I stumbled upon the most thought-provoking
blog the other day which featured a book review of Kate Fletcher's
Sustainable Fashion & Textiles (Routledge, 2008). Although I haven't yet read the book, the review itself is phenomenal, and raises many interesting questions about the creation and consumption of fashion in today's society. I gather that the intent of Fletcher's book is to raise awareness in regards to these issues, and to get people thinking differently about how they buy/design/make clothing. When speaking about issues in today's consumer culture, the blogger quotes Fletcher as saying that people are "
deskilled and ever more inactive individuals, who feel both unrepresented by the fashion system and unable to do anything about it. The system, and the clothes that represent it, appears to undermine our self-esteem and yet we lack the knowledge and confidence to make, adapt and personalize fashion pieces ourselves. From this position of passivity the only choice available to us seems to be to consume."
Fletcher continues, saying, "When we are actively engaged in, learning about or teaching something, we tend to feel more fulfilled. We are drawn out of a passive state where our focus and goal tends to be ‘having’ a garment and into the more active states of being (engaged and creative), doing (sewing) and interacting (with fashion symbolism). These active states have a requirement for an evolving set of knowledge and skills so that we don’t become bored or frustrated. The aim is to enable us to engage in a process of enrichment that is chiefly concerned with skills, knowledge and experience and one where our focus is switched away from the accumulation of possessions to one where possessions, while still important, are used as tools to help us become better skilled."
Top photo: Harry Gordon Cat Print Paper Dress from the 1960's
