By: Nathalie, Krystyna, Claire & Franceena
Collection Overview
Clothing as a tangible object, demonstrates the intertwining of cultural importance with female empowerment. Between our four collections, we found a common link, the celebration of cultural pride and women. Fashion pieces convey significance to whoever is wearing them, representing who they are and where they come from. Each of our garments instills confidence in the wearer through the social zeitgeist and rich history unique to each piece, which has helped women take pride in themselves and their culture.
The 60s Dress
I picked up this dress from a vintage dress in Kensington market last year. I fell in love with the attention to detail, the craftsmanship and the nostalgia of the 60s era it gave me. When I first put it on, I was transported to a different time, experiencing the lives of women who had worn it before me. The appreciation I had in that moment inspired me to continue to collect vintage pieces today and grow my collection of physical manifestations of stories. Through this dress, I learnt that clothing holds memories that can be passed through generations, and there is nothing more valuable than that.
Read Claire’s full story: The 60s Dress
Embroidered shirt aka “Vyshyvanka”
I bought my “vyshyvanka” this summer when I went back to Ukraine for the first time after a year living in Canada. Nowadays, especially with the ongoing war back in my home country wearing a vyshyvanka became a symbolic and somewhat patriotic movement of proudness and freedom. My vyshyvanka is a modernized version of the original embroider shirt back in times. It became trendy, modern, casual, and a streetstyle garment to some extent, however, it did not lose its importance of cultural heritage of my country.
Read Krystyna’s full story: Embroidered shirt aka “Vyshyvanka”
Crochet Summer Top
My grandmother was a professor and a seamstress. Since she was little she learned how to knit, crochet and sew and used to make almost all the clothes for my mom and my uncles. One of the pieces she created from a fashion design magazine pattern was this crochet top, which later my mom passed on to me. The piece represents most of the trends that were mainstream in Colombia around the 70s and early 80s and that now have come back as Y2K trends.
Read Nathalie’s full story: Crochet Summer Top
The Babydoll Dress
I received this dress last year from my significant other in April of 2022 for my birthday. There were different colors available, but I was told they chose black because it was the color I wore when we first met. It is the first “high end” piece of clothing I was gifted with and by far the daintiest. Aside from my birthday I wore this dress to a new year’s party this year.
Read Franceena’s full story: The Babydoll Dress
Collection Poster
The Fashion History Project 