Spring 2017 RTW Part I

Only a few shows have caught my eye this season.  I used to really enjoy fashion but recently have become so... bored by runway shows.  Probably because I've become increasingly repelled by the fashion market and it's push to sell sell sell.  Even the idea of a "fashion season" and "new now" that the industry creates is tiring. It's crazy that runway shows are planned to highlight fashions a full year and a half in advance.  At the same time I enjoy when designers push back to create pieces that are creative and not boring stuff that they know will sell. If you're going to sell your designs for uber expensive prices why not at least make them stand out. Yet there are still a few unique shows thank goodness.  Here are a few of my favorites thus far:

1. Tsumori Chisato
Mixed patterns, interesting shapes and accessories. Super eclectic

2. Lemaire

Creative layering, interesting shapes, delicate pattern details. I imagine it becomes wearable once you break down the outfits into single pieces to mix into your existing wardrobe... and I wouldn't turn down one of the camera shaped bags.

3. Charlotte Olympia

Just for fun... this show looks like it would have been a blast to attend with the live band.

-Amanda

Our Saratoga and SOADFF purchases...

Chee Mee's: Malabrigo (will have to check the colorway and edit), Madeline Tosh Cosmic Wonder, and 6 skeins of green yarn from Battenkill

Amanda's: hand painted cheviot and rambouillet from Brown Dog Fiber Arts Studio (the red + yellow mix is not something that I would normally pick but I was drawn to its color combo for some reason. So far it's spinning up wonderfully... more on that in the next post), grey wesleydale/rambouillet roving, two tiny alpacas that I couldn't resist they are so cute, and some squishy targhee roving. I'm most excited to try spinning these new fibers to get a feel for them.  So far I've tried spun merino, polwarth, and corriedale.

-Amanda

More from Southern Adirondack fiber festival... I had so many highlights from the festival but here are a few photos of my favorite moments. Highlights include beautiful weather, petting a very gentle cream colored Cormo sheep, and of course cider donuts!  Fall is here, people. And Fall means knitting and spinning without sweaty hands.  Coming next... our purchases from SOADFF.

-Amanda

Us at the winners barn looking at the winning sheared wool ^ 

This little guy surveying the scene^ at SOAD Fiber Fest 

At the risk of blasphemy...

After all these years the  Rhinebeck Yarn Festival has become something of a Mecca or "must do" for enthusiastic knitters drawing huge crowds.  Ravelry, popular yarn and knitting authors, craft bloggers...their presence at Rhinebeck add to the frenzy.  Unfortunately vendor booths are over-crowded, under-stocked and unpleasantly chaotic.  Food purveyors are over extended and long lines for food add to the sense of stress.  While we will continue to attend the RYF, it is verging on too big, too successful, just too much.

In contrast, for the first time today Amanda and I went to the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival & Romney Sheep Show in Washington County, NewYork with my sister (another rabid knitter) and her unbelievably patient husband.  In Schuylerville, New York, the SAFF&RSS was a wonderful surprise.  100 vendors, prize winning exhibits of rovings, spun yarns, knitted and other crafted projects, sheep shearings, Gotland, Romney and other breeds sitting peacefully in their individual pens - everything was great.  Everyone was so happy to chat and share their experiences.  Spinners busy at their wheels were everyone.  There was equal emphasis on roving as well as yarns.  Spacious; tons of elbow room.  Plenty of benches to sit and rest.  Just three key food vendors including the 4-H Food Booth.  Possibly the world's best fresh donuts EVER.  Low key, ernest, calm.

Maybe it was the clear blue skies, the clean, cool weather or the friendly folks.  Maybe it was the fact that we could stroll into any vendor booth without being elbowed by a million other New Yorkers up for a day "in the country".  Maybe it was the ease, the relaxed atmosphere.  Maybe it was the authenticity of a young entrepreneur selling handmade bracelets made from recycled belts for $8.00.  Maybe it was the evident, straightforward interest of all in the goodness, pleasures of wool.

Whatever it was that made SAFF&RSS such a great experience, we will likely add it to our list of annual rites going forward.  What a great addition to our wool world.

-Chee Mee

Sometimes stars align and voila, you're happy.

Shopping in my old haunt, Century 21 (if you are a New Yorker you know what I'm talking about), I found this perfect example of convergence and serendipity.  I mean, can you believe it!
This is a Sonia by Sonia Rykiel.  It is a jeans jacket.  It is quilted lined.  It is denim but tastefully EMBELLISHED.  And best of all, it FITS!  I've been admiring Sonia Rykiel for such a long time because she's had such staying power, she's built her brand on knits, and she is was a woman designing for women.  It's not that I've loved everything that she has designed but you always knew when something is a Sonia piece and you could sense a joy and appreciation for women in her designs.

Since we are in the midst of New York fashion week (showing Spring 2017?! When we haven't even left Summer??)  I think it is worth ranting that fashion is so lacking in everything that women are looking for these days.  I wish there was more intent, more integrity and more honesty in the fashion world.  Listening to public radio yesterday, I was so pleased to hear Tim Gunn talk about the deplorable state of the fashion industry in that it continues to refuse to design for the average woman in the U.S.  The average American woman wears a size 14/16, not a size 2.  The average woman is intelligent and thoughtful, not some bimbo with the attention span of a two year old.  No wonder there is a parallel universe of independents and home-makers gathering in strength.  No wonder the retail industry is becoming irrelevant, and, horrors, boring.

Thank God for Sonia Rykiel!

-Chee Mee