Flexible Thinking
Wearing the same piece but with with a fluid attitude of openness and flexibility can find novelty in new places. The garment itself stays the same, but the rules and roles of wearing it are re-interpreted. Use is intensified; resources are saved; individuality is reclaimed.
Guernsey Knit
“My grandma just gave me this [pullover] – hand-knitted Guernsey which
she made for me, took her a year and a half. It’s got my initials in the
back and she’s not got great eye-sight so knitting fine in dark blue is
really difficult so it’s a labour of love. And we, kind of, talked
about what the design was going to be like... And you’d have a different
pattern on the yolk [compared with the main body of the jumper] and
you’d have a different pattern for your village so you were washed over
board on your ship and you swept up on a beach they’d know where to send
your body back. This is how they’d tell, the different patterns. And
it’s made to be reversible so that you won’t wear these out and you have
the pattern at the top because the bottoms one wears through and that
can be quickly re-knitted in plain knit but the tops are the complicated
bit..."
London - March 2011
Photograph by
Kerry Dean