Friday, July 27, 2012

Fractal Candy

The simplest shift dress can go from ordinaire to extraordinaire with a judicious use of pattern. And by "judicious" I mean "as much as humanly possible."


So much pattern!



Fractal Candy is what might be called (by me) a minor piece. I don't remember exactly how it came into my life, but I remember that it was very cheap, maybe around $10.


There is a thrill that comes with finding a cute frock for so little... let's class it up a little, call it le frisson de la portefeuille. It definitely helps with the amortization — you don't have to wear it as much to make it worth the money. (I know this is a huge problem with the fast fashion thing I posted about yesterday, but for me, buying used is a whole different beast than buying new, environmentwise and many otherthingswise as well.)


Cute as it is, Fractal Candy is definitely showing its age: there are no stains, nor holes, nor disintegrating seams, nor inexplicable thread pulls, but that purple dye is a bit unstable and seems to be fading from the garment at a faster rate than the other colors.


Or at least the black. It's harder to tell with pink and green.


Where will it end? Will Fractal Candy eventually wind up as cleverly placed black silhouettes on a sepia backdrop?


Surprisingly, the purple remains darkest at the armpits. This is its own unflattering trompe l'oeil: the illusion is that of a sweaty woman, and I do not sweat. I glow!


But maybe science should look into perspiration as a way to fix dyes.


Do you hear that, science? I am officially adding "sweaty dye" to my list of million-dollar ideas, so if you use it, leave a comment and we can work out a payment plan.


All photos by Claire Loeb!



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