What are my clothes for?

As we move from hot weather to cold here in the northern hemisphere, it can be useful to revisit this question. Without this foundation, I can lose myself to my wanties when faced with all the "new" that is fall fashion.

Each of us may well answer this question differently. For some, clothes are purely functional. For others they are a playground. On the most base level, my clothes cover my body + protect me from the elements. At the same time, I do like my clothes to be a sort of artistic representation of who I am. I like to play with color, shape + style. I believe that clothes are for wearing. I'd like to chose pieces well the first time + wear them often.

I also find it useful to take note of what I do not need my clothes to be. For example, I don't see endless outfit options as an ultimate goal.  I don't need my clothing to be trendy, and I don't have a desire for my clothing to communicate status. Conspicuously expensive jewelry, watches or bags embarrass me.

In my mind, my clothing represents a love of beautiful shapes + fabrics...a commitment to materials + craft...a love of simple beauty...a recognition of simple pleasure + the abundance of enough.

Clothing connects us to farmers, garment workers + our planet. Pulling thread through fiber naturally brings to mind all that goes into bringing clothing from seed to store shelf. Searching for secondhand treasures encourages me to savor all that has already been created.

As I move into a new season + take stock of my wardrobe, I have found great value in this reorientation.

Love,
​Jane

Before we moved to London, my exposure to Indian food was pretty much limited to the samosas we savored each time we were lucky enough to come across a Whole Foods in our travels. Once I had the chance to eat a little bit more Indian food, it pulled me right in. The flavor combinations are amazing + different from any other. Especially as the temperatures cool, I could eat Indian food every day. Meera Sodha's Fresh India is a fantastic guide!

Love,
​Jane

To be alone is a primal fear,
and modern society has rendered us more and more alone.
But the time of reunion is here.
Every act of
compassion, kindness, courage or generosity
heals us from the story of separation,
because it assures both actor and witness that
​we are in this together.
~Charles Eisenstein

As I practiced daily watercolor painting for 30 days, I kept a few notes of the things it was teaching me. Every day I could feel that I was learning or relearning things about the water, paint + brush. The practice was teaching me deeper lessons as well.

Here are a few more of the notes I made along the way:

• I recognize painting as self care...while I'm doing it. I'm not only exercising my creativity because I know that it will be good for me. I truly feel that the daily return to paper, paint, water + brush is good for my soul.

• This practice is increasing my ability to trust my creative instincts. This so easily translates to the larger concept of trusting myself...trusting myself to find my way.

• Trust that good things can come out of uncertainty. (Wow, this is meaningful for me to read again today with new uncertainty on the horizon.)

• A little consistent practice gives rise to a little confidence. It's similar to cooking. We can hone our skills one at a time, and we get to judge what is "good" for ourselves. With time + practice, we can build our confidence + our ability to create tacos or pasta that we love.

Maybe some of these lessons seem obvious. They are the sort of things we might offer our children as encouragement to practice an instrument or skill. But it felt pretty amazing to observe these thoughts coming to mind spontaneously during my own voluntary practice. This practice was not mandated by a parent, teacher or boss. This practice was my idea. It was an open-ended invitation that I gave myself...to interrupt the duties of the day...to exercise a different part of my brain + body...to create...to sit + to linger.

As the days wore on, I gave myself the grace to paint for 30 days...but maybe not all within 30 days. The goal remained intact, but the terms were meant to free rather than to bind. I am kind to myself. I trust myself. I create.

Love,
​Jane

Yesterday, I had to get some warmer clothes out for our walk. In the process, I came across this jacket that I made from my sewing scraps. I've had a couple of improvements in mind for this zero-waste jacket since before I finished it the first time.

Today, I finally took them on. I'm really liking how these ties give the jacket just a little shape, and pockets are always a good thing! I'm down to just a very few little scraps of these fabrics now. Hoping I can patch this jacket with them forevermore.  :)

Alright (light) jacket weather, I guess I'm ready for you + some cider donuts. 

Love,
​Jane

Fight for the things you care about, 
but do it in a way that will
lead others to join you.
~Ruth Bader Ginsburg

It's bits of information like this that reveal so much. As a sewist, I can't imagine sewing together 34 pieces in 54 steps in only 43 minutes! Yes, they have equipment that I don't have access to...but that is skilled labor. Many brands would have no idea about any of these numbers. Keeping manufacturing close to home allows them to know for certain. It also allows the miles each garment travels during production to be almost 20 times less than the industry average!

And that only happens due to an all-American supply chain...including American-grown cotton. All of this might sound like obvious choices for American brands, but very few American clothing brands source labor or cotton from the USA.

American Giant makes consciously constructed, durable basics...for women + men...in the USA...many from USA-grown cotton. The rest is up to us...wear it often...shop less.

Love, 
Jane

Yesterday's dreamy post was only a portion of what I was thinking about at the time I wrote it. Sewists often view beautiful images + pieces in terms of inspiration for their own makes. So here is the other half of my thinking in regards to those romantic shapes. Of course a lot of other sewing patterns + fabrics could come into the mix here...but these are a few that came to my mind. So much lovely possibility!

All lovely photoes via links.

Love,
Jane

Part one of Doen's autumn collection dropped today + oh, it is just achingly dreamy. We are enjoying the magical weather right now that makes this sort of dressing possible. The light is yellowing + I'm totally feeling this...my most favorite silhouette...flowy, abbreviated dresses with three-quarter sleeves. I'm also loving these gorgeous tops.

As I grow older + as I try to figure out my style...I notice the things that I am drawn to decade after decade. These dresses prompt memories of long rides home from the mall, as a teenager, with a new Laura Ashley catalog to pour over again + again. These shapes also have me remembering the many Built by Wendy dresses I made + wore almost exclusively for many summers. 

These are the short lived weeks when bare legs + longer sleeves just make sense. I'm considering whether I might wear one of these dresses with straight jeans, a waist length cardigan + boots when the weather cools. The blouses would be dreamy to wear with cut-off shorts, jeans or overalls. The same sweater would warm them up as well. Doen, you are just one more reason I wish the weather could be like this every day. 

All lovely photos via Doen.

Love,
Jane

I recently finished + enjoyed Yaa Gyasi's Transcendent Kingdom. (Her last book, Homegoing, was my favorite book I read that year.) I finally got my turn with How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi + am looking forward to being inspired by Meera Sodha's Fresh India this weekend. (I love the library!)

Mourning the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg + all that it means for our precarious future.
Poverty has its freedoms; opulence has its obstacles.
Kombucha leather + mushroom bricks.
The equivalent of seven billion fleece jackets being flushed into our waterways.
But I have to wonder how much equestrian flooring + how many standing desk pads we need.
Both science + metaphor.

My thoughts are with all of you dealing with the weight of fires, floods + this pandemic. I hope this weekend finds you safe + able to breathe some fresh air.

Loads of love,
​Jane