The Sewing Circle

Mostly a collection of costuming links, but some general sewing information as well.
There are those who think it extremely odd to see politics and sewing in one organization, but apart from both being things every young Lady should have a firm grasp of, a strong anarchist theory and solid sewing skills are likely to be useful to many of those in counter- or sub-cultures. Nothing says "Hey, look at me, I'm somebody to watch out for!" like a truely bizarre outfit and a strange world view.
Creative dressing
 First, a word on fashion:
Fashion has it's uses. It tells the people you don't want to be associated with what to wear so that you can avoid those garments and get on with the rest of your life. Fashion also has the benefit of changing rapidly, so that when something reasonably cool does turn up, it doesn't take too long for it to lose favor (and thus become "wearable" again) and show up in the thrift stores.

Next, colors:
Color is an important aspect of defining an image for yourself. Not that you should choose a signature color, using that color and only that color (with a few others as accents), but that the palette you use can say a lot about the image you're creating. Many people who avoid the mainstream prefer the color black, usually in large quantities. Personally, I shy away from too much black. The "goth" movement and counter culture has gotten big enough that it has almost created a mainstream of its own, which is entirely against the point.
Personally, I prefer orange. Sure, it doesn't work with many complexions, and I'm not even sure it works with mine, but unlike blue, green, purple, red, black or white, you just don't see it that much. Also, because of the nature of the color, things that are gaudy in color tend to be gaudy in cut as well. If you're going for funny looks anyway, go one step further and dress for stares!

A word on Blue:
Blue is.

Availability, or lack thereof.
One of the most difficult aspects of interesting clothing is finding it. Thrift stores can provide some treasures, but you have to wade through a metric ton of garbage to find it. Vintage clothing stores can be more useful, particularly some of the goofy fifties dresses, but they tend to be pricy, particularly if you're going for the romantic victorian look. Sometimes, all you can do is give up, pull out your mom's old Singer, and make it yourself. Or hire somebody more topographically inclined to do it for you. (I view sewing as an exercize in topography....that's what you get when you ask a geologist to make clothes.)
In any case, I wish you luck.

Costumes, historical and otherwise.
More on this, later.

Favourite links

This was going to be a lengthly list of resources for historical costuming, creative dressing, and sewing in general, but I found that not only does The Costumer's Manifesto have a really cool name, but it also has all of the links and resources I could possibly wish for.
Enjoy.

Email me on:
[email protected]

This page has been visited times.