Robot toys and the Zeitgeist

A few years back I spoke about just how many butterfly fabrics we had in our shop.  I had in away touched on the concept of zeitgeist. Many people like to follow and be part of fashion. Other people like the idea of being in touch with society but treading their own sartorial path. Others of us just wear waistcoats. But even when we are forging our own fabric creations in the crucibles of our sewing rooms we can still show that we are wear of the word outside. And this is the zeitgeist.

 Zeitgeist is a German concept meaning "Spirit of the Age". In other words capturing the scene of the moment, that indefinable  thing that connects us all. Our staff are charged with the duty of working out what will be "In", what people will want, but also to ensure our customers can then take our fabrics and mold them to their will and to express their individuality whist;t also being fashion savvy.

I suppose right now themes around us include zombies and general retro mad science.
I was in a coffee shop reading a book about a scientist fellow of old with questionable sanity.

Vintage robot fabric

Whilst thinking of giant robots and death rays I spotted a young lady who was a shining example of what I mean.  She had a rather fetching bag in the shape of a fuzzy green monster whilst her sweater had a collection of vintage or retro robots! I just had to take a picture to show everyone in our shop around the corner. You see we'd just taken collection of a simaler pattern, but in a heavier cotton fabric.

Retro robot fabric

And so there you have it, how to be fashionable and yet also individual. 
There are plenty of other cool retro sci fi fabrics  out there, like this fantastic Rocket Capitan fabric.

Experiment, mix different fabrics and textures  go  forth and create, to infinity and beyond! (well to the sewing machine and beyond!)

The Retromancers

Craft and sewing tins and cases 

Retro is huge. Ironically retro has been huge all through history. We've often looked back to the past for inspiration and sometimes accidentally (or not so accidentally) re-write it to give us a specific emotion, be it a sense of happy nostalgia, pride or hope. In the last century and a bit we saw this stepped up by the Victorian antiquarians. This group of middle classed gentlemen  would to to rekindle costumes and traditions from the past, for example Christmas day. Many of the traditions we hold dear to  for Christmas were actual re-inventions of Tudor and dark age traditions, given a Victorian twist. These enterprising gents also re-invented the role of Town Crier. When making a costume for a Town Crier I was told to remember this isn't a medieval costume, it's a Victorians idea of a medieval costume.

Retro and Modern fabrics

  Ok maybe it's time to quite the waffle and talk about WHY i'm talking about this. In recent time we've had a lot more retro. I've already blogged about polka dot weddings,  Cos play of 80's and earlier sci fi and have been to my fair share of ballroom parties where the theme was World War 2. We've selling a lot more retro fabric in the shop and have just  received some retro sewing tins. Colchester just hosted a wonderful Retro Fair . And I think I finally understand the spiritual appeal of these things. The aesthetic appeal was obvious, they're pretty! But there's a deeper meaning. The Victorians looked back because they felt a sense of achievement, proud of how far they had come with their industrial age.  We are looking back at trying times, such as the blitz and the years following the war when basic necessities were hard to time. We're not looking back at the times of excess when there were bountiful resources. In these tough days of economic gloom we're reminding ourselves, we have been through a lot worse as a country,a nd indeed as a species. We've been through hard-ship before, and yet we triumphed.