|
|
e it will be George Long Dresses Christmas , like that Mad King).But first, the eventual photograph taken of the new addition leaving the hospital, taken on the steps of the exit with his parents, for the inevitable side-by-side with the image of Princess Diana doing the same all those years ago.That’s basically your most fraught Who Wore It Best?RelatedWhat’s in the baby prince’s future?Royal horoscope reveals links to Diana, Charles and Elizabeth IIKate Middleton, William’s baby’s name a mystery as world waits for newborn prince’s public debut‘Imagine if they called it Tiesto’: Lily Allen, Piers Morgan, Snooki tweet excitement over Royal BabyIt’s a prince!Masculinity, traditional or otherwise, has never been much of a priority when it comes to my identity.Age 13: Hockey coach politely explains that the purpose of a hitting drill is not to practice jumping out of the way of people; 16: Girl s father effectively ends first date by explaining that car must be in park for key to turn, etc.To spare you the long(er) list of teenage humiliations.or I guess pants, for you, David, before you begin to wonder if you have made the right decision.RelatedThey make it here, or do they?The confusing and opaque search for clothing that’s truly Made in CanadaTwo minutes for looking so good: The menswear of the 2013 Stanley Cup PlayoffsThe words are spoken by Irene Stickney, the patient young owner of The Make Den, a west-end Toronto studio that teaches sewing classes.Stickney s syllabus is tailored to all manner of needle abilities, from novice to semi-pro, but it is soon apparent from her teaching examples and speech mannerisms in my Alterations class that those abilities tend to come to class in female form.I am one of the most skilled and eager men to ever take The Make Den s Beginner s Alterations class, insomuch as I am one of the only ones.Excepting the guy who teaches screen-printing in the basement, and a middle-aged man who came in for a suit-fitting Celebrity Dresses Christmas , I am the only man who set foot in the studio for our weekly, two-hour Sunday afternoon classes.were as uniformly female as the soundtrack coming off Irene s laptop (Le Tigre and Lykke Li, at least once per class).There s no reason why I should be the Nellie McClung (in reverse) of my sewing class.Although dubious that Kanye West has ever threaded a needle, his capsule collection for A.nevertheless sold out this week, in a single day, and high fashion obviously has its fair share of men (if not traditionally masculine ones).On a more prosaic level, every other pair of pants I ve had hemmed has been the work of a male tailor (and I wonder, do I even need to append the gender on that term?But although I ve known the odd man to replace a button (usually by duct-taping it back on with thread), the reaction to my taking a sewing class, even among friends and family familiar with precisely how unlike a lumberjack I am, was some variation of: Was that your girlfriend s idea?It was my idea, actually.that I try to stick to.For reasons both material and moral, I prefer to do most of my shopping vintage (thrift, second-hand, whatever vocabulary term your socioeconomic status prefers).Until now, that has meant accepting chaos in what otherwise might be a concept loosely known as fit.But with age and wisdom comes a desire to not needlessly emphasize the midsection, hence the desire to figure out how to make clothes fit properly.I can get a band-aid on in the first try four times out of five.Otherwise, my hands are useless anywhere but on a Qwerty keyboardDropping things off at a tailor is the obvious solution, albeit an expensive one.But it wasn t so much material concerns as basic self-sufficiency that lead me to sewing class.My grandfather maintained his own farm equipment and built his own fishing boat; my father renovates bathrooms as a form of relaxation.Otherwise, my hands are useless anywhere but on a Qwerty keyboard.This make and do is something of a new generational concern, I ve gathered.Slapping artisanal on groceries and cocktails scratches the itch for most Ball Gowns Christmas , but Etsy and local craft fairs exist thanks to household letterpresses and knitting notions, and even the age-old practice of putting up preserves has become popular among the to warrant a Portlandia sketch.It s a reaction to digital simulations, or the crappy options of youth employment, or the comfort of prefab middle-class existence that make the practice of subsistence seem supercool.Despite the fact that dandyism is another old-timey trend that we ve excavated from the past and re-appropriated, men still tend to go more for the woodworking or sometimes the cooking and grilling.threading a needle remains our chief metaphor for finesse for a reason.The end product may be flimsy compared to, say, an oak armoire, but if you ve ever nodded sincerely when a salesman mentions your silhouette, it s no great leap.that s a plus, right?Like any form of creative work, it allows for a surprising amount of personal expression: you would be surprised how much the character of a shirt can change based on nothing but a shirt seam (hell, you might be surprised to learn there are different kinds of seams: plain, French, flat, maybe another, I m still not great at them).It s a kind of craft that I could appreciate the instant I slipped the newly updated version over my shoulders.There is also relatively minimal effort for a nearly permanent reward: it took me just under an hour to turn pants into the shorts that (I like to think) have been flattering my legs all summer.And not that I am looking, nor do I think you should be concerned about such things, but it turns out that learning a skill that requires focus and delicate hands (as well as vastly improves your silhouette) does nothing to diminish a woman s perception or appreciation of your masculinity, such as it is.Though I obviously have no insight into what their fathers might think.How many monarchists and how many of the curious will show up when Prince William and Kate revea.
|
Usermap
Seitenanfang: