Stop Ranting, Start Sewing

I'm a reader of a couple of sewing related blogs, and it strikes me that one of the continuing themes from women in middle age concerns what's in the stores and shown in RTW.


I'm not sure why this is even a big issue for many of us. Long gone are the days when designers dictated a single look (think back to the 1950s when the Dior's New Look ruled). Or when only certain colors could be worn in a given season. Fashion is much less rigid now, and it makes sense not to buy into a trend when it's going to make you look like a fashion victim (ie, the recent babydoll trend). Even die hard fashionistas don't participate in every look that comes down the runway, believe it or not.

A major theme of the last several years has been high/low, or a designer garment mixed with inexpensive ones in the same outfit. Mixing designers and clothes to create a unique look. Wearing an inexpensive t-shirt with a couture jacket. Vintage influence, wearing things from many years ago with new. I wouldn't want to look like an Olsen twin, but they've had an influence in this area, and it's kind of a good thing, because a lot of people are afraid to do it on their own. But if an Olsen twin does it, it gives permission for us to do it. Why can't we, but in our own way?


Yet, I keep seeing these posts with a theme of, "should I, a woman of a certain age, wear a babydoll top? I can't find anything else in the stores." Oh really!?! I live in a mid sized Southwestern city, and I don't find the selection limited to only babydoll tops (Or whatever. I'm not picking on babydoll tops, although I left them behind in about 1975 or so). It's not like I live in a fashion mecca or anything. And you know, there's always the internet.


And then there are the complaints about what's on the runway. Those are show pieces, folks. Realize that the looks on the runways during Fashion Week are not necessarily the ones that will appear at the stores. Store buyers do give feedback to the designers about their customers, so hemlines get changed, linings get added, etc.


It's easy to complain. Just sayin'.


But....


If you're posting on a sewing board, you probably sew. You're not limited to current RTW offerings. We sewers can make things that suit us and bypass unfortunate trends! It's OK. Heck, we're not even limited to current offerings in patterns and fabric. Most of us have admitted that we're stashers, with many patterns and fabrics that we can raid when, say, orange mini skirts are the fashion du jour and they only make us look jaundiced and like "mutton as lamb." And there's also e-Bay with its plethora of vintage (although some of it isn't vintage to those of us approaching mid-century).


Come on ladies, quit whining. If you can sew, you have a solution. It doesn't matter if you're petite or tall, skinny or fat, or whatever. You don't have to depend on RTW. You can do what you like.