A tailors' essay containing two letters, a fairy-tail, a quote and an intermission. Five chapters in all. A journey towards a better understanding of the creative mind. Please take a seat.
Chapter
1:
THE LETTER
The tailor stayed up late trying to write a letter to Dr. Henry Wampen, the mathematician who had asked for his views on bespoke tailoring. He wasn't used to write letters and tried very hard to find the right words describing the advises he wanted to pass on to his customer. He made sure not to sound too negative, although he wasn't especially keen on the good doctor's new project. After a while he carefully wrote:
"Dear Dr. Henry Wampen,
Thank you for your last visit. It is always a pleasure having you at my tailoring shop. Your new coat is coming along fine. It will be ready for you Monday 20th.
Regarding our discussion on tailoring and how it can be effectivized, I think it is important to view it from a human side also, not focusing on the technical work-process only. Here are some thoughts on what I find important in tailoring:
1. Be sure to use what you already got, while still striving for excellent style, fit and true creativity. As you know, I always try to do this.
2. Rather use what you got before ordering something new. Old things can easily be renewed. This is very practical in hard times.
3. To listen and learn is also important. A process usually turns out well if there is an understanding beforehand and during, I think.
4. If ordering something new, be sure it will be of good quality, made with taste, well designed and can be used indefinitely. Flimsy fashion never can.
5. Enjoy being empowered every now and then, by creating things for yourself. Either by yourself or together with others. A creative process is always quite soothing when completed.
6. Furthermore, I think it is important to try to minimize in all one's doings, except in your relation with loved ones.
I hope the list may be of some help in your further work. Looking forward to see you the 20th.
Yours sincerely."
"There!" he said proudly to himself. "I think that's it!"
[6.6.2012]
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Chapter 2:
INTERMISSION: THE TRUE TAILORING MANIFESTO
(The inspiration - A Swedish prequel)
1. Din personlighet är allt för viktig för att andra skall bestämma över den. (Your personality is way too important for others to decide upon.)
2. Säg nej till överkonsumtion. (Turn away from mass-consumption.)
3. Lär om hur kläder egentligen är uppbyggda. (Educate yourself in how clothes are made.)
4. Få ordning på din garderob. (Get your wardrobe sorted.)
5. Allakan
"Din personlighet byggs upp inifrån - inte utifrån. Du kan inte köpa dig till ett lyckligare liv. Det hittar du inne i dig själv. Så uttryck din personlighet bättre. Det är mitt budskap idag."
THE LETTER
The tailor stayed up late trying to write a letter to Dr. Henry Wampen, the mathematician who had asked for his views on bespoke tailoring. He wasn't used to write letters and tried very hard to find the right words describing the advises he wanted to pass on to his customer. He made sure not to sound too negative, although he wasn't especially keen on the good doctor's new project. After a while he carefully wrote:
"Dear Dr. Henry Wampen,
Thank you for your last visit. It is always a pleasure having you at my tailoring shop. Your new coat is coming along fine. It will be ready for you Monday 20th.
Regarding our discussion on tailoring and how it can be effectivized, I think it is important to view it from a human side also, not focusing on the technical work-process only. Here are some thoughts on what I find important in tailoring:
1. Be sure to use what you already got, while still striving for excellent style, fit and true creativity. As you know, I always try to do this.
2. Rather use what you got before ordering something new. Old things can easily be renewed. This is very practical in hard times.
3. To listen and learn is also important. A process usually turns out well if there is an understanding beforehand and during, I think.
4. If ordering something new, be sure it will be of good quality, made with taste, well designed and can be used indefinitely. Flimsy fashion never can.
5. Enjoy being empowered every now and then, by creating things for yourself. Either by yourself or together with others. A creative process is always quite soothing when completed.
6. Furthermore, I think it is important to try to minimize in all one's doings, except in your relation with loved ones.
I hope the list may be of some help in your further work. Looking forward to see you the 20th.
Yours sincerely."
"There!" he said proudly to himself. "I think that's it!"
[6.6.2012]
----
Chapter 2:
INTERMISSION: THE TRUE TAILORING MANIFESTO
(The inspiration - A Swedish prequel)
1. Din personlighet är allt för viktig för att andra skall bestämma över den. (Your personality is way too important for others to decide upon.)
2. Säg nej till överkonsumtion. (Turn away from mass-consumption.)
3. Lär om hur kläder egentligen är uppbyggda. (Educate yourself in how clothes are made.)
4. Få ordning på din garderob. (Get your wardrobe sorted.)
5. Alla
"Din personlighet byggs upp inifrån - inte utifrån. Du kan inte köpa dig till ett lyckligare liv. Det hittar du inne i dig själv. Så uttryck din personlighet bättre. Det är mitt budskap idag."
("Your personality is built from within - not the other way around. You can't buy happiness. You will find it within yourself. So express your personality better. That's my message today.")
[17.7.2010]
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Chapter 3:
THE VALIANT LITTLE TAILOR (REVISITED)
"But what if we all just learned to make our own clothes, then?" the tailor said. Being of the naive kind, he still thought people could change over time. "There would be so much more diversity around, like... like a population of true individuality!" His face lit up. "Wouldn't that be absolutely fantastic, Your Majesty?"
"But, Mr. Tailor, nobody knows how to do things like that anymore." the King replied. "Sewing? Look around you; you're the only one still doing that! And besides, the learning processes would take far too long, would be far too expensive and would probably end up being altogether way too amateurish. You surly know that too. You have to remember that people don't have time for crafting anymore. It's not like in the good old days when you had a lot of spare time on your hands. People have things to do now, important places to go.
"But that's just it! I think there are a lot of subjects who really don't know what to do with themselves. Unemployment. Boredom. Poor people. And even a group of people although being well off, still wanting to bring some creative light into their lives. They just don't know how!"
The tailor paused. "Well... Maybe, I don't know. But it all seem so obvious."
"What's so obvious, if I may ask?" The King grew a bit impatient with his tailor. "Never mind the academics. Let's just hear what you have to say, shan't we?"
"Well... It's correct the economy isn't doing very well right now, Your Majesty?"
"Right."
"And there's a lot of unemployment in our kingdom, wouldn't you say?"
"Yes?"
"Hm... I just thought..." The tailor looked away as if he suddenly turned shy, and although he usually was, this was something he did to sort his mind of clutter. "If you're on a budget - I mean, not so well off - you could actually make your own clothes, couldn't you? And then make them really smart and durable so you didn't need so many of them either."
The King sighed, but the tailor kept going. "We could start up a small number of tailoring shops all over the Kingdom, where those, absolutely not having the time or knowledge, could order their clothes. It would be both environment-friendly and cost effective. Your Majesty."
"Cost effective? Don't make me laugh. As I recall, we sent our entire production abroad ages ago since they're not so well off 'over there' and, frankly speaking, don't have the strength to argue for a decent pay... That's how we earn our way!"
"But we just have to remember that our own unemployed do get paid anyway, so the only difference would be, they now would have a job. And our money would then stay with us, within the Kingdom, Your Majesty."
"But what about businesses already specializing in all that? (Well, producing clothes anyway...) They would loose enormous amounts of revenue. And what about our delivery firms? And the tailors in Kingdom X? You surly don't want to hurt you colleagues over there, do you?"
"I don't think things could change that quickly anyway, Your Majesty. But if they did, our firms just had to make some better products, wouldn't they? All seven of them! And in Kingdom X, maybe the tailors could make their own clothes? For their own customers? They've done that for centuries, Your Majesty, until our ideas were kind of... well, more important. Maybe we even could learn a thing or two of them? And actually I think we already did, earlier on...?"
The King paused. There was a silence in
"Tell me, Mr. Tailor, so what are your arguments for this sudden left-turn then; some statistics that would prove your notions being of an actual interest? You know there are a lot of better educated people than you out there, who's certainly not on your side."
"Well, things doesn't work so well right now either, do they?" the tailor said a bit more quietly this time. "And we did have proof that this should have worked, didn't we Your Majesty? Maybe we could try something new...?"
"Mr. Tailor. Let me tell you what's the real problem here, and you better listen." the King said firmly. "It's actually people like you, who don't work enough to pay for what's really needed in this kingdom, that are our greatest concern right now. Your work doesn’t produce what we need. And we can't afford supporting you."
"But... I never accepted any alms..."
"That's not the point. Don't be stubborn. It doesn't suit you. You now we took you in here because of your earlier achievements, and that you've lived well. You, if anyone should know that. The point is, that your work is neither fast nor clever anymore. And your recent public letters - 'The Importance of Feeling Good with Yourself" and the other one - what was it called? Yes; 'The Empowering Feeling of Creating Something with Your Hands' - aren’t doing good for anyone.'"
"But it's true..."
"In your mind maybe. It kind of evolved, right? But... How should I put it? You're not educated. I know that, and so do you. Maybe you should just listen instead of speak, since your arguments are so disturbingly incoherent. (And that's the truth of the day!) Maybe you should stick to what you know best? I really think you should."
The tailor collected he's thoughts for just a moment while looking away slightly. It gave the impression of him being shy. But he wasn't anymore. Then he left the
There were some rumors, but no-one new the truth.
[7.6.2012]
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Chapter 4:
A QUOTE
"Comparatively, the fashion industry is one of the most polluting and socially challenged industries - cotton production alone is the second most polluting crop after corn. The industry has also long outsourced production to low wage countries. While the challenges facing the fashion industry may seem daunting, there is hope and a willingness to pool resources and continue to raise awareness as well as share knowledge towards innovative solutions and an improved sustainability footprint for the global fashion industry. "
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Chapter 5:
THE LETTER (REPRISE)
Dear Bette,
I just needed to tell you how inspired I got after our last chat yesterday! Your thoughts on tailoring as some sort of a meta-clothing project felt absolutely right. Like a much needed clarifying of my passion, it all suddenly fell into place thanks to you.
As you know, I always felt an attraction towards the creative side of tailoring, but unfortunately always ended up in helping others to reach their goals, instead of helping myself. I guess that's what we call "having customers" or "a real job", but I never quite figured out how to tackle the undefined process of finer tailoring. The starting-with-a-blank-piece-of-paper issue always seemed very difficult to explain and daunting to overcome. That's probably the reason why I gradually turned to my customers for answers and for them to make decisions. Decisions I should have made myself.
But now I understand: True tailoring, or fashion for that matter, is not about the clothes itself, and never was. It's all about the dreams and wishes we put into them. And with that fact stated, the next question would be: Are you into searching new ways to express yourself, or, are you into doing what everybody else does? Do you need rules to follow?
I even realized that perfection has nothing to do with the tailoring process either, since all perfection is in the very eye of the beholder. What seems perfect for me may seem utterly dull, strange or unfinished for others.
That's why the "meta" expression you told me about felt so appealing! The idea of clothes telling their own story of their coming about and being. How interesting! And how true of tailoring! The never ending search for ways to express oneself with one's own appearance.
I do feel now, that this was exactly what my Project 100 was really all about. Through the process of turning away from mass-consumption, and instead producing my own clothes, myself, for 2 years, I actually freed myself from the cluttered images of pop-culture fashion and became able to concentrate on my own creativity. I even think I without knowing it embodied the meta-clothing concept myself back then, by practically solving the issues of what to wear, while mentally pondering over what I really wanted to have. My searching ultimately became my own answer.
So maybe it's time for the next level now, Bette? Do you think all this could be interesting for anyone else than me, or has it just gone to my head? Maybe it could be transferred into a message or lifestyle of some sort and maybe be taught? At least the passion is there (no doubt abut that!) - so why not try it, right? Telling the tale of the empowering feeling of creating something with your own hands! While actually executing the act of being truly individual.
Yours sincerely.
P.S. Just remembered, that when I started my two-year project my argument for doing so, was to rediscover the creative passion I had for making my own clothes, when I was younger. A passion, I through the years of trying to better myself, somehow had lost. Maybe I just found it again, but in another version?
[14.6.2012]
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All text by Sten Martin, except chapter 4 which is a quote from The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
