My last Monday post, Fiery Tulips, was a product of anger. If I’m being honest about it, more a product of fear. Because I wanted to be a good professor after every class, I would think back over the class and would remember a thoughtless comment or an expression that betrayed too much. Since I was teaching students about working collaboratively with others, I mirrored the notion of self-reflection and owning up to one’s mistakes. So I would begin each class with the words, “After reflecting on last week’s class, I would not say this but this or that exercise did not work perhaps better to do this…” I was always aware while teaching that students did not like being lectured to. So when I was a good professor I was showing, not telling.
When reflecting on Fiery Tulips I believe I did too much telling and not enough showing. Being a grumpy older person who shakes a finger and lectures will not engage those running by me in a productive conversation, one where both parties can feel known and heard. I also taught my students that problems always have the possibility of a creative response. While I could think Fiery Tulips was a creative response to mask-wearing since I made a pretty metaphor and took a blurry photo, turning to the language of fashion offers me something more. I asked myself the question, “How can I turn a mask into an object of beauty, a conversation piece, an object that does not create fear or division but one that becomes a catalyst for communication?”
Masks have had a lengthy history of multiple functions, protection being only one. Masks can perform, disguise, entertain, and provide care for your skin. Masks have been a feature on the runway for a very long time. The master of the mask is Jean Paul Gaultier. Perhaps in eerie premonition masks were quite a feature during the Fall/Winter 2019 collection. In this photo I’m wearing a mask created by a junior designer I admire, Melitta Baumeister. The flowers snap on and off allowing one to rearrange. There is also a version in white and some clever buyers have switched the flowers to make black and white looks. By buying a mask, I also made a donation of one.
I have a vision of accessing or making masks that are beautiful, like those made by JP or shown on the runways. They are so compelling the girls running by me stop and exclaim “That mask is beyond, where did you get that?” We will start a conversation. In the end, we’ll know each other a little better than we did before. We’ll remember the moment we each became an actual person to the other. During my post Fiery Tulips reflection, I remember there is always a dialog that can occur when we use the language of fashion to start it.
What creative solutions are you finding to solve problems caused by the “Great Interrupter”?
Fabulous photo!
Just wondering…Why do you call it the great interrupter?
because it kind of stopped life as we know it.
What a thought provoking piece – how to make a mask with positive outcomes rather than the fear and division usually associated. I had been hesitant to wear a mask and I understand now it is because of the negative associations but we can make it positive and fun. Thank you for the enlightenment.
Dear Accidental Icon,
Your mask is indeed beautiful and quite the fashion statement . . . but, you are endangering yourself. A mask is put in place to stop viral particles from exiting or entering your respiratory system. That is why they should be disposable. The next best alternative is to have a mask made of a fabric with a tightly woven warp and weft (and an added disposable filter)and after one use wash it with hot water, a strong detergent and Clorox . . . to make sure that any viral load that might have landed on the surface is destroyed.
Hoping you stay safe,
Lily
I’ve tried both disposable masks and fabric masks but have yet to find one I can wear without my glasses fogging up so much that I’m effectively blind – NOT an option for me. Has anyone found a good solution to the fogged glasses / face mask dilemma?
Whatever it takes to get people to wear masks! I gave my sewing machine to my daughter in law or I would be making creative ones, for sure! I am enjoying working with fiber and am crocheting some linen sweaters and working with roving to felt some unstructured garments. Some days I feel creative and some not. Just trying to go with the flow. On those uncreative days I make a point to Skype a friend.
Whatever it takes to get people to wear masks! I gave my sewing machine to my daughter in law or I would be making creative ones, for sure! I am enjoying working with fiber and am crocheting some linen sweaters and working with roving to felt some unstructured garments. Some days I feel creative and some not. Just trying to go with the flow. On those uncreative days I make a point to Skype a friend.
And….letting my natural grey come through. I have cut my own pixie twice. I might just keep the grey!
Being a ‘grumpy old woman’ is as clichéd as the phrase. It’s not really smart to be grumpy, it’s just boring and predictable. Far better to step back and sort out a way of solving ir improving the issue prompting the angst, however enraged you might feel about it! A good rant might even be ok at times – initially- but step back, look at yourself and think about what is really going in. Are you mad at yourself for being mad? Is it that important to be fired up?
Fear is often masked by anger: this is no doubt a common current scenario. The uncertainties related to the pandemic give rise to all sorts of anxieties and fears: we get angry because someone hasn’t found a vaccine or opened a favourite café, theatres and travel are banned. Underneath it all, is fear.
So it’s important to step back and count to the ubiquitous 10, read more about the issue, discover more information; get cracking in the kitchen, sew, sort, clean. Call someone you haven’t spoken to for a while, call a distant friend: discover someone worse off than yourself, get a new perspective.
Make a mask: it’s the new fabulous accessory!
Quite the lovely mask! Looking sharp.
In preparation for schools resuming in school learning I have been advising on mask designs for highschool students with disabilities. Amongst many things we consider level of manual dexterity, comfort in adopting mask wearing, and fostering a personal connection with what is really an intimate article of clothing.
Artists are making beautiful masks these days of COVID but would wearing one seem a celebration of something that is anything but celebratory? Would wearing a one-of-a-kind mask be an act of “Look at Me-ism” when we should be doing something more meaningful? I wonder.
Don’t worry about those “Fiery Tulips.” We all have conflicts with our better angels. Its only human.
When my brother Howard Whelan studied journalism & writing he summed it up as show don’t tell. Nice reminder in your post.
I always enjoy reading your posts.
You inspire me! Keep posting pics of your fabulous outfits!
Much love and stay safe from Lisa in Windermere, Florida
Fear is a strong emotion, that mostly prompts an immediate response,without thought. Fight or flight!
I own a Hair Design Studio in Chapel Hill, NC. We are approaching day four of our new safety, sanitation, and wellbeing practices. Everyone in the salon has to wear a mask and the stylists also wear shields. Some of the masks are downright gorgeous. My favorite is one with just a sprinkling of sequins. Our shields are fairly light and the protection factor is incredible with regards to fumes and any accidental splashing of color or chemical. I thought to myself today we probably should have been wearing the PPE before the Great Interrupter. Maximize accessorize. Life is a game, learn how to play it. First coffee then the right costume
Excellent
Fabulous mask for you, you look great as usual! Somehow can’t see me wearing it to my local food coop, haha.
I like the photo. You look like the bride of Zorro.
In your tulip post, you wrote in a revealing authentic way, dropped the veil a little, and commenters responded in kind. It was a good read, your thoughts and ours together.
The continuum between ‘a grumpy older person’ and an old woman screaming at kids to get off her lawn is quite wide. Grumpiness seems one of the more benign results of these extraordinary times and awareness of it means it’s already halfway resolved. Similarly broad is the continuum between lecturer and loving meddler, teaching being an excellent profession for meddlers 😉
One of the things I miss most about social distancing is the warmth of human eye contact … so many people now not only move away physically but avert their gaze as they do so. I love your exercise in self-reflection and your vision of engaging and connecting with others by wearing a mask they can’t ignore.
We are having our students create art about what gives them hope in this final week of school.
As a teacher, I love your idea of starting class with a reflection on your practice. I need to try that!
I’ve been creating my own textile, painting white cotton with blue designs. People have loved them and taking the extra time has been my way to put my love into them, an extra layer of protection.
instagram: suzannenorthcott
The mask your wearing is so amazing really TOP!!!
I discovered to wear a scarf in my hair!
Since I couldn’t go to the hairdresser ( are back open since this week and I am on the waiting list now) I wanted to do something more creative with my hair????? I love scarves very much and I have a lot of them but in my hair????? I always have the habit of either loosening my hair or simply putting it on without a lot of accessories because I don’t like to much things in it!
I only wear sometimes a hair clip from Sylvain Le Hen (he makes beautiful simple creations) but now I try it with scarves for fun it’s a little bit creative!
During this pandemic, I am working with a partner in creating a website that offers inspiration and resources for people who are victims of abuse; our premise being that TO BE HEARD IS TO BE HEALED. We invite people to submit their stories, and be heard. We have built a platform to serve the healing process. This is a labor of love. My partner and I will curate a collection of stories and put this into a beautiful publication of victory. When you are called to do so, break your silence! Be heard here : http://www.oursilentvoice.com
At the beginning of the pandemic, my brother, a neuroscientist by training—bicycle mechanic by choice—proclaimed that mask-wearing was going to become a necessary feature of our western society. I didn’t believe him at the time, but he suggested that the more creative the masks, the more people would gravitate towards wearing them. He promptly sent me two of those mundane, clinical-blue paper coverings, with the suggestion that I apply my artistic skills to making them colourful and appealing.
I found that I had to water down the acrylic paints quite a bit, and the porous surface did not make for the best designs. I created an aqua to ultramarine sequence of stripes on one mask and began to wear it about town. Meanwhile, some local sewers and fabric artists also began to make and sell masks. Or, rather more appropriately, “face coverings.”
Fast forward to May of 2020 and there are now so many choices of creative masks on the market, I actually sent my brother a collection of three websites featuring an outstanding selection… and all made by companies in our hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. He and his wife will be selecting two for their birthdays next month, as I can’t even decide on one myself.
They are all practical, and some extraordinarily beautiful. The First Nations artwork “courtesy coverings” by NoMiNoU for example, match their tights and athletic wear. Others range from anti-bacterial, water-proof, plain-old black to quirky colours and patterns made by a company that produces paddle-sports gear. It seems many have been able to quickly re-tool their production studios to enable mask-making.
I have to say though, the Baumeister mask you are sporting in this photo is high on the “want” list. The idea of maneuverable pieces is unique to anything else I’ve discovered so far. How quickly we’ve gone from “where can we get a mask?” to “so many choices… how can I possibly choose just one?!”
I suppose my brother was right. It just amazes me how quickly everything has changed, and how rapidly society has adapted to the “new normal,” as much as I’d rather just see the old normal insofar as fashion goes.
One of my quarantine “what day is it?” coping strategies is to color code my clothing or accessories for the day of the week (i.e. using the rainbow, Sunday is red/pink, Monday is orange/peach etc…). Today must be Tuesday because I wore orange yesterday and so I wear yellow/gold today. It forces me to wear things I perhaps wouldn’t (or in ways I wouldn’t).
I think your Fiery Tulips post was one of your best, btw, poetic and full of meaning.
I love your mask. Leave it to you to make mask wearing chick and beautiful. Bravo to you! Thank you!
I wasn’t going to make masks at all because I was intimidated reading about the only “good masks” were the high tech ones, and regular cotton fabric ones would serve no purpose. I thought “Leave it to the professionals.” But then all that changed when the CDC advised people to wear masks of any kind, no matter what!
I’m a textile artist and I thought of making stacks of face masks like so many people are doing, but that image of uniformity told me I needed to do something different. As an artist, I focus on individual expression, style, and finding a way to make even utilitarian things a little more fun. I began to think of the face masks as little fashion accessories that can double as neck scarves when they’re pulled down, and can coordinate with jewelry.
A lot of good things are coming out of the process. It’s amazingly therapeutic. I’m striking a blow for individuality and uniqueness at a time when half of our faces are being erased. It’s kind of surreal to know that thousands of people are busy making masks in one way or another. That’s not anything that happens to me a lot, since I work in such a niche market.
Bright colors always make me happy! I love making the interesting subjects front and center, and even the shape of the non-medical masks makes them sort of 3-D. I hope to help make all this a little less scary for all of us, especially children. I communicate with each customer individually and send them photos of fabrics to pick from, so I become their custom clothing designer on a mini-level for a brief time. I’m happy, and I’m making other people happy too, while we all find our way through these tough times.
I think that mask-wearing is going to become the new normal for many people, especially those like myself who have chronic lung issues. I have amassed a “wardrobe” of several in different colours and patterns and wear one whenever I have to take public transit and go to get groceries. The people who are refusing to wear masks in order to shop in certain places, or attend public events because “It’s a free country and I’m not a sheep” infuriate me.
I do not have a tangible, material solution to the problem’s created by the “the great interrupter.” I have found my own way of viewing this situation within my own history and the history of my family and extended family. I know that I am one of the fortunate ones for many reasons. As a few others here have mentioned, when you are an introvert, this isolation is not as difficult as it can be for others. Also, looking backward has given me a perspective that I choose to focus on so that I don’t wear my dreary goggles.
In my life, there was the polio epidemic. I saw some very tragic results of that. There was also the Cuban Missile Crisis and living in a target location. No one on our AFB was hoarding anything because our parents knew there was no need for that. My father said that we would be the lucky ones not to survive this. As a ten-year-old, I know that I didn’t fully comprehend all that was happening, but I have not forgotten it.
There are many survivors of all types from pioneer days, the Great Depression, concentration camps, WWII/Normandy, and many other situations in my family and extended family. They were as sturdy as I am soft, and most went on to accomplish great things and make significant contributions to this country and the world. Did that happen because of their extreme challenges or in spite of them? What fueled their determination and fortitude? Was it anger or a desire to create something lasting for posterity? I ponder this when I am starting to slump a little.
I am comfortable and well fed. I have these stories of bravery, survival, and accomplishments to keep me company. Those I knew or heard about were stoic and humble. No bragging. To do it was enough. They would not have cared for some things about social media.
I have read this several times before posting and have hesitated because I do not want to sound preachy. Those heroes who live on in my thoughts would not appreciate that, and I do not wish to disappoint them.
Probably everyone here has heroes too.
Good Evening;
Being a visual artist my community of fellow artists has been decimated by this virus.
Yet on the other hand my fellow artists have started creating masks with beautiful art work which in turn is silk screened into a beautiful face masks and sold. I have been fortunate to buy 5 masks all collector items.
I might suggest that face masks will become fashion statements.
Please be safe
Regards
JD
Don’t glorify this BS!
You look fabulous!
You are and look wonderful. I miss you and your words.
Helen Sterling