Category: At The Seams
-
The Great Wave
The Great Wave off Kanagawa is Katsushika Hokusai’s first and most celebrated work in his collection of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. It is of the Ukiyo-e genre, meaning “pictures of the floating world”, which flourished in 17th-to-19th-century Japan. The woodblock print depicts three elements: three boats weathering the stormy sea, the great wave, and…
-
The Flamingo Party
Color had been considered superfluous in Western culture since ancient times. Classical writers saw it as being indulgent, even sinful, a distraction from the true glories of art, which were of line and form. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote in Theory of Colors, 1810 that “savage nations, uneducated people, and children have a great predilection…
-
Aries
To paint a sky onto my cloth, I have chosen the Aries constellation. It is located in the Northern celestial hemisphere between Pisces to the west and Taurus to the east. The name Aries is Latin for the ram, thus the astronomical symbol for Aries represents the ram’s horns. The brightest star in the constellation…
-
Zoot Pants
Interviewed by Vogue in 1911 about the possibility of women wearing trousers, the English designer Charles Worth said, “Yes, certainly they will. They will accept it because it is vulgar, ugly, and wicked – those reasons insure the success of any article of feminine wear! The world has gone mad!” The earliest versions of female…
-
Tee’s Sleeves
Beyond the classic T shape, graphic tees have become a most popular medium for self expression. Whether proclaiming advertisement, activism, pop art, science, technology, or humor, it is the unique advantage that the tee has gained over other apparels. While Marlon Brando was looking hot in his ringer tee in the 1960’s, companies such as…
-
Sheer Contrast
Leave it to the French people to perfect the bra-underneath-a-sheer-top look. For devastating effect, wear it barely there but very noticeable. Who invented such a genius idea? Who knows, but surely the French have deployed this ammo of a statement into a most versatile lookbook – a lacy bralette peeping out of a business suit,…
-
The Tee
The Tee was birthed in the late 19th century when American miners and stevedores cut their jumpsuits into separate top and bottom garments to cope with the summer heat. By 1913, it became a standard issue in the Navy’s uniform as undergarment. To be worn under a uniform, the crew-necked, short-sleeved, white cotton undershirt has…
-
Wear Your Scarves
I’ve been collecting scarves. They’re beautiful art works printed or embroidered onto quality fabrics, and best of all, they are affordable. There are so many ways one can wear scarves. You can wear them over your head, wrapped around your neck, draped over your shoulder, belted across your waist, or as an accessory for your…
-
The Folds Make The Clothes
When does a piece of cloth become clothing? In ancient Rome, the formal dress was the toga, to be worn during civic occasions. Using a large piece of wool cloth, between 12 to 16 meters in length, it was only folded into pleats and tucks to become an outer garment. To wear an ancient Roman…
-
The Cook’s Apron
I wanted to design an apron for home cooks like me, those with penchants for random experiments in the kitchen. Which is to say that though I do not work in a restaurant, I spend lots of time cooking, from baking croissants, coagulating tofu out of soybeans, to fermenting ciders. Consequently, spending lots of time…
hardlyplaying.blog 