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On Uniforms, or Would You Wear the Same Dress For a Year?

June 17, 2009 by Renee Claire

A Cup of Jo recently posted on The Uniform Project, Sheena Matheiken’s attempt to wear one dress for a year. Below are some of my favorite outfits thus far:

Uniform Project

While it’s true that Alex Martin did something similar with her brown dress project in 2005*, this iteration offers something new. First, the two projects have different goals: the brown dress project was a direct challenge to unsustainable consumerism, while The Uniform Project is a fundraiser and decidedly more fashion forward. Because she was promoting sustainability & personal economy, Martin used one dress for the entire year; Matheiken, on the other hand, has 7 of the same dress, has a vast closet filled with layering options and accents, and lets readers donate accessories.

Matheiken’s inventive styling offers women wardrobe inspiration that previous, similar projects have not**. She’s also using the stunt to raise money for the Akanksha Foundation, which provides education for Indian slum children. Less than 2 months into the project, she’s already raised $1,479.00.

In addition, The Uniform Project explores the interesting tension between conformity & self-expression. Matheiken wrote that part of her inspiration was that:

I was raised and schooled in India where uniforms were a mandate in most public schools. Despite the imposed conformity, kids always found a way to bend the rules and flaunt a little personality. (link)

Anyone forced to wear a uniform will recognize their experience in that statement. And yet, strangely, I’ve always considered uniforms as freeing rather than constricting. It’s the difference between the uniform you’re required to wear, and the one you adopt for yourself.

Because although I like fashion, it’s mostly in theory. By nature, I gravitate towards a uniform: a white, blue, or black form-fitting top paired with dark pants and black flats. My college friends once teased me for only wearing white, blue, & black, so I tried branching out to reds, pinks & lavenders. Each new color foray ended up rotting in my closet, though: I always felt like I was wearing someone else’s clothes, trying to be something I wasn’t.

To this day, the bulk of my wardrobe is white, black, or blue, although I’ll stray into greens, and (if I’m feeling daring) purples. I comfort myself that at least I’m more flexible than these fellows. And truthfully I know what I like, what suits me, and best of all, everything matches.

Finally, here’s a quote on uniforms from Marguerite Duras’ Practicalities. I read it years ago & it managed to burn its way into my subconscious:

For fifteen years I’ve had a uniform – the M.D. uniform. It apparently created a ‘Duras look’, which was taken over by a fashion designer last year: black cardigan, straight skirt, polo-neck sweater and short boots in winter. I said I didn’t care about clothes, but that’s wrong. A uniform is an attempt to reconcile form and content, to match what you think you look like with what you’d like to look like, what you think you are with what you want to suggest. You find this match without really looking for it. And once it’s found it’s permanent. And eventually it comes to define you.

*Andrea Zittel also did something similar before, but as with Alex Martin’s, the goals & functions of her project were significantly different. For starters, Zittel embraced the monotony of a uniform, while Matheiken does not.

**For more inspiration, Sally Jane Vintage has a series called “Four Ways,” where she styles one item, umm…four ways. Other bloggers have done a fashion blogger version of the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” first with a striped shirt and then with a leather jacket.

Filed Under: Fashion

Design Blast: 05/14/09

May 14, 2009 by Renee Claire

washi tape from happy tape
Design bloggers recently went gaga over these crayola-colored Japanese masking tapes. They have a weird allure, although I can’t think of a practical use for them (using them like regular masking tape seems like sacrilege).

The above photos come from seller Happy Tape (also on Etsy); you can also buy rolls at WendyStory, washimatta, lovepetitzakkajapan, and Gingko Papers (selections vary at each store). Prices vary, but are usually $5 for a single roll, and $35 for a set of 10.

pattern magic books
If anything could get me sewing, it would be these Pattern Magic books. The designs are unique & striking; looking at them also helped me understand drafting’s potential (I tend to focus on draping).

You can buy both volumes at YesAsia.com (in Japanese only, although reviewers say that’s not a big obstacle). See more photos at Fashion Incubator, Designer’s Library, & Sew Very Prairie.

*Bonus*: Not Asian design (Latvian, rather), but don’t they remind you of manga monsters?

Marite Mastina & Rolands Peterkops' Hyeres show
From Marite Mastina & Rolands Peterkops’ Hyeres show, images via A Shaded View of Fashion.

Filed Under: Design, Fashion

Design Blast: 03/22/09

March 22, 2009 by Renee Claire

Another set of design finds, this time all fashion-related:

hetty rose kimono shoes
Hetty Rose offers bespoke shoes covered in vintage kimono fabrics. The price (£320 or $465 a pair) is too steep for me but reasonable for made-to-order.

mari ishikawa rings

Mari Ishikawa, a Japanese transplant in Munich, created these nature-inspired rings. They’re exhibition pieces, and not for sale; see more of her work here.

dadaya berets

Finally, Dadaya sells elaborately embroidered wool berets (the above two are $128 & $120). You can see her & others model the hats at her Flickr account.

Filed Under: Design, Fashion

Comme des Garcons comes to H&M

November 18, 2008 by Renee Claire

comme des garcons h&m
Images from Vogue Nippon via fashionologie.

For months, fashion blogs have fluttered about the Comme des Garcons for H&M diffusion line, and now it’s finally on sale. Even though I liked some of the pieces, I’m most impressed with H&M’s coinciding their Harajuku store opening with the CDG line’s debut. Even getting Rei Kawakubo to sign on was something of a coup for the high street chain; Comme des Garcons is well-respected by fashion insiders and known for its avant-garde (read: uncommercial) aesthetic. H&M’s willingness to work with Kawakubo (and Kawakubo’s willingness to work with them) significantly ups the chain’s fashion cred.

cdg rei kawakubo h&m
Official H&M press photos, see more here & here.

In terms of sales, though, it hasn’t been the most successful H&M designer collection. Aside from certain hard-to-wear designs like drop crotch pants, the line’s fighting a bad economy and shoppers fatigued by a glut of hi-lo designer collaborations. Still, many pieces sold out within hours, like the deconstructed jackets & the gothic-loli inspired coat, above. Even the polka dot tops, the line’s most wearable & imitable feature, are selling for three times their original price on eBay.

Which is madness, considering how many vintage & budget polka dot pieces are out there. Three to consider:

budget polka dots
From left to right: Vintage Pencil Dot Skirt, $9.00, Tontubtim; Izzy Dot Cardigan, $49.95 Delia’s; Polka Dot Secretary Shirt, $21.00, JessJamesJake.

Filed Under: Fashion

Fashion Feed Finds: 07/11/08

July 11, 2008 by Renee Claire

Vogue Italia Black Issue

Fashionista scanned the entire black issue of Italian Vogue. Gorgeous.

Round Sunglasses

The Coveted has an inspired piece on round glasses. Also see more glasses inspiration over at Fly (last photo) & Debutante Vintage (on Debutante’s owner Sandra–so cute!).

Colossal Mascara and Pastel Glasses Frames

More Fashionista links: they say Maybelline’s new The Colossal mascara ($7) works the same as Dior Show Blackout ($24) (although BellaSugar disagrees). They also pointed me to these candy-colored Moscot frames.

Filed Under: Fashion, Fashion Feed Finds

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