Library Couture

ARTisan Tea Room and Design Studio

It's probably quite obvious that I have a deep love for books! As the daughter of a librarian, I grew up surrounded by books and the one thing that I cannot resist is a good book. I read widely and love being transported to another time and place with a good story or learning something new in a well written non-fiction book. The stacks and stacks of books that sit on my beside table and on my desk are the ongoing proof of my love affair with the written word.

Not long ago, I received an email from a librarian in Lancashire County, United Kingdom who asked for my help with a project he had initiated to engage young people with libraries:

My name is Stewart Parsons and I lead the Cultural Youth Offer in Lancashire Libraries where my brief is to engage young people with libraries. My take on that is to showcase fashion, music, film, art in a fabulously contemporary way so young people get addicted to libraries through the things they actually love anyway. One of my showpiece projects Heroine Chic /Library Couture is designed to recycle all library paper waste into paper dresses based on or inspired by iconic characters like Holly Golightly, Cleopatra, Dorian Grey etc: so far so cool...We have a huge amount of recycled library paper to fashion the garments (800 garments in all) and the idea of young people working with designers to deliver the programme is hugely exciting but we are having our progress blocked by one simple thing: How to print on the paper. Ideally we would like the garments to look like pages from the books they represent, but local printing firms are balking at the idea. If you have any insights or experience of how to print on this amount of paper pre-design, I would love to hear from you.

My suggestion was to cut the paper to the size that it might fit into a photocopier and photocopying selected pages of the book onto that as an inexpensive printing alternative or to enlist the help of some local printmakers to have skills in using screenprinting and/or letterpress. But I also know from my own experiences in making paper garments that a large component of the printed paper might get cut away in assembling the garments or become unusable (due to rips or other problems during construction). Another solution might be to have the teens choose their favourite quote or passage from a particular book and add the quote to the dress with paint, marker or other tool after the garment was assembled.

The funny thing is that when I told my mother about the project she had the best idea of all. She said "Tell him to ask the teens how they might solve this problem with the text. They might surprise you with their solutions!"   Why didn't I think of that!

This is one project that I wish I could get involved in on a hands-on basis because it combines two things that I am passionate about - books and fashion. Sadly, I'll have to admire it from afar, unless my research takes me over to the United Kingdom in the next while. Stewart has graciously promised to stay in touch and keep me posted on the progress of this fabulous project.

Book Review: Bride of New France

In 1669, New France referred to a part of Canada now known as Quebec. This densely forested land was cruel to its first inhabitants, who faced starvation, bitter cold and hostile natives, and being banished to New France was considered a fate worse than death. Nevertheless, there was a program to populate this new country by sending young women to New France as marriage partners for the men and soldiers already in the land.  This is the premise of the book Bride of New France, which is the story of one such young girl by the name of Laure Beausejour. The story begins in France where she is a Bijoux (an apprentice laceworker) living in the dormitory at Salpetriere Hospital, moves across the stormy Atlantic Ocean in a perilous journey and ends in the wild territory of New France.

This novel is the debut work of Suzanne Desrochers who is completing her Ph.D thesis in England on the migration of women to colonial North America from Paris and London. Clearly she is well versed in history and much of the story rings true. But like many first time authors, the book is somewhat inconsistent in flow with some parts of the story that lag and other plot points that seem over the top and unnecessary to the story. I liked the book enough to read it anyway as it paints a vivid picture of the harsh reality of this inhospitable land, but I never was really able to identify or even like the main character. Laure seems unreachable and unknowable, even though the story is about her. But no matter, the book is worth reading anyway.

One aspect of the book that I particularly enjoyed was the fact that Laure was a gifted needleworker and seamstress. She makes her own clothes and the image of her lovely dresses, totally inappropriate to the harsh wilds, hanging from the rafters of her home, is one that has stayed with me.

It's been a while since I read the non-fiction accounts of Susanna Moodie's Roughing it in the Bush and  Catharine Parr Traill's The Backwoods of Canada, Letters from the Life of an Emigrant Officer but The Bride of New France has reawakened my curiosity about the role of women in settlement of Canada. There are so many books, so little time....

Title: Bride of New France
Author: Suzanne Desrochers
Category: Historical fiction
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Number of Pages: 292 (Paperback edition)

Why?

Another one of my retail therapy purchases from Anthropolgie (Pansy trench)

Why? This question has been asked of me so many times in the past few weeks, and especially so yesterday. Why would you go back to school to get a second masters degree if you already have a masters degree? And given that you have already established yourself as an artist and writer, what more could you want? Why indeed? This very question ran through my mind in the wee hours of the morning as my brain struggled to process what I will have to juggle over the next two years.

Why not? That's how I generally approach most interesting opportunities that come my way. Certainly that has led to some missteps along the way, but generally I've found my life to be richer for all the experiences I've had and all the people I've met.

But in this case, there was another factor involved. As my mother approaches the final stages of her life, I've watched her suffer as her world has shrunk. Robbed of her health and independence, she still sparkles with intelligence, but sadly she is haunted by regrets at opportunities not taken. Listening to her voice those regrets has deepened my resolve that life should be lived without regret.

The joy of doing scholarly research, with the painstaking attention to detail that it requires, is something that I rediscovered in working behind the scenes in the Costume and Textile department at the Royal Ontario Museum this past year. It challenged my brain in a way that I've missed in the last decade of my life. And it was a chance comment that I made to a professor about this research that led to this new opportunity to do the Master of Arts, Fashion at Ryerson University. I have so many unique research ideas that I'm certain I could write several theses.

As I walked into the classroom yesterday with my stomach in knots, I was relieved to discover that there are others who are changing their life's direction. With backgrounds in marketing, psychology, sociology, design, law, fine arts, English and finance, we are a wonderful jumble of talented folk. It seems that I'm not the only one who is choosing to live life without regrets.

What about you? What would you chose to do or be if you could do anything?

There is no looking back (Back view of Pansy Trench from Anthropologie)

What I Wore on the First Day of School

Culottes from Anthropologie

If you stepped into my closet, you'd see an array of black and beige, punctuated by orange, turquoise and fuschia pink.  This muted and conservative palette generally works for the multitude of roles that I juggle. But the Masters of Arts, Fashion program at Ryerson University seems to require a different look and I want to express myself in a different way. For once, I can just be me!

I love flowers. Their fragile beauty is a reminder of the transitory nature of life and the need to include joy, laughter and beauty in every day. In my recent retail therapy session at Anthropologie, I could not resist these Wind Garden Culottes from Elevenses. The old fashioned embroidery contrasts with the up to date cut. But more importantly, these shorts make me smile and I'll be wearing them for my first day of school today.  Wish me luck!!