#cocovid

[vinceaddams]

Oh wow there’s a LOT of sewing & historical costuming content coming up this week! (July 30th-August 2nd, 2020)

Costume College, an annual convention focused on historical clothing, has obviously had to be cancelled, so people are doing a lot of livestream panels and putting up various tutorials and stuff online instead.

[princesskuragina]

For the most part quarantine is horrible but I will say the amount of content usually behind a paywall or a physical boundary or both that I've been able to access for free is amazing. Like can you imagine if learning and theatre were always this accessible bitch I'd be unstoppable

[kflanie369]

Watching through CoCoVid stuff and it never occurred to me that the gender binary didn’t have to apply to me in historical costuming if it didn’t have to apply to me in modern clothes.

This seems like a rather obvious logical leap (more like a tiny hop) but this realization smacked me over the head this week and now I’m so much more excited about historical costuming and dress

[teaandpinkfrosting]

An excellent video by excellent people about why the Victorian 18-inch waist is a myth!

There’s an incredible amount of information here, including why so many surviving garments that we see in museums have such small measurements, how ideal body shapes were achieved without tightlacing, and some close-up looks at some pieces in Abby’s collection.

[universitywithmecfs]

Careers in Fashion History ~ ft Raissa Bretãna

This was the first stream from CoCoVid that I watched, hosted by Bernadette Banner.

It made me hopeful to hear that winding career paths and experience can be combined to find your niche. Nothing new there, but reassuring all the same.

It was interesting to hear the discussion of the gap between academia and practical applications in theatre. I think it's representative of many industries in this way, and find the aim to bridge these gaps admirable. Interfaces are after all the areas of most change.

From an engineering perspective the increased study in fashion and dress history will provide interesting resources for textile production industries, especially if it's able to bridge knowledge gaps. And, as consumer habits and industries have to change their practices to mitigate the pollution and climate and human impacts. It will be really interesting to see if the historical construction techniques which allow for adjustments and extended the use of garments and textiles, are able to be translated into mass-production without the oversimplification which impacts fit and fabric choices going forward.

The importance of networking and demonstrating appreciation and interest is also something I think I need to work on. Being part of the silent majority is my usual position, which I don't think there's anything wrong with. But it does hinder the development of human connection, which results in lost opportunities. People are often open to help or suggest pointers if they think someone is interested in their field or their interests.

The discussion surrounding knowledge sharing and the internet really amplifies this. We can now expand the pie, there's less apparent need to horde knowledge. When more voices are at the table more places to bounce ideas, ask for help and hear different perspectives. Similarly the importance of formal academic training blended with practical experience and how these skills support each other, as well as the value and inherent classism around unpaid internships, and expensive training.

The actual routes and careers in fashion history seem to have stuck less than the wider discussions surrounding them. Perhaps because my interest are tangentially aligned.

[vincennesdimanche]

Sewing with disability from Retro Claude on ytube. Some very good perspectives and tips and ideas. Also, check out the comments for some more tips from the viewers.

[elswrlds]

If you aren’t somebody the church would have burned 500 years ago, are you really living your best life?

Zack Pinsent

[gothicmagpie]

1869 Working Woman Summer to Winter Get Ready with Me Featuring Denise Nicole by Costuming Drama.