What I'm reading at the moment: Diaries, Vintage Style/Fashion and Sewing (of course)

The amount of books, articles and extracts that I have to read for uni per week can be intense at the best of times. Naturally, what I choose to read outside of this comes as a much needed and welcome break. I've noticed a pattern in the books I've been reading of late...

Diaries

I always feel slightly guilty about reading the diaries of the women I admire, but I find them so inspiring and I like the sense of closeness you get which can't be achieved through other forms of writing.

The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self Portrait - Carlos Fuentes and Sarah M. Lowe

Who doesn't love Frida? She was such a revolutionary thinker and artist and still continues to inspire to this day. The above entry is so, so beautiful and is probably my favourite. I particularly like this passage, from p. 228:

'Kahlo, ever conscious of how she presented herself to others, comments here - she "gave birth to herself" - a remark with numerous allusions. Through the act of painting Kahlo established herself as an artist, and her many self-portraits are manifestations of her need to demonstrate the various aspects of her self."

The idea of giving birth to oneself is quite astonishing, but Frida's sentiment is entirely understandable. Of course we are all born into this world, but that birth is merely an existence. To give birth to yourself is to give life to yourself. I imagine Frida possibly wrote this with an air of confidence in her self-identity, in the woman she was growing into. We don't have complete control over what happens in our lives, but we do have control over how we choose to respond to every situation that we are presented with. Our lives come into being because of the decisions we choose to make, the paths we decide to take...

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: My Life - Sophia Loren

This is an autobiography, so feels a little less intrusive, but still fits into the genre of personal writing. The handwritten note says 'Don't ever try to disguise yourself in order to approach an ideal. Think of the irregularities of your face as the Treasure - which they really are'.

Sophia was subject to  immense pressure in the early stages of her career to change her appearance. She says 'In those days, my beauty wasn't considered "orthodox", and the photographers and cameramen would say things like: "She's impossible to photograph. Her face is too short, mouth is too big, and her nose is too long." Sophia undeniably possesses incredibly strong and beautiful features, but she was also fortunate enough to be blessed with incredible cheekbones to balance out her proportions. She's my favourite pin-up of all time, having struggled against a difficult and poverty-stricken start in life to flourish into the acclaimed actress she is today through determination and resilience (as well as lots of talent, too!)

Vintage Style/Fashion

Style Me Vintage - Naomi Thompson and Liz Tregenza

This book is visually stunning and a joy to flick through. A lot of love and care was poured into this! Vintage accessories are the perfect finishing touch to complete a historically-accurate outfit, and have become collectibles in their own right. Style Me Vintage: Accessories covers a vast array of delightful things, from jewellry and handbags to sunglasses, hats and more.

That teal-green shirt with my hand-sewn butterfly embellishments I'm wearing in the second picture is sadly no more, as I've deconstructed it and made a pattern from it! It's nearly finished, with only got the collar, sleeve, cuffs and buttonholes left to be sewn, so hopefully I'll have it up within the next few days. 

Why Fashion Matters - Frances Corner

I've only just started this and have been dipping in and out without hampering my reading experience, because it's a list of 101 reasons about why fashion matters. My favourite it number 28, entitled 'Trendsetter, Trendshirker'. Corner points out that 'Clothes say something to the world about who you are; they are visual indicators of the private decisions we make every morning when we choose what to wear for the day.'

She supports this argument with a really powerful quote by art historian Quentin Bell, (who was also the nephew of personally adored Virginia Woolf!) On the symbolic power of clothes, he wrote:

'Our clothes are too much a part of us for most of us ever to be entirely indifferent to their condition: it is as though the fabric were indeed a natural extension of the body, or even the soul.'

Clothes touch us not only physically, but emotionally, too. As Roland Barthes, the theorist and author of The Fashion System wrote:

'Clothing concerns all of the human person, all of the body, all of the relationships of man to body as well as the relationships of the body to society. The wearing of an item of clothing is fundamentally an act of meaning that goes beyond modesty, ornamentation and protection. It is an act of signification and therefore a profoundly social act right at the heart of the dialectic society.' (My italics)

This final sentence really resonates with me. The semiotics of dress is something we all engage in, everyday. Our clothes and the ways in which we present ourselves are codes to be deciphered by others. What makes this act of decoding even more interesting is the influence of perception on interpretation - each person reads an image differently, as much as each person reads a text differently. There are a number of factors influencing both our perception and subsequent interpretation at any one time, hence the vast array of trends and choice when it comes to style and clothing. 

Sewing

As time seems to have become an ever increasing rarity these days, I've taken to reading about sewing when I'm pushed for time but still craving my stitching fix.

DIY Couture: Create Your Own Fashion Collection - Rosie Martin

This is currently on loan to a friend, but that doesn't matter, because everyone in the sewing community is aware of its existence. It's been out for a few years and is one of my favourites! I always return to it when I feel like I've lost my sewing mojo. My favourite quote comes from the introduction and always makes me feel inspired:

'Sewing is a visual activity. making clothes is simply a process of binding big flat sheets of colour together to create something three-dimensional. You do not need years of training or instinctive skills to make a piece of clothing that you are proud of; that is good-looking, wearable, and durable. You look at how the garment hangs on your body; you think about how it feels; you look at the colour or pattern of the fabric.'

This book teaches you the skills and techniques involved in sewing, rather than faffing about with confusing patterns. Rosie is currently working on her second book and I'm excited to say I shall be featuring in it! I'm looking forward to having a sneak preview of the amazing designs she's created so far in a few weeks, as I have my fitting soon :)

How Patterns Work - Assembil Books

This is more of a textbook style sewing book, and probably suitable for intermediate/advanced sewing enthusiasts/fashion students as there's a lot of terminology and complex diagrams which would probably confuse a beginner. It's really useful for those interested in altering patterns or drafting their own.