Sometimes We Don't See Everything - Your Weekly Guide from SewingArtistry

Published: Fri, 03/19/21

Basic

March 19, 2021

I opened up this morning's email from MarcyTilton.com (which is always a very dangerous proposition) and she had her usual panoply of gorgeous fabrics, but then I happened upon a bunch of really ugly looking fabrics, and wondered why they were included in this email, much less something that Marcy would purposely have on her site.

Upon further examination, all these seemed to be of the same ilk and although they looked like decently constructed fabrics, they had one thing in common. They were all a muted, mini-floral pattern which brought to mind one thing! Ugly!

We all remember when we were first introduced to fashion. The first time we saw something that was really new or chic or up-dated. That first time has an indelible real impression on our lives. It ingrains a permanent image of ugliness, grossness, and even unflattery in our minds forever. The same way that first impression of "chic," "in," or "newness" does remain totally and forever in.

So in my mind this was the ugly to gawgeous vision:
From: To:

I mean seriously is this really a choice? In my head it's not. Or how about these:
From: To:

OK - granted the black and white/sepia to color does make a huge impact, but this emphasizes the impact it had on me as a kid. From thereafter anything that looked like this:

...had to be in, and still is in my mind, even though it's horribly dated, my eyes and mind see this update a little and boom, I'm there.

Whereas this look could never be rescued no matter what I did to it!

So opening up Marcy's email here is what stuck out like a thumb:

I'm thinking, what is the world in Marcy thinking about because she always as such a gifted editing eye. And so I'm thinking that I need to re-evaluate my eye and rethink what I'm seeing. (BTW, click any of those above to see more info on them.)

Lots of times, particularly with that first glance we can see something that isn't there or something that is there that really isn't there. That sounds cryptic, but sometimes we are so sure about what we see, that we're not stepping out of our normal block to let our imagination run wild where it would otherwise.

I'm not saying these aren't pretty, but I did have to do a double-take to see what was really taking place. I have had almost all my life, a real impression that these mini-floral day dress looking garments aren't ever going to be anything close to fashionable. In realty fashion is always cyclical and realizing that, can really open up some important opportunities and ideas for inspiration.

When was the first time you purchased or liked something that was fashionable? Looking back at that, what was the that fashionable look following or preceded by? Those sorts of questions can answer a lot about your feelings, likes and dislikes about certain styles, fashions and fabrics.

Now, I'm not talking about the look that you should never wear. You've tried it a number of times and it doesn't work. For example, Princess Diana had a classic rectangle figure so when she tried to wear a Basque waistline, which accentuates a nice hourglass, but on a rectangle it fails (on the left).

But when she wore a sleek up and down gown, it looks like she's lost 20 pounds. Rectangles should never wear basque waistline or for that matter anything that accentuates their no-waist silhouette. But wearing something that is straight up and down looks positively stunning, emphasizing the up and down sleekness always works for a rectangle.

That is different from early impressions we have about fashion that have most likely died and come back again and died again. Fashion lives for change, and if we have a big NO sign on a certain style simply because that was some impression we had decades ago, it can limit us in our artistic search for a new look.

Being open to new ideas is key for we artists, as long as we stay within those rules that we've learned. It's sometimes hard to differentiate from early prejudices and later learning about your silhouette or style. The best way to separate them is to think about your early assessments of style and fashion, as opposed to those that you've gathered later in your life about what looks good and what doesn't. Often those early and even pre-mature judgements can be holding you back from exploring some excellent looks and changes in our look. So I'm going to make an effort to look for some small-floral print dresses that will fit my style, shape and size.

Now, I'm not guaranteeing anything real fast. This will be a work in progress cause there's lots going on with the dresses above, but there is some hope there!!!!

For me, I've learned to look at the fabrics like MarcyTitlon's email this morning and realize that my instant dislike is not really a valid one but one based on my "first" flirtation with fashion and that limiting myself to something I thought was ugly when I was pre-teen, probably isn't a good idea to carry on with!

Click here to schedule a free appointment for a Zoom with Claire. And click here for a short video on how to do the scheduling.

The best way to do this is get your ideas all organized and then ready for the live video. A laptop is best because it has the camera and the speaker/microphone all included in the computer. If you use a desktop then you will have get a microphone and camera, which are easily found on the internet and are not that expensive.

Lastly you can also do this with your smartphone. Get the app and install and then you have the camera, microphone and speaker all on the phone.

Check out the video with student comments on the live Zoom with Claire