When I first learned to sew, I made a skirt. It was loose, unlined, flimsy and just like all the other cheap skirts in my closet. I spent many years sewing and wearing underwhelming garments (sadly in a landfill now), until I learned about couture.

The art of sewing well-made garments thankfully has been preserved by people like Karl Lagerfeld, who recognized the value of maintaining the heritage of couture while he was at Chanel. He proved couture’s beauty is its timelessness.

The current state of the textile and fashion industry, which values fast and cheap, is unsustainable, and a return to the craft of fine sewing is a welcome alternative.

“We buy more clothes than we used to and spend less on them. A century ago, we spent more than half our money on food and clothes, today we spend less than a fifth.

As a society we purchase 400% more clothing today than we did just 20 years ago. Every time we buy something that costs less than we think it should, we are implicit in the impacts of that transaction . “

https://www.fashionrevolution.org

150 billion items of clothing are delivered out of factories annually yet Americans alone throw away approximately 14 million tonnes of garments each year (that’s over 79 pounds per person). Some may think donating to a charity store does not contribute to the waste, but the truth is the stores can only resell about 10% of donated clothes. The rest end up in an incinerator or landfill.

The problem is that we don’t value the clothes we wear. They are as disposable and as replaceable as a plastic water bottle, and we mistakenly think it will get reused or recycled. These convenient bargains come at a heavy price, environmentally and socially.

If we could shift our thought process about our purchases and ask more questions about where and how it is made, and invested in fewer but higher quality garments, we could begin to make a positive change in this industry.

The less is more concept is nothing new, but we seem to have a hard time applying this to our wardrobe. I realize that not everyone can afford a custom Chanel skirt.

But, couture is just fine sewing. The fine sewing found in the ateliers in Paris can be replicated by anyone with the willingness to invest their time, patience, and yes, a little bit of money.

I have decided to no longer settle for the flimsy ill-fitting skirt. Clothing should last years not just a season. So, I learned to sew a couture skirt using the same details you might find in a custom Chanel skirt. The skirt I made is not like any other garment in my closet, and it is these differences that will keep this skirt on my body and out of the landfill for many years to come.

If you would like a skirt crafted using the artisanal traditions of past generations and that will last a lifetime, you can

1) Order it from Chanel Haute Couture.

2) Have a tailor make it for you.

3) Learn to make it yourself.

I can’t help you with 1), but I can help you with 2) and 3). For more details about what makes a couture skirt different from a ready-to-wear skirt, check out my next post “Anatomy of a Couture Skirt”. I also teach at Textiles Fabric in Nashville. Check my class schedule here. Happy Earth Day and Happy Sewing!