Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.–G.K.
Chesterston
Hello readers! I’m caught up enough in homework that I wanted to take some time this evening to discuss a phrase I heard on the morning news a couple of days ago. [And I’d like to add that as of today I have 30 days to graduation!!!!!!!]
The other morning as I was getting myself and my daughter ready for our daily adventure in our respective schools, I was watching a local tv morning news show. One of their regular segments is a woman who comes on and talks about new and different craft ideas and products. She recently attended CVA, and this week she was talking about some new jewelry craft idea: prefabricated frames in which you can put just about anything, and coat with a special type of resin that resembles glass. She was wearing one, and had a vintage looking photo inside of hers, and it was embellished with flat-back crystals. What caught my attention was her use of the phrase “fashion craft.”
I’ve been pondering this phrase for a few days now. Perhaps it’s because as a student of technical communication, I’ve become much more aware of marketing terminology and new terms that arise to attract more customers or legitimize the actual craft. For example, in the diamond industry, dark brown diamonds are called “cognac”, “champagne” or “chocolate” diamonds. You can’t possibly ignore the use of words that speak lusciously of some of life’s finer culinary treats. But in reality, we know that the darker brown diamonds do not have nearly the value and aesthetics of white or rare naturally colored diamonds. The diamond market merely realized that by using wonderful, colorful, even “yummy” adjectives, they become more appealing to the audience (primarily female).
“Fashion craft” is a phrase that reminds of this marketing tactic. That doesn’t mean that I view this industry in a negative light, I just question the linguistic validity behind the creation of the term.
I decided to research the words individually, and then decide if the combination of the two is accurate and/or appropriate.
Fashion. When we think of fashion, we think of the couture houses. We think of elite, well-known models who grace the covers of our favorite magazines. And, much to our consternation, we think of the wardrobe that somehow we are required to adjust the content of in order to remain significant with our peers.
But is that what fashion really is?
According to http://www.fashion-era.com/, “fashion” is several things:
- Fashion is a non-verbal statement to signal rank, status, gender, occupation, and more.
- Fashion is a language of signs, symbol and iconography that non-verbally communicates meanings about individuals and groups.
- Fashion is a barometer of cultural changes.
- Fashion is a way to maintain tribal belonging–we use fashion to make ourselves feel better and feel accepted within the tribe.
According to Wikipedia (and hence not necessarily verified fact), the first fashion designer was Charles Frederic Worth (1826-1895). He is recognized because up until his designs, all other designers were “merely” dressmakers. Mr. Worth earned a reputation as such that he dictated what his clients should where, instead of the reverse. Eventually, artists were hired to sketch designs, and fashion design was born. That contradicts those who collect fashions from history, such as the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan. However, as a note, “fashion” and “costume” are used interchangably in instutitutions such as the KCI.
According to a page on Thinkquest.org, fashion is a term used to describe a style of clothing worn by a country of people, which changes every 1-3 years. It becomes custome when it is handed down from generation to generation.
And finally, we should never omit official definitions, such as those found on Dictionary.com:
1. (n.) a prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette, socializing, etc.: the latest fashion in dresses.
2. (n.) conventional usage in dress, manners, etc., esp. of polite society, or conformity to it: the dictates of fashion; to be out of fashion.
Aside from Dictionary.com, am I saying any of these other explanations are the be-all, end-all factual identification of what makes up fashion? No. Because fashion is individual, unique, and no matter how hard couture houses, fashion magazines, fashion designers, and retail corporations try, we all end up interpreting for our own individual comfort and confidence just exactly what is fashion. Many dispute the difference between “fashion” and “trend”–fashion connotating an enduring style, trend indicating a style that can last literally as short as a matter of weeks.
Craft. The word “craft” conjures up different imagery. “Craft” can signify hobbies and pleasurable skills that potentially can qualify as art. “Craft” elicits images of projects spent with children and family members. “Craft” can be synonymous with highly skilled technicians.
For my first linguistic examination of this term, I must of course refer to skilled jewelry artist and instructor Tim McCreight. In his book “Design Language,” he first defines “craft” as:
- Skill or ability in something, especially in handwork or the arts; proficiency, expertness.
- Skill in evasion or deception; cunning, guile.
He then discusses “craft” in his own terms: “Usually excellent crafstmanship is the result of talent, training, and experience. The pleaure of good crafstmanship is universal, transcending language, culture, and time. A more specific use of this word referes to objects of a prinicipally utilitarian origin, as in “handicrafts” such as furniture, textiles, metalwork and so on. This double use of the word can be confusing and requires care: not all crafts are well-crafted, and most fine art relies on its craft.”
According to Dictionary.com:
1. (n) an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, esp. manual skill: the craft of a mason.
2. (n) skill; dexterity: The silversmith worked with great craft.
9. (v) to make or manufacture (an object, objects, product, etc.) with skill and careful attention to detail.
According to Wikipedia:
A craft is a skill, especially involving practical arts. It may refer to a trade or particular art. The term is often used as part of a longer word (and also in the plural). For example, a craft-brother is a fellow worker in a particular trade and a craft-guild is, historically, a guild of workers in the same trade. See some further examples below.
The term is often used to describe the family of artistic practices within the decorative arts that traditionally are defined by their relationship to functional or utilitarian products (such as sculptural forms in the vessel tradition) or by their use of such natural media as wood, clay, glass, textiles, and metal. Crafts practiced by independent artists working alone or in small groups are often referred to as studio craft. Studio craft includes studio pottery, metal work, weaving, wood turning and other forms of wood working, glass blowing, and glass art.
A craft fair is an organized event to display crafts by a number of
exhibitors.
Conclusion. So here we have a category of products being retailed by companies and corporations involved in the hobby craft industry. They’ve attached the label of “fashion” to indicate something that is hot and in demand by those who are fashion-conscious. However, it isn’t a ready-to-wear fashion product–you have to spend a short amount of time to turn it into something wearable. It doesn’t necessarily require a high amount of skill, and for the most part it won’t involve a valuable component. It may have a certain amount of sentimental value depending on what’s added to it, but does sentimentality equate to fashion? Certainly cameos did (and still do), as did mourning jewelry made of the hair of deceased family members (not very popular now).
I think it’s clever that some advertising/marketing guru thought up the term, but on the flip side, I hate to see the work of fashion designers and skilled craft artisans belittled by the flippant combination of words that represent worlds in which skill, time, experience, and imagination are the very foundation of their success and enduring qualities.
It will be interesting to see if “fashion craft” is one of those trendy (as opposed to fashionable) terms who time is short-lived in the ever-turning cog of the corporate wheel.
Be BOLD.
Miachelle
There’s a stair-step age spread between Hayden Panettiere, Mary-Kate Olsen, Rachel Ray and Uma Thurman, but they’ve all been spotted wearing jewelry from Melinda Maria, a young designer whose future career became obvious at the age of 10, when she started taking her mother’s jewelry apart just to put it back together in different ways. Melinda’s designs have been featured on women in two popular series, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, and the list of celebrities wearing the jewelry has grown since the company’s 2005 launch, but her thoughts are on more than her celebrity fans. Melinda designed necklaces for the Name Campaign, a group working to raise awareness about the thousands and thousands of children of Uganda who have been abducted by rebel groups during the past several years. One-hundred percent of the profits from the sale of her nameplate necklaces benefits the charity.
You may or may not have heard the news already, but for those who have been fans of the Belle Armoire series of magazines published by Stampington, you’ll be happy to hear that