Sweatshops

Ok so sweatshops are inhumane, but it does give people (children) an opportunity to survive.  Maybe they are treated badly, but there are jobs not in sweatshops that are treated worse and no one pays attention to those.  I understand that children should not be submitted to such conditions, but I'm sure they would much rather work these jobs with these conditions than have their entire family suffer and starve.  

Americans are so "concerned" with such horrid things happening, but not enough of them want to stand up and do anything about it.  They shout really loudly, but when it comes right down to it they don't want to pay the higher prices to make sure the workers are being paid fairly.  Just because a democratic society allows the ACLU to dictate everything a person "suffers" in America, the people who are actually working these jobs aren't the ones complaining otherwise they wouldn't do it.  

As in class the point was brought up that if not for these factory jobs these children would be submitted to child prostitution.  I'm sure when it comes down to it, most people would much rather see these cramped workspaces with few breaks and little pay than to see this.  I saw this a few years ago in a class and was very disturbed.  I would rather know they are working on cheap clothing than to have to experience this (which is WAY more inhumane):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuSxso2FKQI

So yes I am PRO sweatshops if it means the children are kept away from this trade.

Art and usability

Milan fashion week showcased more art inspired RTW than other fashion weeks for Spring 09.

The art aspects came in with prints, patterns, structured fabrics and colors.  All of the collections that I viewed seemed very artistic yet very wearable by a semi-normal woman or man and were all easily viewed as something you could see in a store window.

Dolce and Gabbana's collection was very Brothers Grimm inspired.  The images of the models in plaids and hoods and capes were very reminiscent of "Little Red Riding Hood."  Even the art work in the classic illustrations of the story.

http://www.milanfashionshows.com/fall2008/d&g/pages/d_and_g_aw08_005.htm 

                               

For the Clips collection, the prints and colors all were very much like paintings that would be displayed in a home.  The colors were very eye catching but not too crazy to be seen as wearable.  This could very well appeal to any woman that wanted a statement piece in their wardrobe.

http://www.milanfashionshows.com/fall2008/clips/pages/clips_aw08038.htm

 The art aspect of fashion is something that makes such a statement and gets peoples attention.  It can be statuesque or like an art piece in a museum.  It can be a reflection of the person wearing artistic clothing and what they view as beautiful art.  It is all very wearable by anyone, not just higher class people that want to look expensive.  An ordinary person could make such an impression with just one artistic piece of clothing.  

Design inspiration

                                                                                                                                                         

 I am definitely not a creative person which is why I'm not in the APD program.  However, I do tend to look at designs and think of how I would change them if I could.  One dress in particular has always been a favorite of mine and if I had the chance (and money) I would have made with a few changes.

The gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady" as Eliza Doolittle has always been one that I dreamed as a wedding dress, but of course when the time came it was not feasible and I could not find anything similar so I settled for something else that I was never really happy with.

As beautiful as the original was, I wanted to change the short sleeves to tiny beaded straps to match the beading on the rest of the dress.  I also wanted it to be more fitted overall and have a short train made from the sheer overlay of fabric.

The original color was perfect for a wedding dress, but for a dress for another occasion, I would change it so it was just barely aquamarine (almost unnoticeable) just for the sheer fabric on the top.

But seeing how I'm not creative and not a design student, I'm not really sure that any of that would work anyway.  :)

photo on right  http://thecellardoorblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/31-my-fair-lady.html

photo on the left http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_x54gQJrpvbo/SEm_BGwJhrI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/fpLTlSfdcLI/s1600-h/abc_hepburn_dress_070531_ms.jpg