"The Knitting Circle Shows Its Chic"
A new article in the NY Times today: check it out here.
Needlework hobbyists have become more savvy, said Joelle Hoverson, an owner of Purl and Purl Patchwork, neighboring yarn and fabric boutiques in SoHo. “A lot of that is driven by fashion,†she said. Ms. Hoverson has noticed that designers like Mr. Jacobs inspire her customers. “But they’re also looking at clothes from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s,†she said. “And they’re looking at each other. It’s very cool.â€
So far, so good. The quote that annoyed me, though, was this one: “Sewing is the latest of the domestic arts to be touted as a hipster passion, the rock ’n’ roll of the crafts world.”
What? What does that even mean? Just because younger people are starting to sew doesn’t make it “hipster.” (Think about it — in our parents’ and grandparents’ days, no one would have thought twice about someone wanting to make their own clothes. My mom supposedly repainted her clogs to match her outfits regularly when she was in art school, for example).
The New York Times also had an article about “hipster librarians” this week — maybe this is all part of a larger “hipster series” or something…
That article annoyed me because it was full of inaccuracies. Like calling the crocheted sweater featured in the pics section as knitted or saying Debbie Stoller started the idea of stitch and bitch. I guess its like anything, if someone writes about something they don’t necessarily know anything about there will be lots of insane sounding quotes.
Its nice to see our crafts have a day in the sun, I just wish we could be see as something other then trendy hipsters waiting for the next big thing.
Knitter and Librarian – I guess this means I am double hip 🙂
… at least according to the NYT Style section!
Being a hipster is so last-year… Nerdy is the new hip. ;=)
I just found you through BlogTalkRadio! I am so excited to have found this site and the radio show!
I think it is a little strange to refer to long-standing hobbies as “trends” or new “fashion cues”. I mean, what did people do before Taiwanese children were pumping out 800 tshirts a day from sweat shop factories? We made our clothes from scratch.
I guess now it’s considered a novelty, the “personal touch” as opposed to purchasing something mass produced at a store.
Pity generation X. The stigma of hipsterdom will lurk with us into our dotage.
LOL Hipster must be the new cool or groovy, or something 🙂