Greetings from the Fatherland

Last week I actually started writing two different posts but didn't manage to finish either and so wound up letting a week lapse. One was about how successful Fashion First Thursday was at MOHAI, and the other was a manifesto about why I feel okay spending a lot of money on clothes.

The former will probably be published in some form eventually, but here is everything you need to know about First Thursday:

1) It was great

2) You can read about the winning Hourglass Footwear design here.

3) No one really listened to my audio tour, but that's OK because I never listen to audio tours when I go to museums. But if you are really interested you can access it yourself from your cell phone! And listen to me talk about things that aren't in front of you!

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4) Nordstrom brought a bunch of stuff from their archive which gave me total shoe envy because our collection of their stuff doesn't even come close.

Drool.

Always say yes to Rococo-influenced 1930s shoes (far right)

5) The only minor disaster occurred when I made the mistake of trying on something at the Prairie Underground table and now I'm in love and it is imperative that I buy this $275 raincoat.

STOP BEING SO FABULOUS

Huh, I wonder why I started writing a post defending my choices to buy expensive clothes??

At the moment I am in Kansas for a very exciting fashion-related adventure that you will hear about soon. During the plane ride it occurred to me that this year I will have visited both my parent's hometowns. In July I was in the Motherland (Montana) for a cousin reunion, and on this trip I'll be spending some time in Wichita Kansas where my dad grew up. I've already seen three women with Mennonite head coverings!!!

Moth Panic: Not Just an Awesome Name for a Band

Just as everything was going great and calming down at work, the worst happened. THE WORST. We found a moth in the textile room. After all of our efforts to freeze and clean things and keep that room bug-free AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dramatic re-enactment of the scene that ensued

The moth was found near the hats, so we spent the next two days enlisting every spare pair of hands to hastily wrap up all the hats in plastic. Hopefully that will contain whatever is infested and protect the rest in case something is still crawling around looking for a home. We also put out moth pheromone traps and each day I check them anxiously. I can't decide though-- do I want to find a moth in the trap? If I do, it means the bastard is dead...but there are still loose moths flying around. If the trap is empty maybe the wrapping project successfully sealed up all the others...or maybe we just aren't catching them.

F you and your mind games

But basically now everything seems chaotic again. When I heard about the moth, I dropped what I was doing and didn't return until the hats were all packed up. I had been sewing artifact numbers on the Barclay Girls outfits and had literally left a needle part way through one of the pieces. Losing those days to hat packing set me back on projects I had been nearly caught up on, and now there is this added monster project of dealing with the hats.

Despite going into a moth-induced depression for about four days, I bounced back and tried to revel in all the things that still make my job awesome. On Wednesday I visited the workspace of Prairie Underground, a local clothing company that designs and makes everything in Seattle. I had been communicating with them about possibly donating some items to MOHAI, and so this week I made the trip to tour their space and see what they were willing to offer. I met with one of the founders of the company and was totally blown away by what she showed me. She went through a rack of about 15 things, telling a story about each of them and explaining why that style was important to the evolution of the brand. I had planned to take 1-3 items, so I knew I was in trouble when the first three all sounded like must-haves and there were twelve to go. I ended up narrowing it down to six. For five of them there were very clear reasons for why that piece was essential, but for the sixth I allowed myself to be drawn by aesthetics and what I thought would really be eye-catching on a mannequin. That sixth piece? A beautiful and comfortable bestselling style they call the "Mothette."

What does it mean?? Was I starting to sympathize with my hungry enemies? Or was my subconscious fantasizing about wearing this while slaying my mothy foes? GET OUT OF MY BRAIN YOU FABRIC-EATING MONSTERS!!!

Or maybe it is just a really kickass dress.