On the Clothes

Oh, and this may be the hardest piece to write, yet.

And before I forget, I would like to note down the principles and ideas I used to design the clothes I made. Just the graphics, embroidered upon a base I carefully selected. No fashionista, is this here man, but a humble thinker…

So, let us begin from the beginning.

The first idea was to pick the base—and in the service I used, I looked at just over half-a-dozen different candidates. The criteria—to pick a company who provided both a sweater and a hoodie in a modern fit, not boxy or over-sized, with a low-but-not-insubstantial polyester blend, say 30%. I wanted something comfortable for daily wear and in the gym.

Thus, I went with my blank, and I decided to use embroidery—firmer, bolder, stronger a statement. It stands upon the clothing tall and proud, the touch, a constant reminder of art imagined and realized.

In the art, did I have but one theme—of balance, tension, and conflict. To capture, in a shape simple and abstract, a world of demons and angels fighting battle after battle—to see in the first glance, one thing, and in the second, another, war waged eternal.

My first piece—I separated man and woman, blue and pink, in the traditional method. Initially, oh—how embarrassing, I used the astrological signs, Mars and Venus. But, I went to Church, literally—for the first, and last time, in my adult life—and it destroyed this oh-so-childish pattern.

On the way back, I saw images of the Cross in blue, pink, and white—and when I got home, I revised the design, and created it anew, one shape unifying the conflict, blue and pink in constant tension, white holding balance between the two.

The next idea—was to add text, balancing, accentuating, and highlighting the graphic.

I searched and researched on fonts, trying old-style Serifs, such as EB Garamond, and new-style, but none of them stuck. Gradually, I ended up on Helvetica—King of Fonts—symbol for Swiss neutrality and tension in being armed for the sake of peace.

During my University years, did I study design quite deeply, and I had a previous “pass” in a clothing line, but never did I understand what I was doing. Oh, so lost and confused, that young man!—but he laid a foundation for myself, and I must have remembered those golden days of youth, for when I placed beneath an early diagram my text in Helvetica, yes—I shall admit—I became aroused, and I worked uncomfortable for an afternoon. This was with the horoscope symbols, the exploration in text, but it continued with the shape—and once I combined the two, I felt nerves heat up in excitement.

But what color to make the text?—I had three options in white, blue, and pink. And I wondered and wondered—and listened to Glenn Gould and his Goldberg Variations, and I squinted at my design to see if it held under the pressure, or if it cracked under strain, and I saw that with the blue text, dark and hard-to-read, it survived, but with the white, it did not! Oh, contrary to every expectation!—but that the darker, obscure, and subtle differentiating tone shall be the victor.

And I was surprised!—but indeed, I thought about it, and it made sense, because the text was my initials, and the ego cannot stand loud and bright. The dark color, therefore, provides balance between the tension of an ego screaming loud into an unhearing void—and its erasure from the landscape. I, of course, the proud Westerner, shall never forgo a chance to put my name on my work—and I learn from the masters, the Tom Ford, for instance, icon of the fashion industry, who turned a failing Gucci into the global powerhouse it is today, before starting an eponymous brand.

His glasses are incredible, and they sit upon my face—and I shall stand upon his shoulders, in my turn.

Oh, and how difficult!—to choose the colors. I spent weeks and long hours, trying out each set of colors against the background—and in this time, I learned that each must stand alone! To pick, first, the central color—or a blue—then, the pink, then to combine them.

Does one fall without the other?—then, both are a failure, just as in Bach’s counterpoint, each line responsible for holding its own. Then, I realized—never to use an absolute white, or black, unless you are absolutely right! And who, on this Earth, can say they are so?

But make it ever-so-slightly warm, or cool, or neutral gray—and the black, just a touch less than black, to acknowledge the role of sin and error in human judgement.

Then, spacing and proportion—oh, marvelous challenge! But, since I am a simple-headed man, who likes a simple-headed rule, I rely heavily on mother nature and her wisdom, but to use the golden ratio, over-and-over again. To use it properly!—and approximately, but never in strict regiment.

Use it for heights and widths, not areas, for it should apply across one-dimension, and get lost across two or more. Use it in geometric ratios, squares and cubes, and never multiples—and if it breaks, then break it deliberately!—for symmetry, is an acceptable default.

Thus, in my first work, did I make the theme “Swiss Geometric Perfection” in honor of Helvetica, perhaps with a touch of intellectual scaffolding courtesy of Bach, bold sans-serif in the name of Tom Ford, and bright, saturated colors—from man and woman.

Onto a crewneck, or a hoodie?—was the next question. And each “hard” design must go onto a hoodie, which can soften the blunt of its force, and vice versa for the “soft” designs. Let the cold, arrogant crewneck provide thrust and power, lift and takeoff, for the design that is meek and humble, childlike and curious.

Use a unified sizing!—for the design against the base, and proportion the design against the base properly. For, after this design, I made others in a similar manner—each with a central theme and a set of elements, independently viable, harmonious together in proportion.

Between the different designs, I sized, slightly, each pattern differently, even when they were the same shape!, depending on the idea behind the design. Is it a violent message?—then make it slightly smaller, and vice versa.

Thus, is there some touch and feel, but with the mind active and engaged, perhaps may the heart strain less against the force of hard and unyielding nature.