An international fashion research project exploring the 'craft of use'

See Things Differently

Garments are both material and message. They cover us up – and reveal us – physically and emotionally. They hold potential to alter how we feel and how we see things, which in turn, change the things we see.

Herbaceous border shirt

"This is an old second-hand shirt, that I bought many years ago and I changed it. And then I added lots of buttons, it is not one buttonhole but lots of them but I don’t use them all.

They all do function, but… I just shove in on over my head, of course because I haven’t got the tolerance [to do the buttons up each time]. But sometimes I do do it right up to the neck. I love the clash and the interchange of textures and colours and patterns that takes me to certain places... I didn’t like the buttons that were on it originally so I thought ‘I’ll just take these buttons off because I don’t like those buttons anyway.’ And then I thought ‘Um, It still missing something, it still missing something fruity’, and so I wanted a ’fruited outfit’, you know make it little bit more luscious. Because it is quite ‘gardeny’, “herbaceous border” you know something about going out into the garden, I needed to add more of something... "


Wellington, New Zealand - March 2013
Photograph by Aliscia Young