#avery's work manages to be on the surface this fun little digression into culture

[swashbucklery]

OKAY THE POST:

So I normally don’t talk about textile stuff here bc this is my Fanworks Corner but I cannot recommend highly enough that everyone stop what they’re doing and listen to Articles of Interest. The link is to their website but you can find them on whatever your favourite podcatcher is. It’s a podcast that started as part of 99% Invisible, so it feels a bit like school, but it’s so so good if you care about clothing or textiles or fashion or gender or social history it’s got ALL THE BEST SHIT I love it so much.

My favourite episodes from earlier seasons are Hawaiian Shirts, Punk Style, Knockoffs, and Perfume/Diamonds, but they’re all really really good. What I love about it is that it does the 99PI thing of taking an ordinary thing and doing a deep dive from a design perspective, which sounds so boring but is actually just like. This really transformative way of looking at an object that you’re used to, and realizing that all objects have history and stories and the world is so rich! So full of intention! So captivating!

BUT OKAY because relevant to the post about 1940s/postwar women’s wear that I reblogged earlier, the current season is FASCINATING because instead of single episodes on single topics it’s an entire-season arc on just one specific thing, and the first two episodes have been utterly riveting so far. I’s on like, the idea of this style that they’re calling “Ivy” which is sort of generic slacks-and-button-downs style that like. You don’t think of as a style but is actually a style, and the whole arc is this incredibly detailed look at what it means and where it comes from and why it’s relevant to us now. It touches on the history of ready-to-wear clothing and post-war politics in the US and Japan and just - so much. So much god stuff.

And also there’s a digression in ep 2 on the post-WW1 Bright Young Things movement, which tickled me because I’m currently fascinated by that in general + am looking for books to learn more. Because the more that I am an essential worker in the current pandemic (which is not over, omg get your boosters GET YOUR BOOSTERS) the more I am fascinated by: 1) World War 1, 2) Post WW1 societal recovery, and 3) Early 1920s social history which was very much a reaction to the first two things and uhhhh has some parallels with our current society what with the sudden extreme individual focus on capitalist hedonism contrasted with the broader more sinister tapdance towards fascism and this feels like it shouldn’t be relevant to clothing but also: it is!

BUT ANYWAY it’s the most brilliant piece of podcast work I’ve ever listened to and if you want to know why 1930-40ss menswear and button downs are having a ~cultural moment and why that’s intersecting with young people’s movements related to gender expression and self-expresson this is the thing for you.

#never have i listened to a podcast #and had someone so succinctly explain to me something #that i was aware of culturally but hadn't yet thought to put into words #and 99pi is the podcast that does that to me the most often #so i listen to it sparingly #but articles of interest does it CONSTANTLY the way that #avery's work manages to be on the surface this fun little digression into culture #and isn't trying to be current #but is simultaneously deeply current and cutting into the core of like #why is this everyday thing the way that it is #it's like that miranda priestly speech but it's also not #because it's not about some fashion house deciding that the sweater should be cerulean #it's about how broader culture leads to these feelings and these desires #and when someone accidentally makes the right shape of sweater or the right style of shirt #to embody those desires #it catches on #and has a moment #and those constellations of right innovation right feeling right moment #delicious! fascinating! i'm smitten! #fibre arts are the best arts #grouchy aunt j's textile history corner