Back in the 1960s I discovered ethnic garments and embroidery. (Any ethnic garment that survived into the 21st Century is strongly historically based, because nowadays "ethnics" all over the world wear things like t-shirts.) So nowadays I use ikat from Guatemala, saree fabric from India, and mud cloth from Africa in my everyday garments, and sometimes I recreate ethnic garments.
Also in the 60s I re-discovered natural fiber, especially what it's good for and what polyester isn't good for. So I can usually tell by touch, sometimes even by sight, if bargain fabric is natural fiber when I go shopping for fabric for something historical. But the best things I learned in the 60s were the fiber crafts, like macramé, weaving, and embroidery (crochet was big in the 60s but I learned it later). This shows up in many of my historical garments, as surface decoration or compulsive hand-finishing. I volunteer at a maritime historical park and often do historical nautical macramé demos there. BTW, Laurel Burch-designed stuff, and Folkwear Patterns, are two prominent products of the 60s Hippie movement (and I have photos to prove it). -- Carolyn Kayta Barrows -- “The future is already here, it is just unevenly distributed.” -William Gibson -- _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
