fashion
From corsets to petticoats to pants to stilettos, feminism and fashion go hand in hand.
Cut It Out
Maybe it's happened to you. The surprising nip between the bazoombas when you're out on a dinner date. The sharp sting in the armpit while unloading the washing machine. If you've worn an underwire bra for more than two years you know what I'm talking about. The metal underwire that breaks free from the fabric tunnel of power net to attack your most tender flesh when least expected. That curved metal prong that escapes and jabs like a devil's toothpick.
By Valerie Vanderlip5 years ago in Viva
Paper to People
I cut my own bangs when I was around six years old with my mom’s fabric scissors. Needless to say it was a hot mess, but I liked reconfiguring things. I also enjoyed the rush that cutting gave me. It was a final action, hopefully, of mindful deliberation to follow through with a choice that could not be changed. It was my cliff jump, if you will. Somewhere around that time I was making my own paper dolls and designing their clothes. Paper and pencils that she brought home from work were my treats. I’d sit for hours drawing figures, carefully tracing clothes on top of them and positioning the hanger tabs so as not to show when the dolls were dressed. It was only when she realized that I was using THOSE scissors that I learned the difference between fabric scissors and paper scissors. Each has a special purpose. Crayons were my paint brushes. Prints, stripes and plaids created with them were later replaced with markers, ink and guache in fashion design school. Paper scissors still had their place, but now an arsenal of options allowed me to bring designs on paper to life. I am now able to take those ideas from conception to their end result. Creativity gives me immense joy and comfort and that was especially so during the height of the pandemic last year. When much of my life was a guessing game, I was able to channel my energy into using the most important tools I had in the box; imagination and scissors. I think that by continuing to create my happiness through making beautiful, fun, fierce hats showed my clients that there are ways to persevere through struggles by channeling into what makes them happy, too. Developing paper patterns for the perfect fit, now for people, cutting through fabric with precision and the proper scissors to craft a hat that someone will love is how I create my happiness. I create for others.
By LISA MCFADDEN5 years ago in Viva
A Modern Girl in Old Clothes
I am a historical costumer, and cosplayer. I started sewing costumes at age 15, but I absolutely loved history ever since I was a child reading American Girl books. I remember playing for endless hours with my Felicity doll and wishing I could have dresses like hers. I now credit my special love of 18th-century clothing to that doll.
By Seamstress Without A Cause5 years ago in Viva
Wearable Art Passion. Top Story - June 2021.
Between 2016 and 2019 I took part in a local Wearable Art Mandurah (WAM) competition. Situated just 40 minutes south of Perth, Australia, Mandurah is a beautiful coastal city with a multitude of canals weaving through from city to coast.
By Jacq Chorlton5 years ago in Viva
The Perkie Journey
It all started when I was out with friends, and my stick-on bra started to fall off. What does one do? Put it in their purse? Run to the bathroom and put the bra under the hand dryer? SOS! This is not just a "me problem", but a problem countless women have experienced and run into regularly.
By Rose Mangiarotti 5 years ago in Viva
The Blouse with a Cause
While this may appear as a simple blouse, understand that it is a blouse with a cause! My client searched and searched for apparel that best complimented her body image. For those of us that have not suffered the blight of breast cancer, we would not know how her mastectomy proved this to be a challenge. Breast cancer patients are at a quandary when it comes to shopping. My client faced the challenge of how and where to place her prosthetic for her right side mastectomy. She struggled with various bras that allowed for such a prosthetic insert. However her wardrobe had a mind of its own. Her favorite tops would often fall open as she bent over revealing the inefficient bras available on the market. She hated that her blouses could not be worn with comfort when she was constantly worried about the prosthetic that was not stable nor comfortable. Her bra was constantly shifting and moving with only one side as enclosing her natural body while the other side was filled with the prosthetic.
By Darlene Rodriguez-SIlva5 years ago in Viva
Sport Bras
Before I begin, I figured I should share a portion of my accreditations 💁🏽♀️ One reason I quit riding as a young person (just to get it sometime down the road once more) was a direct result of my boobs 🤦🏽♀️ As a teen I was "honored" with GG cup boobs that caused huge torment and shame. I can genuinely say that if the item and ability that presently exists in the Sport Bras industry was around at that point, I most likely couldn't have ever stopped my riding. Truth be told, it wasn't until subsequent to having had a bosom decrease that I hopped back in to the seat 🏇🏽
By Sport Bras5 years ago in Viva
Suit Up!
Since January my inbox has been bombarded with well-meaning e-blasts about swimsuits. Because, y’know, it is just so easy to forget that sweltering period of time between May and September when the whole of the South feels like they’ve smeared themselves in Vaseline then bundled up in Saran wrap. “Oh, it’s only 97 degrees with 110% humidity? Silly me and here I was planning to wear my black trash bag!” said no one, ever.
By Alyson Kate Long5 years ago in Viva
