Going Full Circle – Handmade Fashion

In the early Nineteenth Century the Industrial Revolution was really important for so many different types of manufacturing but it was especially significant for the world of fashion with the invention of spinning and weaving machines, and how they revolutionized how clothes were made.

This pinnacle point in fashion history meant that all the latest styles were soon readily available for every member of society, as apposed to being restrained only to the social elite.

In the Twentieth Century the post war boom of the fifties saw the same effect. As cultural alienation from anything handmade grew, so did the biggest rise of consumer mass made products, the extent to which the Western World had never seen.

The down side to mass production, of course, is the fact that everything seems to be very similar and high street shopping can be tricky when you’re looking for something a little more unique.

The best place to look for something a little more independent is online. There are many online stores that not only sell one off pieces but actively seek out and support independent designers of handmade jewelry such as Bottica.com.

It seems now, that our culture has gone full circle and we are starting to appreciate the artisan skills of the past, this means that many handmade fashion pieces are a lot more expensive than their machine made counterparts.

Fashion is starting to realise that perhaps mass mechanism took away from what was real within an item. Italian handbag designer Lanfranco works for fashion house Monaco Metropolitano and is a perfect example of the importance we now place on rarity of the skilled worker.

If you are a skilled crafts person in any area of fashion, whether it be millinery, jewelry design, accessories or whatever else, never underestimate the power of the designer who can make their work come to life using only rudimentary tools and their own hands. Obviously quality materials are also essential for the production of a timeless fashion item but if you make it well, there will always be a buyer who is interested in quality over quantity.

This is a featured post, all opinions are my own