invested in her first store). She was ruthless with her competitors like Dior and Schiaparelli with no kind word for them.
But the rest of us are left with some pretty great stuff and for we sewists we are left with some fabulous inspiration.
Chanel had such an impact on fashion not only from the beginning but then intersected major designers all her life. Understanding and studying the history of Chanel brings about so much understanding of fashion and why it is where it is, and why her effect […]
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Sometimes the Emmys sneak up on me cause they are not in the traditional Red Carpet Season (which is between Jan 1st & the Oscars – usually the first of March or end of February). But we had them last night
and where there’s a red carpet, there’s […]
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Again, there is NOTHING more fun for me than taking an older dress and making it all new again. Emily was a client who came to me with her old deb dress and wanted to create something new for her. Her new dress is a lot more […]
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PS - I do a lot of posting on Facebook as both Claire Kennedy and SewingArtistry - if you want to friend me to check out the goodies over there for free!
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