Three Reasons to Wear Handmade

Hand sewing is slow spell cast by the sewer

1. Garments are a time capsule, the materials and care input into it capture some of the values and intent of the wearer.

Lifestyle, identity and politics are bound together, in such a way that is must be understood that clothing is a language, shouting at us about the people who wore them, why, and how they were made. Especially for highly anticipated events like a wedding, or bridal wear.

2. Objects made by hand are infused with life

This sleeve would a type of mushroom with sentience, and you could find it growing in libraries on the stacks of old books like painters palette mushrooms do on bark. The moisture of the paper would feed it as much as the content of what was written.

3. When the sentimental value and actual value of an item are high, it’s more likely be passed down as heirloom, reinterpreted in the future by further generations.

Like any language, the meaning changes over time.

In a new environment and new context the old is transformed and translated until only a shadow is recognizable.
The silk organza “Gigot II” sleeve, is based on a late Victorian mourning dress. The silhouette is an echo of fantasy from more than a century ago. It has a small footnote in the jet button. It’s a Victorian button, but the jet is millions of years old— at one point it was a part of a tree.