How to Learn About Fashion from Home?
During the past few months, fashion has changed tempo and has slowed down. But that doesn’t mean that you should do the same. It is your time to catch up and learn about fashion.
Fashion both as art and as an industry is so thrilling that there’s always something to look at and to learn about. There’re plenty of ways you can experience historical periods and fashion events. What’s more, you can be part of all this from your room. In other words, you don’t have to mind about creating a showstopper look, because your favourite jammies will do.
1. Running a Design Competition Series Marathon
Sometimes, you might be so tired that you don’t feel like doing anything but watching a series. You need to know that you are not the only one who gets in such a no-brainer mood. Because of that, we wanted to begin the list with something that feels easy after a busy day. What could be more unwinding and chicer than a fashion reality show?
Project Runway is everybody’s returning favourite. The number of seasons they reached, which is over 15, suggests how much everybody loves it, and there’s always a very contemporary nuance to it. And in case you’ve already seen the last season and want to get nostalgic, you can rewatch the old episodes.
But if you crave something new, there are two designer competitions you need to binge right now: Next in Fashion and Making the Cut. We already know Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn from Project Runway. However, Making the Cut takes a new spin toward commercialism. The contestants get the chance to showcase their talent in Paris, Tokyo and New York, and the best ready-to-wear pieces will get available on Amazon. Watch out for the upcoming on-brand designer!
Next in Fashion is more similar to Project Runway, but kicks off with 18 contestants from all over the world. Due to the huge number of contestants, they need to prove themselves as a team for the first half of the season. Plus, Alexa Chung and Tan France – as co-hosts – are something to look forward to witnessing.
2. Putting Together a Fashion Watchlist
After the series, movies are the next thing we like to unwind with. So, we got educating-myself-about-fashion rolling by creating a fashion movies watchlist. Then, we decided to divide the films into two separate categories: Fashion Dramas and Fashion Documentaries.
We know a lot of people are scared of documentaries, but these fashion stories, people and dresses will give you goosebumps. You can learn a lot about the ups and downs, the success stories (Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards) and no too successful stories (House of Z, Halston). We love having a peek at what is going on behind the scenes at Vogue (The September Issue, In Vogue: The Editor’s Eye). It was an inspiring experience watching all these documentaries.
There’s a big archive of movies about Yves Saint Laurent or Chanel, but we attempted to not narrow Fashion Dramas down to biographies. Our idea was to add films that have mind-blowing costume designs. For instance, Audrey Hepburn was dressed by Givenchy in Funny Face and Sabrina, The Great Gatsby’s garments were designed by none other than Miuccia Prada, and Marie Antoinette’s shoes were created by the genius Manolo Blahnik. And the list could go on. Our little piece of advice would be for anybody interested to look up famous costume designers, like Edith Wood, or movies that won Academy Awards for Best Costume Design. Do some research, and you might happen to find out fascinating facts.
If you would like to read more about The September Issue or other movies, visit our article where we listed and reviewed iconic fashion movies not to miss out on.
3. Becoming a Fashion Bookworm
If you are pro-traditional reading, get your reading journal out for notes. The category of fashion books is wide-ranging and, just like history, can be fictional and non-fictional. We would go as far as to say there is an inexhaustible Coco Chanel subcategory. From the previously mentioned subcategory, we would like to highlight Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War. This novel is a lesser-known take on the Chanel biography. If you would not like to read a memoir or a biography after an exhausting day of work, you can never be short on fictional book options as a light bedtime read. Here we would like to mention two books that were adapted for the big screen as well: Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Devil Wears Prada. Yes, it may come as a surprise to you, but the books came before the films.
Do you want to try out different genres to find out which one is for you? In a previous article of ours, we put together a list of fashion books for your home library, including novels, an interactive fashion book, and a mini coffee table book.
4. Dressing casual for some online fashion courses
Finally, you should make the most of the e-learning era we live in. So, we took our own advice, rolled up our sleeves and tried out two very different fashion courses.
The first one is called Decoding Gucci’s Merchandising Success by BoF (Business of Fashion), which offers a big selection of courses from trusted experts in the industry. Similar to their other courses, it’s approached from a commercial angle. From our point of view, it can be insightful for both beginners and fashion-lovers who already possess advanced knowledge.
The second one is available on Coursera with the title of Fashion as Design. It came to life with the help of the curators and assistants who work in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. As opposed to the first course, it invites merchandising in favour of history, concepts and sustainability. MoMA’s course provides an overall understanding of the industry for anybody who shows interest beyond clothes.
There’s no need to stress out at the idea of taking notes and studying hard. Although the classes give you a lot of information, the assessments are mostly quizzes which are easy to pass. On top of that, you’re given the chance to obtain a certificate, includable in your LinkedIn profile or your CV. With that being said, you only need to roll in and rock those classes in the most comfortable pieces of your closet.
Photos by Andre de Dienes and Nina Leen
