A Step Backwards, A Stitch Forward

As much as I love things that are exquisitely tailored (not of the machine variety, I mean, by hand), there is an absolute sense of the "human" in things that are hand-made but not meant to be aesthetic first and foremost.  The other day, when I was not shooting rubber bands with young lads (see my previous post), I was looking at an exhibition of local clothes made by real workers of the land.  They were able to use very simple means, growing material from scratch and then forming them, dying them, shaping them, in order to develop the necessary garments for their life.  As someone who has never so much as watered a plant (I exaggerate, but you get my drift), I find this to be absolutely astonishing.

My favorite part must have been the patchwork garment which was likely composed of former pieces and/or unused ones.  There is more art in one stitch of that garment than anything you will ever see on the contemporary runways.