June 20, 2022

The Verge: The Archive Saving Home Sewing History From The Trash

New-to-me, from The Verge: The Archive Saving Home Sewing History From The Trash. ” The Commercial Pattern Archive is one of the few projects in the world that safeguards these documents that are fragile, easily forgotten, and born to die. A labor of love and insistence on the part of a small team of historians, costume designers, archivists, and hobbyists, the archive began in the 1990s and includes a physical stash and digital database of English-language patterns unparalleled in its scope and depth. CoPA is home to around 56,000 physical patterns going back to the 1800s, along with books, pamphlets, journals, and other related material.”

New Resources 0
September 24, 2021

Refinery29: Sewing TikTok Is Social Media’s Own Project Runway

Refinery29: Sewing TikTok Is Social Media’s Own Project Runway. “The public’s interest in fashion’s behind-the-scenes process has long been a pillar of reality entertainment. It’s what shows like Project Runway and Making The Cut owe their success to. Now, as fashion communities grow on TikTok, people are using the app to showcase their own kind of reality show via short videos, diving into sewing challenges worthy of a Tim Gunn compliment.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
June 19, 2021

New-to-me: Curvy Pattern Database

New-to-me: the Curvy Pattern Database. From the About page: “I started sewing when I was young – my grandmother is an award winning quilter and my mother is a well versed garment sewer. I picked sewing back up in early 2020 (like many) and realized that garment patterns that I didn’t have to alter extensively to fit my body (most commonly by grading up a TON to fit my butt and belly) were very hard to find. When I did find a pattern or designer made to fit my body I started keeping it in a spreadsheet. Thus, the designer database was born!” The database is available in Imperial or Metric measurement and includes filters for bust, waist, and hip size. Excellent work.

New Resources 0
March 26, 2021

Preachers and their $5,000 sneakers: Why one man started an Instagram account showing churches’ wealth (Washington Post)

Washington Post: Preachers and their $5,000 sneakers: Why one man started an Instagram account showing churches’ wealth. “On his feed, [Ben] Kirby has showcased Seattle pastor Judah Smith’s $3,600 Gucci jacket, Dallas pastor T.D. Jakes’s $1,250 Louboutin fanny pack and Miami pastor Guillermo Maldonado’s $2,541 Ricci crocodile belt. And he considers Paula White, former president Donald Trump’s most trusted pastoral adviser who is often photographed in designer items, a PreachersNSneakers ‘content goldmine,’ posting a photo of her wearing $785 Stella McCartney sneakers.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0
January 22, 2021

BBC: Shoppers stuck at home shun new clothes in 2020

BBC: Shoppers stuck at home shun new clothes in 2020. “Shoppers bought far fewer clothes last year as lockdowns meant people had less opportunity to socialise and go out. Clothes sales slumped 25%, the biggest drop in 23 years when records began, official figures suggest. While shops have reported demand for certain clothing such as pyjamas and loungewear has risen, demand for going-out items has fallen sharply.”

COVID-19 0
December 29, 2020

CNET: SimpliSafe social distancing sweater sounds siren when others get too close

CNET: SimpliSafe social distancing sweater sounds siren when others get too close. “Unprecedented times call for unprecedented sweaters. Enter the SimpliSafe Social Distancing Sweater, which sounds an alarm when other people get within 6 feet. The sweater for the COVID-19 era is a bit of creative PR for SimpliSafe, a purveyor of home security systems. The company did produce a working prototype of the pullover, however.”

COVID-19 0
September 21, 2020

Boston Globe: Will we ever wear real clothes again?

Boston Globe: Will we ever wear real clothes again?. “Obsessing over pandemic fashion is a luxury some don’t have. Many workers have been forced to show up at their jobs since COVID-19 hit even when it didn’t feel safe. Others have lost their jobs. But with major Boston-area employers extending work-from-home policies until 2021 or beyond, and events and concerts and eating inside at restaurants and other fun activities either canceled, postponed, or greatly scaled back, the question has to be asked: Will we ever wear real clothes again?”

COVID-19 0
September 18, 2020

Refinery29: 13 Insta Accounts To Follow If You Want To Start Making Your Own Clothes

Refinery29: 13 Insta Accounts To Follow If You Want To Start Making Your Own Clothes. “The pandemic has given us the space and time to sit down and make alterations to our existing wardrobe and create new pieces from old. Whether it’s to open up your wardrobe to plus-size possibilities, take a stand for sustainability or embrace a slower pace of life, there are countless reasons to dive in.”

Useful Stuff 0
May 5, 2020

Invision Community: New Website Launched Dedicated to Cosplay

Invision Community: New Website Launched Dedicated to Cosplay. “ReedPop has announced the launch of Cosplay Central – a new multiplatform destination that is designed to be the global voice of the cosplay community and the premier destination for all things Cosplay, including the latest news, special features, videos, advice columns, interviews, tutorials, photo galleries and much more.”

New Resources 0
September 1, 2018

Houston Community College: HCC’s Historical Fashion Archive goes digital to meet 21st Century student needs

Houston Community College: HCC’s Historical Fashion Archive goes digital to meet 21st Century student needs. “Jeweled shoes from the 1700s. Fragile dresses from the 1800s. Avant Garde designer clothing from the 1900s. These are just a few of the historic garments now viewable in never-before-seen photographs on a new searchable website created by Houston Community College with a $25,000 grant from the Texas State Libraries and Archive Commission.”

New Resources 0
February 1, 2017

Michigan Live: Grand Rapids Public Museum gets $100K to digitize fashion collection

In development: a digital archive of fashion. “From Victorian-era dresses to modern-day workout gear, the Grand Rapids Public Museum has collected plenty of styles of clothes that date back over a hundred years. While some of the collection can be seen online, a majority of the collection hasn’t yet been digitized. Thanks to a national grant, the museum is now digitizing the rest of its extensive fashion collection.”

New Resources 1
November 28, 2016

Bloomsbury Launches New Digital Archive of Fashion Photography

Bloomsbury has launched a new digital archive of fashion photography (and the ONLY story I could easily find was in The Daily Mail.) “The work of the independent publisher Bloomsbury, the new online archive features everything from top designers’ graduate shows to candid shots of original supermodels like Naomi, Kate and Helena. Bloomsbury spent more than three years painstakingly digitising and cataloging more than 750,000 images, which date from the 1970s up to 2000, to create its new searchable fashion library.” As you might imagine, this is not a free resource.

New Resources 0
September 7, 2016

Google Launches New Feature: Shop the Look

Google has launched a new feature called Shop the Look, because no one knows fashion like tech people. “Users can search Google for an outfit, like ‘cocktail dress’, and the platform will pull in images from social influencers that match that outfit description. Then once users tap on one of those images it will pull up a gallery with each item of clothing featured in the picture, as well as a link to purchase it.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
May 23, 2016

Google and Levi’s Are Making a Smart Jacket

Google is teaming up with Levi’s to make a smart jacket. “Google is working on making a connected, technology-laced jacket that you’ll be able to wear in any type of weather, Google announced Friday. It’s called Jacquard, and the company has been working on it since 2015. It’s set to come out in spring 2017. Jacquard is made with interactive denim, made in partnership with Levi’s.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0

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