Dear fashion friends,
You may remember from last time that I flew back to London in the first week of September to begin settling before the start of my academic year. And while it’s been almost three weeks since I returned, I feel like I haven’t really set foot in London at all!
The reason might be that I went out of town almost as soon as I landed for the Making Historical Dress Festival at DMU Leicester. At the festival I had the honor to present some reflections about my work with Culturas de Moda and the Colonial Museum in Bogota to teach fashion history while creating community spaces through sewing.
When I proposed my talk, I said I would reflect on the potential of these costureros históricos (or “fashion history sewing circles”) to decolonizing fashion and fashion education. In leading them, it became pretty evident to me how they blur the boundaries between “teacher/instructor” and “student/apprentice” and, in turn, reframe common educational hierarchies. They’re also some of the most beautiful spaces in which to create community and connection—both of which are essential to decolonization, as I’ve mentioned many times before.
But I don’t think I had realized the personal importance that these sewing circles have had in my life until I actually started talking about them at the festival. So much so that I’m even thinking about creating one here in London and planning for a session or two in Madrid before the end of the year. Would anyone be interested in joining? (I’m of course trying to gauge interest here so please do let me know!)
Beyond my own presentation, the MHD Festival was an exciting and thought-provoking space to learn about practice-based research in fashion history. I learned so much from the other talks and had so many insights from individual conversations with researchers and scholars present, that I felt completely exhausted by the end of the week. I can still feel the bliss of a Sunday spent mostly at home (in my horse PJs, of course 😉), making a slow and restorative meal, and drinking lots of tea!
It didn’t last long enough, though, because on the following Tuesday I traveled to Madrid for a second conference—this time about eighteenth-century fashion in Spain. The three-day conference was packed with papers and activities, split mostly between Museo del Traje and Museo del Prado. I learned from some of the scholars I’ve been reading and citing since I began my career as a fashion historian, as well as established and upcoming researchers I didn’t previously know. We also visited the Museo del Traje’s exhibitions, the Royal Collections Gallery, and a tiny—but very clever!—exhibition on Versace at the National Decorative Arts Museum (guided by its curator, Jose Luis Diez-Garde). The best surprise of the conference was seeing my Parsons professor and mentor, Elizabeth Morano, and Michele Majer, with whom I worked on the award-winning Threads of Power*—though of course I forgot to get a photo with them!
You may anticipate that I have way too many things to say about this conference, and I’m definitely still trying to digest most of my ideas, so I’ll have to dedicate some more space to it. I haven’t decided if I’ll do it in my next “loose thoughts” or if I’d rather try to unpack it in a podcast episode, so stay tuned for more. (Speaking of my podcast: I have finally made some progress on new podcast episodes, after promising forever without delivering, so please also expect those soon!)
And after barely one day in London, I am now back in Leicester for DMU’s student orientation (or “induction” as they call it here) week.
As I step into the new academic year, I’m very much looking forward to sharing more of my insights and reflection about fashion education and what I research and teach over here and on Instagram. So if you have any special requests, this is your call to send them my way!
I must say that, as much as I’m excited about the new year, I’m also trying to be super mindful about finding harmony in my energy levels. One of my biggest objectives this year is to find a more sustainable routine that lets me continue writing this newsletter every other week, publish new podcast episodes every other week, and start creating content for YouTube. I am feeling quite inspired and motivated these days, so hopefully I can keep the energy flowing. Please send good vibes!
As always, you can find some “food for thought” in my selection of intellectual highlights for this month below and a bit about what I’m looking forward to next month.
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 🩷
1. Book of the month
In preparation for a new academic year, I’ve been revisiting some old fashion education favorites, but I also found an excellent excuse to finally read Fashion Education: The Systemic Revolution (2023). The book is edited by Ben Barry and Deborah A. Christel and features contributions from many scholars I admire—including Riley Kucheran, who you might recall I featured earlier this year. Importantly, the essays in the book offer many reflections and strategies on how to reshape fashion education to make it more inclusive—and perhaps even decolonize it. As is often the case, I was left wanting more about how to include Latinx and Latin American perspectives in fashion education. But I did appreciate the thoughtful contributions and the vulnerability of the fashion educators who shared their personal experiences of teaching and learning fashion in the book.
Some of you may realize that I chose a chunk of this book for this month’s book club, but we won’t be meeting until this evening, so I can’t report back on our discussion about it just yet. I might include some ideas that emerge from that conversation in a podcast episode, though, because Intellect sent me a copy for me to review on Redressing Fashion. For now, I’ll say that I couldn’t have found a better source of inspiration for the new year!
2. Short(ish) read
Over the summer I had the honor to edit two essays for the Fashion and Race Database that I don’t know why I didn’t share last month—so I’m catching up this time. In “The Mass Production of the Evil Eye,” Denisa Marginean reflects on how the (mis)appropriation of Evil Eye amulets in Western culture has resulted in the disassociation of the motif with the Mediterranean cultures that it originated from. And in “Yip Wai Kwan,” Haley Segnsavanh beautifully tells the sartorial story of her Ah Po (grandmother) as both a fashionable lady and a garment worker in Singapore.
In the news, I really enjoyed José Criales-Unzueta’s “Where are the fashion CEOs?” and Sheena Butler-Young’s conversation with Robert Williams on “Luxury Fashion’s Designer Diversity Problem” for BoF. And, for a quick fashion week roundup that also links to more in-depth conversations, I really enjoyed Substack’s “Fashion Month, Unstacked.”
3. Podcast
By this point you probably know that I’m a huge fan of podcasts, and Sew What! is one of my favorites. (And no, it’s not precisely because Isabella, the host, is one of my dearest friends.) This month I finally found the time to listen to her interview with Dr Magali Berthon on Cambodian textiles, which came out earlier in the summer, and her conversation with Kate Sekules on mending. I know Isabella is juggling a ton of work-related things these days but I hope she manages to publish new episodes soon. I can’t tell you how much I crave listening to them while I batch cook or during my daily evening walks.
4. Non-fashion stuff
I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this but I recently joined a book club to help me read more words unrelated to fashion. Led by Alessia Citro, the club brings together women who want to engage in our personal development, while also creating a safe space to share our experiences, fears, growth and just find a strong and supportive community. I couldn’t begin to express in writing the amazing energy that can be felt in this (virtual) room! This month we read Alessia’s very own Higher Self Habits (2024) and I’ve started Jessica Zweig’s The Light Work (2024) for next month. I’ve also started to read Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell (2022), following a recommendation of Meg Kobza, but I’ve barely read a few pages.
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Coming up next month
I’ll probably spend most of October “buried” in teaching—or actually guiding final-year students in writing their contextual chapters for their graduation design projects. But, as always, I still hope to find time to visit exhibitions, learn from other scholars, and perhaps attend an event or two.
Some of the highlights in my agenda for next month are:
- Connecting Threads: Fashioning Madras in India and the Caribbean — Thursday, October 10th at the V&A
- I’ll be teaching my (now regular) guest lecture on object-based research methods in fashion at Leren Li’s course on British Fashion History — October 8th at NYU London (and unfortunately not open to the public)
- The Women’s Studies Group 1558–1837 seminar featuring Megumi Ohsumi’s research on Aphra Behn’s American feathers — Saturday, October 19th at the Foundling Museum
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