Folklore Societys Anniversary Gig

Fast Fashion Loop

A species that gobbles through its resources faster and faster, stimulated by a "system" that needs more and more participants because its supported and is the tool of a bank system that is kept afloat by creating debt  so it can feed itself on interest. And as part of the system tries to then grow..I think the mind of the system has been trapped in a loop. Despite all the tech and tools or maybe because of them- the species itself  hasn't had what it takes to dismantle its mistaken identity.

https://aeon.co/videos/this-is-the-final-resting-place-of-your-cast-off-clothing

ReFashion Workshops

Sweatshop Disasters

Fashion -what you see is only the tip of a vast machine!

The recent tragedy in Bangladesh reminds me of another sweatshop disaster.

The one I am referencing was in New York City, 1911 and claimed the lives of 146 women. That Triangle Shirtwaist fire was so horrifying to the people of the city that they demanded changes in regulations and policies.

“Three months after the fire, Governor John A. Dix signed a law creating the Factory Investigating Commission. Following the findings of the commission, the New York State Legislature enacted 36 statutes to regulate workplace fire safety and ventilation, and to set minimum standards for working women and children.”

( Cooper, C, Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, 100 Years Later)  

This helped the Unions gather the strength they needed to push for fair wages and decent working conditions.

Like the garment workers in Bangladesh, the women were locked into the building with little heed paid to their well being as whole human beings.

Back to NYC back in the day- workers were considered  by some people as "things" to be used and tossed aside when their usefulness was over.  As many of the women were immigrants (insourced workers)  this parallels outsource capitalism in a weird way.

Cheap transportation (subsidized oil) allows stuff to be shipped to consumers at rates that undermine local goods and labor. This is a matter of relativity that the Free Trade dogma ignores in pursuit of market advantage. Considered "good for the economy" aka good for the people who take 'advantage" of  the resources around them while giving back as little as possible; it in fact depletes the economic "soil" similar to the chem subsidy our food crops have endured. And like the story of the food crops, depleted soils become dead soils aka deserts.

So outsource is akin to the tactics employed by the Industrialists as they "designed" immigration policy. But now instead of importing labor, companies can just import the products. This minimizes their responsibility for the conditions that the worker's endure and many other possible risks and problems..

However the backbone of this story that revolves around wealth, power, entitlement and dominion over others includes the right to lord it over the Earth, animals and plants as well. This story is older than nations and yet it continues..

So despite it's age, the story is still honed, redressed and passed forward. It continues to protect hierarchy and reward wealth as it's own raison d'etre. It isn't.

 Stopping abuse in sweatshops is just one facet of this many layered mess. However it is something we can take on.

.Stop buying clothing unless it is totally needed. Ask stores where the Fair Trade goods are kept. Ask who and how the items were made. Try to discuss product lifecycles.

You will be cajoled, laughed at, ignored or you just might strike up a conversation that will make your day.

I know this. I do it and have seen more good energy than else , so I recommend this action.

Want more: See if there is a sewing group in your area or start one. Discuss cool things to make out of other things that are no longer useful. Search the refashion and recycouture blogs and websites for ideas, inspiration.  Practice what you believe.

As for Bangladesh, my heart goes out to all those who are suffering, all those who have been harmed by product madness. I am sending out healing energy thoughts, sending out love.

So now I wonder, if this time, as in after the Triangle Fire, policies and regulations will be changed to support the human beings who trade their time and energy in hope of fair and adequate compensation. I hope that this time we will turn from the pushy profiteering model and design an economic platform that honors life.

I wonder if this time we will start the evolution towards a super conscious reality. I wonder and I am believing we will. So get out there and make some righteous noise!!

Lifecycle of Tee Shirt

Tee shirt reFashion skirt 2010 

for fashionRIP Project samples

Product Life Cycles are part of the unified field viewpoint.

When we learn to see total pictures and therefore full costs, we will learn to weigh the world's valuable collective assets in a better light. When we do, I have great faith that we will reassign the language of wealth and prosperity in ways that align with the principles of life, planet systems and evolution.

I believe we are in a living uni-verse. Our planet is a design of biotic and abiotic systems that support life and we need to understand that this is about symbiotic relationships, as eventually what we do, say, see, feel, think, hear and touch is connected to all else.

Early industrialists saw Nature as bountiful, infinite even, and was there to use, to take advantage of and to capitalize upon. This ideology stems from Judeo/Christian pull quotes and ego inflated man/god constructs that are still alive and kicking today. (see the Takers in Ishmael novel by Daniel Quinn)

Guess what?  The concepts are wrong, killer even, and therefore against the best interests of even those who maintain the main frame. (idea framing as handed down via the culture formally and informally) Is this crazy or what?

Seriously, we are capable of much more than we thought or were taught to think. When we open up to new ideas, more possibilities open up as well. 

We are growing up, maturing as a species and taking on the heart, spirit energies we once were told to diss for having no scientific proof behind them.

Now, thanks to our advanced technology, we have the measuring tools that provide our senses with the opportunity to see the "unseen" and hear the never before heard. We are transitioning from the concrete, machine thinking of Newton physics and shaking off the debris and saying "yes" to the next chapter in the unfolding of who we are, the i am and the becoming.

FashionRip Project

I have added a link -see it on the right side of the page. This is where the updates will be as the FashionRip Installation Project builds. I am really happy to be able to showcase some of the incredible local talent that is or will be involved as momentum grows. Please drop by and leave a comment, ask a question or get involved. Thank you, deborah

Display for Sustainable Ballard Festival

REcyCOuTuRE

Hmm, It is late May 2007 and when I googled in recycouture all I found was the show from the Tokyo Museum (great) a French site and a couple of N Y Museum archive articles. So what is going on here? Like global warming the US appears to be reality challenged and though many have scaled the wall of denial many more are kept too busy and bewitched by the American Paradigm .

Recycouture is about creative innovation, a claim for independence from the mob state of style. Could this stem from the legacy of the designer dictators; whom I have adored and studied for years? It first appears a contradiction but I am thinking it is a striving for new balance. Chanel brought knits and sportswear to the fore, Schiapparelli merged fashion and art, Edith Head helped create Hollywood celebrity, Dior guided the return to the "feminine" after WWII -which also illustrates the link between business, government and culture; I could go on (dare me!) the important thing is that they created real change that converged with changing lifestyles.

Okay then, the next balancing act is with the resources we use and the relationship we have to the rest of life- human, animal and plant. This stems from the individual's challenge to find balance between self (wants and needs) and unity (sharing, caring and interconnected truths). So far we are good at ego (self) and the small unities of religions, cults, nations etc. but those institutions have blinded us to the bigger picture.

Recycouture is a medium of exploration that is easily accessible, reduces waste, is fun and challenging without extolling a heavy price for "failure" which really can't happen, because when you start at O a negative is a contradiction! This is how we can embrace change in a world gone astray. (Extrapolate current policies and systems then factor in the resources and the energy to mass cycles and limits- well what's your answer, really I would like to see more interest, after all its just LIFE)

PS I do believe humans have always felt challenged and afraid which explains a lot of the constructs and institutions and yet our spirits remain undaunted......way cool.