**The Spanish post will appear in a second**
Why wait until next January if you can start a new life in April? There is some stuff going on on a personal level that I won’t discuss here, but let's say my house is for sale and I am about to enter a new phase in my thirties*.
But let’s get to the point, the conclusions of MMM11. You may have noticed by the tone of recent posts that I finished it a bit stressed. It may seem that I didn't like to participate and really isn’t so. First things first, the positive stuff:
- I sew according to my (questionable) taste and I definitively go my own way here. My handmade wardrobe is impractical, eccentric and totally inappropriate to my daily life. But! Utilitarian sewing bores me to death and it’s not my cup of tea. Conclusion: I should adapt my life to my clothes and not otherwise.
- This year I've gone from sewing, hmm, stuff which I prefer not to remember to make more than decent garments, technically speaking, even aesthetically interesting (category "dresses that start a conversation" – I mean this literally because that has happened to me a few times this month). Conclusion: next year I hope I to have learned many more techniques, I'll have mastered the serger and who knows if I'll have a four stars Burda blazer. Although I'd settle if I manage to finish certain unmentionable garments.
- Limitation requires the use of the imagination. The number of garments has been exactly 14 and it’s been a challenge to dress myself in the mornings, trying to give a new twist to this dress or that one. Belts, tights, shoes, I could have not done it without accessories.
Now the not so pleasant ones:
- This has nothing to do with fashion but it’s more of a psychological issue - the limitation mentioned above gives me the creeps. I’m used to have a really full closet (or two) at my disposal, and having to spend a month with only 14 items was almost, almost a trauma. I actually follow Cargo Cult Craft and The wardrobe reimaged, lovely ladies that have imposed themselves a year of rationing clothes, like women did in Britain during the Second World War. Not only do I deeply admire these women, but now I know it'd be absolutely impossible for me to voluntarily impose such austerity on myself. BUT! I don’t want to go all 2012 paranoid here, but what if tomorrow we find ourselves in this situation? I’m telling you, these things keep me awake at night. Conclusion: The last days were really challenging, being forced to wear certain predetermined clothes and not what I had wished to wear. Let’s think positively for a second, I am terribly privileged and I won’t say never again say "I have nothing to wear " (ok, maybe never is a very strong word, but not that often).
- Truth to be told, the previous point is not exactly true. Hand washing it's even worse! I don’t dare to put my clothes in the washing machine. I’ll die if I ruin in one hour what took days to make, no way! On the other hand, having to wash by hand daily it’s very annoying and bordering on “why did I ever agree on doing this”, which is totally besides the point, but has an impact on my mood, not a positive one.
Probably there are more conclusions somewhere in my grey mass, but right now I am not focused at all. This blog will suffer a bit the coming period, I may not write as often as I’d like to. By the way, there is a dress that I finished about two weeks ago and it’s still hung up waiting its turn (talk about adapting my life to my clothes).
Also, where’s my mojo?
*This is self explanatory, I think.
Why wait until next January if you can start a new life in April? There is some stuff going on on a personal level that I won’t discuss here, but let's say my house is for sale and I am about to enter a new phase in my thirties*.
But let’s get to the point, the conclusions of MMM11. You may have noticed by the tone of recent posts that I finished it a bit stressed. It may seem that I didn't like to participate and really isn’t so. First things first, the positive stuff:
- I sew according to my (questionable) taste and I definitively go my own way here. My handmade wardrobe is impractical, eccentric and totally inappropriate to my daily life. But! Utilitarian sewing bores me to death and it’s not my cup of tea. Conclusion: I should adapt my life to my clothes and not otherwise.
- This year I've gone from sewing, hmm, stuff which I prefer not to remember to make more than decent garments, technically speaking, even aesthetically interesting (category "dresses that start a conversation" – I mean this literally because that has happened to me a few times this month). Conclusion: next year I hope I to have learned many more techniques, I'll have mastered the serger and who knows if I'll have a four stars Burda blazer. Although I'd settle if I manage to finish certain unmentionable garments.
- Limitation requires the use of the imagination. The number of garments has been exactly 14 and it’s been a challenge to dress myself in the mornings, trying to give a new twist to this dress or that one. Belts, tights, shoes, I could have not done it without accessories.
Now the not so pleasant ones:
- This has nothing to do with fashion but it’s more of a psychological issue - the limitation mentioned above gives me the creeps. I’m used to have a really full closet (or two) at my disposal, and having to spend a month with only 14 items was almost, almost a trauma. I actually follow Cargo Cult Craft and The wardrobe reimaged, lovely ladies that have imposed themselves a year of rationing clothes, like women did in Britain during the Second World War. Not only do I deeply admire these women, but now I know it'd be absolutely impossible for me to voluntarily impose such austerity on myself. BUT! I don’t want to go all 2012 paranoid here, but what if tomorrow we find ourselves in this situation? I’m telling you, these things keep me awake at night. Conclusion: The last days were really challenging, being forced to wear certain predetermined clothes and not what I had wished to wear. Let’s think positively for a second, I am terribly privileged and I won’t say never again say "I have nothing to wear " (ok, maybe never is a very strong word, but not that often).
- Truth to be told, the previous point is not exactly true. Hand washing it's even worse! I don’t dare to put my clothes in the washing machine. I’ll die if I ruin in one hour what took days to make, no way! On the other hand, having to wash by hand daily it’s very annoying and bordering on “why did I ever agree on doing this”, which is totally besides the point, but has an impact on my mood, not a positive one.
Probably there are more conclusions somewhere in my grey mass, but right now I am not focused at all. This blog will suffer a bit the coming period, I may not write as often as I’d like to. By the way, there is a dress that I finished about two weeks ago and it’s still hung up waiting its turn (talk about adapting my life to my clothes).
Also, where’s my mojo?
*This is self explanatory, I think.
I enjoyed all your MMM'11 posts. I thought you looked fresh and stylish every day!
ResponderEliminarThank you for translating your blog into English. I'm sure it is a lot of work for you, and I appreciate it. Google translate is just not the same thing.