Adding a Third Rule to The Self-Made Wardrobe – Week 31
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels –
it’s a year about noticing patterns, trying things, and observing what happens.
Trying something different this week – photos at the top of the post, commentary at the bottom.
DAY 211 – Friday, February 27th
hand knit sweater dress // black tank top
black leggings // various rings // robot clock necklace
Day 212 – Saturday, February 28th
handspun handknit sweater // basic black tank top // graphic silk circle skirt
black tights // brown boots // long necklace // various rings
Day 213 – Sunday, March 1st
deconstructed sweater // boring black sweater // black tank top // black maxi
black tights // brown boots // various rings // long necklace
Day 214 – Monday, March 2nd
purple sweater // black tank top // graphic silk circle skirt
black tights // brown boots // acorn necklace // various rings
Day 215 – Tuesday, March 3rd
handknit sweater dress // black tank top
black leggings // black scarf // various rings
Day 216 – Wednesday, March 4th
archer button up shirt // birds & wheels circle skirt // black tank top
black leggings // various rings // bead crochet bracelets
Day 217 – Thursday, March 5th
handspun handknit sweater // black tank top // graphic silk circle skirt
black tights // brown boots // long necklace // various rings
I’ve been blogging with varying levels of commitment since 2010(?), and yet, I haven’t quite mastered the “don’t forget to photograph to project at each step” mindset. I find that quite annoying. For example I don’t really have photos of the yarn I used to knit my handspun sweater. I had the yarn sitting on my desk for ages and didn’t take photos before I started knitting with it. The skein of worsted alpaca handspun I used for the sleeves & body was basically the size of my face.
I mean seriously, how do you not take photos of a skein yarn the size of your face – especially when it’s your own handspun!?!?!
Anyway, this rather infuriating habit of not taking photos has prompted me to institute a 3rd rule for the self-made wardrobe.
Rule #3: projects aren’t actually finished until they’ve been photographed. (And since they aren’t done, they shouldn’t really be worn.)
I considered saying “projects aren’t finished until they’ve been blogged” but then I started thinking about how I so often start and finish projects in clusters, and then because I wanted them to be done, finished and wearable, I would end up clumping lots of finished project posts together, and that sounds completely overwhelming – both to write and to read.
For example, I finished & photographed 3 projects this week – a new shawl, a pile of bracelets, and a skein of handspun yarn – I photographed them all at the same time, but am going to spread out the finished object posts.
Side note: I’m kind of annoyed that I finished three projects this weekend, and none of them were clothing – but there we are. I’m comforting myself with the fact that I also finished both sleeves of my purple sweater.
So, projects aren’t “finished” until they’ve been photographed.
This way I can take photos as I finish projects, in clusters if necessary, but I can spread out the writing and the posting.
However. What about the projects that oh so often get caught between almost finished and finished finished?
More often than I’d care to admit, I’ll get a project very closed to finished, and then something will happen and the project will wait for ages until I get back to it. It took awhile for me to recognize this, and I’m still not positive why I do it, but I do.
Remember my first archer button up shirt?
That project sat between wearable and finished for absolutely ages.
But I sill wore it.
In this particular case, it was waiting for buttons, which was waiting for a trip down to the garment district. And, I desperately wanted to wear the shirt.
So I did.
(There’s also the lack of winter coat photos to consider – and I’m certainly not going to stop wearing my coat for the sake of a photo shoot.)
So. I think that since I’m already working with such a limited wardrobe that instances like that are ok.
My hope is that this new “rule” will get me into the habit of thinking about photography as part of the making process, and not just something I do (if I remember) after a project is long finished.
