I love learning about historical fashion. The periods I've focused on and take inspiration from are regency (~1750s) England, Victorian England, the evolution of mostly Western WWI & WWII military-wear, 1930s-40s American workwear, and early twentieth century Russian work-wear.
I am trying to build a theory surrounding the clothes I wear. I'm sure this list will evolve (it has already) but I have kept a few basic tenents of my fashion sense around since I was a kid.
I dislike fast fashion and 'micro trends' (I don't dislike things just because they're trendy, but I dislike changing clothes out just because something has 'gone out of fashion.' Good clothes never go out of style.)
Clothing checklist:
Basically, when I buy new clothes, I'm aiming to hit all four of these, but the first is non-negotiable. I am slowly phasing out all synthetic materials in my closet and household linens; I just find them awful, for a lot of reasons. Chiefly they Feel Bad but they are also shitty for the environment and aren't good to layer with because they trap heat! I only wear cotton, linens, and wools if I can help it.
Knowing about your clothes is so powerful! Knowing how your clothes are constructed, how to repair them, and what the fabrics and stitches do is so important and can take the mystery out of buying, making, and repairing clothes.
Part of the reason I care so much about high quality fabrics and construction is that I get very attatched to my clothes and I wear them until they fall apart, so I want clothes that last a long time! Construction matters a lot too---I try and do felled/french seams on garments I make so there's no overlocking/loose threads/raw hems that could get caught and unravel a seam. That's something I've not really found on many clothes I've bought, but I look forward to finding some one day!
I also care deeply about what my clothes mean and why I'm wearing them. Fashion is incredibly powerful (re: the fascist uniform of the twentieth century, wearing white for women's sufferage, the western men's suit that has a fucking chokehold on every man for the last 400 years apparently, crust punk patch pants) and anyone who says otherwise truly hasn't given it enough thought. Why do you put on different clothes for an interview than you would for a date? for a run? for a trip to the store? Fasion is a fascinating marker and presentation of identity and carries enormous amounts of historical weight. So I care a lot abot fashion politically too, and I want my clothes to represent what I believe in.
I believe in a living wage, good working conditions, environmental sustainability, the destruction of capitalism and the distribution of wealth, equality among all people everywhere, the creation of a world without borders, and stuff that feels good and looks good to wear. So how do I demonstrate that in my clothes beyond the basic aspects of a garment outlined above?
My personal style has evolved a lot over the years. The first outfit I can remember really loving as a child was a black and pink plaid 'uniform dress' that I wore to kindergarten. (My school didn't have uniforms, I just liked to wear it.) I have always loved the European women's workwear look (dress, petticoats, corset, apron, bonnet, the whole nine yards), and now that I'm transitioning, I'm trying to figure out how to adapt the silhouette I love into a more masculine look. It's been a struggle to figure out what I want to wear, but now that I'm transitioning, I feel like I'm really finding my stride.
Currently, my goal is to achive a closer union of my dream historical style and my everyday style. I would love to go around everywhere in full historical getup, so I'm currently trying to incorporate historical/individual aspects into my everyday outfits. That's why I'm looking for a red scarf (mentioned below) so I can practice wearing bigger headscarves in new patterns.
Something I'm looking forward to figuring out is comboing my masc and fem fashion interests into a masculine outfit that somehow has petticoats???
My current style is based a lot around straight leg black jeans, my Adidas shoes (brown and black), and Tshirts. I am slowly deocrative (and functionally) patching a lot of my pants and jackets and hope to get around to my shirts soon! I have a straight brown canvas-y jacket that I like, as well as two bomber-jacket type things in muted browns and greens. Plus a nice sweater Anyway, this was the style I was trying to achieve around this time last year, so pat on the back to me for realizing it. I think the thing I'm working at now is individualizing it with fun patches and interesting patterns and scarves and things.
One day I'll get to the petticoats and linen undergarments and everything. I'll get there!!!!
I fell in love with handsewing this summer when I made my first ever piece of clothing for myself! I made a sort of pirate shirt to wear to the Renaissance fair, which I entirely handsewed. I got really good at backstitching and French seams, which I actually really enjoy doing! I also learned about flat-felling seams. I'm not super good at it yet, but it was interesting to learn! I'll link some tutorials below.
I'll put up some photos of my projects at some point, I'd like to document them and talk about them properly. I have a blog post about my shirt that I wrote when I finished it. (It's 04: 09-07-2024, havent' figured out yet how to make a blog setup that can link to individual blog posts...I digress.)
Currently I'm working on a pair of thin blue/grey striped sleep/house shorts modeled after a pair my mom passed down to me from the 90s. I really like the design and how it looks on me but the elastic is just so shot and I've darned multiple holes...it's time to let it go, I think. So I'm making a new version without elastic and sort of cobbled together a pattern from nothing since I couldn't find any patterns online for what I wanted that were my size. I think a pattern would have been easier/faster but that wasn't what I was really looking for with this project, I just wanted something to keep me occupied. I've brought it to classes and things and it's been a fun conversation starter. I got the fabric from goodwill--I think it was an ikea crib liner? It's thick and sturdy which is nice, and the weaving pattern hides my stitches well.