What does it mean to BE THE BRIGHT SPOT? ☀
It's complicated, to say the least
Who else has conflicted feelings about fashion?
Dressing and clothes have the potential to invoke confidence and increase pleasure in daily life. Wearing the right outfit can make us feel more comfortable in our skin and feel excited about stepping out in the world. It’s an expression of our mood. Fashion can helps us express ourselves without saying a word. I don’t identify with the status quo and my unique style is a reflection of that mentality.
At the same time, fashion can be frivolous and self indulgent. The fashion industry is incredibly harmful to the people who make our clothes and our already suffering planet. Who cares what my outfit looks like, didn’t you hear about the latest humanitarian tragedy? Fashion is marketed to be exclusionary and elitist. We are made to feel inadequate if we don’t have that brand name bag. Trends pressure us to spend money we don’t have on clothes we don’t need.
The struggle is real
So, it’s complex. This duality is something I struggle with on a daily basis. How can we celebrate the power of fashion to enhance our lives by helping us feel more us, when we are simultaneously comparing fashion’s importance to “real world” issues?
We can’t.
Looking at it as a dichotomy is the problem. Fashion occurs within the “real world” context, not separate from it. To find the true meaning of fashion, we need to focus on how it is informed by and responds to broader social, cultural, and personal issues.
At its core, fashion is a form of self expression. And self expression may not be as “important” as what’s going on in the news, but it does help us process, understand, interact, and function within the greater world. Through self expression, we create space to feel some optimism and comfort in a world that can be incredibly uncomfortable and at times doesn’t give us much to feel hopeful about.
Sometimes, we can even build connections to others simply by what we’re wearing.
That is absolutely true. And by discovering these truths, we can find how fashion is meaningful for us.
To thine own self be true
If I stay grounded in what’s true for me, I can concentrate on what’s within my control versus getting distracted and overwhelmed by all the problems beyond my purview.
So here is what’s true for me:
- It is true that I have to wear clothes and I get to choose what I wear
- It is true that I feel more confident and comfortable when I’m wearing something I love
- It is true that certain clothes + accessories bring me joy, especially unique pieces that have a story
- It is true that throughout history, people have been using fashion and personal adornment to create a brighter world – whether that brightness is literal through the use of color and prints, or figurative in that what they wore had a broader meaning beyond aesthetics
That is what it means to BE THE BRIGHT SPOT – using fashion to connect with others and to express ourselves with some intention and care.
We have to wear clothes, so we might as well try to dress with some pleasure and purpose. It may have a greater impact than we even realize!
And this is what brings me to my final point…
What can we learn from those that came before?
All of this thought and reflection has got me really curious! I wonder – how have folks in the past used fashion in a way that was meaningful beyond the aesthetic? How can fashion history help us dress in a way that is more intentional?
In short, what can we learn from the BRIGHT SPOTS in fashion history?
Well, I am aim to find out. I’m starting a monthly blog to explore these questions and more.
Keep your eye out for the first entry of BRIGHT SPOTS in Fashion History – a monthly blog – dropping April 2024.
Running a small one woman operation can get pretty hectic and I have a tendency to put too much on my plate, but it’s becoming clear this project can’t be put off any longer. I need to learn from the past so Sew Minimal can create more bright spots today.
My Approach
There’s a lot more I could say about my personal relationship with fashion and how it has helped me understand who I am and how I navigate the world, but I’ll save that for another day. I do, however, want to be up front about a couple things when it comes to my approach and my perspective:
1 – I am a historian of sorts. I received my B.A. and M.A. in History from Northern Arizona University, as well as a certificate in Women and Gender Studies. My area of expertise is race, class, labor, and political movements in the early twentieth century United States. I’m eager to put my education to work, but my intention here is not academic rigor. Instead, I see this as a curious and casual exploration into the past and what we can learn from it. I will be utilizing primarily free and easily accessible online resources to inform this research.
2 – I will probably make mistakes and am willing to acknowledge and learn from my mistakes. This blog will include discussions involving race, gender, class, religion, sexuality, colonialism, etc. I am a straight white woman living a middle-ish class life in southeastern New Mexico, and as such I acknowledge I have certain blind spots. When I get things wrong, I am open to constructive criticism and correcting my errors. I value thoughtful feedback and input. Contact me at KellyColleen@SewMinimal.com or by using the contact form below.
3 – Let’s do this together! Please subscribe to my email list and follow me on Instagram or Facebook for updates. I’d also love your topic suggestions! If you have any ideas for people, movements, or moments in fashion history that I should cover, use the form below to submit your ideas.
Thank you for being here! I am excited to start exploring BRIGHT SPOTS in fashion history with you. Together, we can learn from to create a brighter world today.
💚, Kelly Colleen
