handmade wardrobe: slow fashion october 2018 week 1 recap

ogden cami, cedar cardigan, gypsum skirt, merino tights, and harrisville designs yarn on the needles in my pink everyday magic project bag…this basic skirt/top/cardigan combo was repeated throughout most of the week.

bridgetown backless dress and ferme fiola farm yarn

bridgetown backless dress, cedar cardigan, merino tights, and vintage wool fabric from mum’s stash and foxprint fibres bfl sock yarn in hand

ogden cami, cedar cardigan, gypsum skirt, 10-year-old pashmina, merino tights, and harrisville designs yarn on the needles in my pink everyday magic project bag

sneak peek from a photo shoot for a new design created especially for circle of stitches. harrisville designs flywheel yarn, zinnia skirt, and hacked hinterland dress-turned-crop top with a gorgeous linen and spalted maple buttons.

hinterland dress, merino tights, naturally dyed and hand batiked bandana, giant basket from northlore with all my teaching materials for saturday knit design classes

ogden cami, cedar cardigan, a different gypsum skirt (!), merino tights, 10-year-old pashmina

we’re a week and a half into slow fashion october, which means it’s time i give you a wardrobe update! details for my various outfits are available by clicking the photos, but the general theme seems to be high-waisted skirts with a rotation of ogden camis, and then a sweater and pashmina layered on top. with prairie weather being as inconsistent as ever, this time of year can be really tricky to clothe. i’ll discuss how climate impacts my clothing choices in next week’s recap. first up, let’s chat some fundamentals!

what’s my look? i define my look as “practical femme” - basically, i like dresses and skirts and lipstick mixed with large pockets and boots i can run/walk/hike for hours in. i prefer for my clothes to look and feel as effortless in the city as they do on the farm or in the woods. as an advocate for the fibreshed movement, natural fibres and knowing the source of my clothing is super important, so i wear a lot of wools/cottons/linens/leather, alongside daily black lace. i’m also genderqueer, so it’s important for my own identity to visually queer what might be otherwise seen as just a “feminine” presentation. (if you’re wondering about the difference between femme and feminine, i recommend starting your education with this book.) five adjectives to describe it would be practical, comfortable, handmade, natural, and femme.

do i have a colour palette? my knit night crew at wolseley wool jokingly refers to my colour palette as “non-colours” - i love rich tonals and pastels alongside my natural shades, so undyed wools alongside natural dyes and anything with a grey undertone is likely to show up in my wardrobe. currently, i love various combos of plum, mustard/gold, navy, dark greens, and grey.

whose style inspires me? meg of sew liberated.

is there a brand i’m drawn to and why? i’m drawn to fellow makers and designers, but as far as a clothing brand goes, i’ve had a long-time love affair with lonely lingerie, based out of new zealand. i’m not always in love with their designs, and i really wish they’d use more delicate straps more frequently (at least where support is not reliant on them), but as a general rule, i find them inspiring and love their more inclusive marketing style. the one area they fall down on is queer representation, but i can always rely on chromat to cover that gap in my social media feed! honourable mention also goes to mimi hammer, a swimwear company out of montreal.

what shapes and styles work best for me/my life/my body? i’m what’s referred to as a pear shape, and my biggest struggle with ready-made clothing comes from having a 12” gap between my waist and my hips, with most of that difference actually coming from a deep sway in my back, so pants regularly gap at the back. thank goodness for making my clothes! my body also sucks at regulating temperature, so wearing a lot of breathable layers is necessary. i love high-waisted bottoms with useful (large) pockets, and then cami-style tops with sweaters and shawls.

what are clothing pet peeves? outside of political conversations around environmental and social justice concerns from the production process, i hate tiny pockets that can’t even hold a coin properly, seams that rub uncomfortably, and clothes that only have a single purpose.

what’s my favourite garment or outfit and why? gypsum skirt, ogden cami, tights, brick lane boots, cedar cardigan, and my 10-year-old pashmina. it’s comfy, practical, i can knit out of the pockets, and it looks just as great at an event in the city as it does out on the farm or camping.

what’s the image i want to project with my clothing? honestly i have no idea.

what’s an example of something i own and love but never wear? several years ago, i bought a very fancy dress that is made from synthetic materials. it’s very pretty, but literally only works for events like movie premieres or new year’s eve parties at fancy places, and i’ve yet to experience (or want to experience) an event like that in the city i currently live in. it’s never been worn, but sits in my closet because i constantly hold out hope that maybe i’ll find a reason to wear it someday. it doesn’t have pockets though, and the events it would be appropriate for are also events that are guaranteed to spike my social anxiety, which isn’t a great combo. i dunno, anyone feel like taking me to a fancy event? or maybe i can incorporate it into a halloween costume…