Dear fashion friends,
I’ve spent most of the summer in Colombia doing research, writing, and taking time off to just be with my loved ones—horses included! In addition to riding (always the highlight when I’m here), I’ve also been able to visit most of my favorite museums, get close and personal with objects, and share engaging conversations about fashion with dozens of people. I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to spend the summer!
The downside of having so much fun and doing so many things I love is that, even if I’ve been here for two months already, I just don’t want to leave. I hadn’t realized how much I missed life in Colombia until I got to spend the first month of the summer here. It’s not that I don’t like my life in England, because I do, and I am very thankful for the opportunity to live and teach there. But England feels far and disconnected from the life I’ve very proudly built between Colombia and the United States, so I’ve had to be more mindful about actively doing things that help me feel slightly closer to that “old” life.
That’s probably why I couldn’t resist the idea of leading a summer Coffeehouse Table at the Omohundro Institute—where I also spent quite a large portion of my time as a Ph.D. student. I proposed to lead a sort of reading club (you know I love them) on “Objects of Empire,” mostly as an excuse to reread some of my favorite articles about the material culture of European empires and discover new ones. I was delighted when my proposal was accepted and even more so when I met the fantastic group of scholars that joined our discussions during the past six weeks!
Realizing that I feel far from home when I’m in England and that I miss my “old” life has made me reflect pretty intensely about my purpose and future plans. I know that these are huge questions that I won’t answer in just one summer, but they have helped me visualize how I want to contribute to redressing fashion (as I like to call it), at least in the short to medium term.
If you know me, you might guess that it has to do with sharing my research and knowledge, translating scholarly insights into actionable strategies, and facilitating more safe spaces for candid conversations on how to actually transform fashion as we know it today. And this requires, of course, different “formats” or “outlets.”
You may remember from a past newsletter that I started a YouTube channel, first as a place to record my “loose thoughts” for those of you who prefer to listen to rather than read. Starting next month, I’ll also share mini fashion lessons focused, as always, on how to “redress” and “decolonize” fashion. And I’m also in the process of recording new podcast episodes, which I also want to make available on YouTube.
As for the safe spaces for conversation, I’ve reopened my book club and, by popular demand, we are now only reading one chapter per month to keep the rhythm more manageable. Since September is largely about being back to school, we’ll be reading and discussing fashion education. You can register here, and please don’t hesitate to email me with more questions if you have them!
September also marks the beginning of fashion month. And to celebrate the occasion, this time I’ve decided to create a Redressing Fashion (Month) Challenge, where we’ll engage in a tiny little action every day to reshape how we wear, think, create, and talk about fashion! We start with NYFW on September 6th, so please join here and share on social media using #ReFashionMonth 🤩 I can’t wait to see how we progress!
With that said, I can now share some of my “food for thought” from this month and a bit about what I’m looking forward to next month below.
If you have any additional suggestions on what I should read, listen to, watch or attend in the next few weeks, please, please, please send them my way. You know I love to nerd out about fashion and I’m always thrilled to know your ideas and thoughts!
Thank you, thank you for reading and joining the conversation!
Until next time,
—L 🩷
PS. Remember you can subscribe to my email list to receive blog updates directly to your inbox.
Food for thought
1. Book of the month
As part of my research for an article I’m writing on printed cottons in colonial Spanish America (known as indianillas in this context), I’ve been rereading Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500–1800*, edited by Amelia Peck (2013). The book is absolutely beautiful (my copy has a textile cover!), richly illustrated, and narrates the transcultural history of global textiles between the 16th and 19th centuries.
2. Short(ish) reads
My favorite “discovery” for the OI Coffeehouse was Mei Mei Rado’s chapter on silk for Material Cultures of the Global Eighteenth Century: Art, Mobility, and Change* (paperback coming in 2025). In it, Rado discusses the dissemination and adaptations of an “Orientalist” floral pattern in England, China, and colonial North America, and explains how the textile motif participated in the discourses and ideas of Empire-building in all continents.
If I’m allowed a tiny personal plug, I have to mention one of Bella Webb’s recent articles for Vogue Business, exploring the relationship between sustainability and personal style. As you’ll see, she interviewed me for the article and I contributed with just a little idea—but I enjoyed reading the full piece and learning from what others have to say about this important topic!
3. Podcast
You know I’m a big fan of Dressed: The History of Fashion podcast and, if you read my last “loose thoughts,” you also know that I spent most of last month thinking about the Olympics. So of course I listened to the five-series on dressing the summer Olympic athlete. When I go riding today I’ll be listening to “Indigenous Fashion Innovation: Past, Present, Future,” compiling past interviews with Christian Allaire, Orlando Dugi, Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, Korina Emmerich, and Jontay Kahm.
By the way, Dressed recently celebrated its 500 episodes, which is the absolute goal for this baby podcaster. Congratulations, Cassidy and April, and thank you for being such an inspiration!!
4. Non-fashion stuff
One of my main goals for this year is to get back to reading fiction and other non-fashion stuff. But, as you might suspect, it hasn’t been easy! I love having a job that lets me read almost as much as I’d want to, but it means I’m left with little time—and brainwidth—to engage with more words after hours.
But since I’ve spent much of the summer on airplanes, at the beach, and on the Andean mountains without cell reception, I’ve finally made some progress on this end! I devoured Good Material* by Dolly Alderton (2023) mostly because I found it super funny and, I must confess, pathetically relatable! I’m also halfway through Miss Buncle’s Book by D. E. Stevenson (1934), which gave me many giggles when I started reading it in July as inspiration to get writing my own book, but I’ve since abandoned it (as my book-writing has also fell to the wayside 😓).
On the shorter—and perhaps more “serious”—end of my non-fashion reading list this month were a study of how climate change impacts our brains, Susanna Barkataki’s newsletter on decolonizing yoga, and Suzy Welch’s podcast, Becoming You.
Coming up next month
I’ll be flying back to England next week and plan to spend most of September (and the rest of the year) back in Europe. Before I start teaching again towards the end of the month, I’ll be participating in two conferences, creating and sharing stuff in my podcast and YouTube channel, and moving through my Redressing Fashion (Month) Challenge—hopefully in your company!
The key highlights in my September agenda are:
- Redressing Fashion (Month) Challenge — starting on September 6th as NYFW kicks off and going on for 30 days!
- Making Historical Dress Festival — September 13th and 14th at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK, and online
- Vestir a la francesa o a la española — a conference on Spanish fashion on September 18th–20th at Museo del Traje and Museo del Prado in Madrid
*Links marked with an asterisk contain affiliate links. This means I may earn a commission from applicable purchases.
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