The Wordsmith's Forge

Today's theme is Fashion.

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Here are the notes for "New Rules Every Season."

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Here are the content notes for "A Great Deal of Energy and Determination."

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These are the character notes for "A Great Deal of Energy and Determination."

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This poem is spillover from the April 4, 2023 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a discussion with siliconshaman. It also fills the "Wild Bohemian Girl / Guy" square in my 4-1-23 card for the Gothic Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by fuzzyred. It belongs to the Big One, Finn Family, and Marionettes threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.

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My partner showed me this lovely picture of a caddisfly larval tube, made from colorful pebbles. They use wet silk to glue together any objects of appropriate size to create a mobile shelter. Usually that means tiny pebbles, shells, or sticks. But I've long been a fan of the art created when someone gives them jewels.

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We went up to visit Dad today.

I filled two bags with clothes to donate.  Looking at Mom's clothes reminds me of capsule wardrobes.  She had clusters of things -- red-black-white, camel-sage-mauve, etc.  The bold bright colors and the muted hippie colors.  Really nice things in leather, cotton, linen.  Often there are 2-3 things in the same color or print that go together, but can mix-and-match.  Those are harder to find nowadays, but used to be some stores had whole lines of separates meant to mix like that, and we'd buy them in sets.  It's sad to give them away, but almost nothing fits me.  On the other hand it makes me smile to imagine someone shopping a thrift store and finding these treasures, especially someone desperately scrounging for an interview outfit.  I've found enough treasures in thrift stores, it's only fair to give some back.

On the way home, we swung by a lakeside park that Doug had found earlier.  It was in a rather wooded area.  I spotted a bunch of beehives edging the woods not far from the park.  The positioning, not at all usual, made me think there's at least one bee whisperer up there who's simply plonking down hives near wherever wild bees like to nest.  I also saw an acre or two of sugarbush with buckets hung to tap the trees.  :D

We also stopped at a new African store.  It's a little bigger than Ashar.  We picked up guava nectar and a couple other beverages.  They have a ton of things I've only heard of, and even more that I haven't.  All sorts of African greens and spices and dried fish.  If we find African recipes calling for unusual ingredients, we can look there for those.  They also have lots of flavoring things where you can buy packets or cubes one at a time.  That could be interesting to explore. 

This year in Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I've decided to feature hippies. Today explores Bohemian history, which incorporates the hippie movement.

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Previously I mentioned the use of maybe-colors in unisex or nonbinary dressing, so I decided to list some examples. The neutrals (black-gray-white in cool, brown-tan-ivory in warm) are unisex, but most people want accent colors. There are also some oddball neutrals that mix warm and cool tones.

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A discussion about brafail led to a discussion about learning to sew and making your own clothes. It is much easier to fit the clothes to your body than make your body fit the clothes. Fuck fashion! You deserve to be comfortable. Also, it's often cheaper to make your own, you get exactly what you want, and it usually lasts longer.

I highly recommend sewing. Do try both hand sewing and machine sewing. The latter is faster, but not everyone is good with mechanical things, and some materials or techniques are easier to do by hand. Basic sewing, however, is quite easy for most people, and you can do a LOT with it.

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