What does this image evoke in you?  

The fine print reads "Mouse of a different order. Everything from the meaning of mouse to the meaning of wealth has been transformed by technology. Cyberculture is affecting how we communicate, what we wear, and even the status symbols we aspire to."(American Vogue)

So the word for this blog's theme is...Technology.

When you hear/see this word, what do you think?
One definition is, Science of knowledge put into practical use to solve problems or invent useful tools.
and the word 'Cyberculture', goes something like...The social conditions brought about by the widespread use of computer networks for communication, entertainment and business.
Both of these words totally cover where we are at 21st Century, 2018.
Brave New World?

Cybercouture-high tech design from Josephus Thimister's plastic & gauze dress

Technology has always been a major player in the Clothing/Fashion Industry. Much of the Industrial Revolution (approx. 1760 - 1840) involved the mechanization of textile manufacture. Power looms and mechanized cotton mills enabled a huge increase in production, by shortening the time that was previously required for production.
The technological advances of the Industrial Revolution enabled the invention of the sewing machine, which helped to democratise fashion, as home dressmakers were able to adapt and copy the latest designs. (I connect with that, but those that can are getting less and less, I'm sad to say.)

This is a link to a great video about the history of the sewing machine, admittedly you might have to have a passionate interest in the subject to start with!

One really interesting feature in the video is the demonstration of a 'human sewing machine' to show how two pieces of fabric are stitched together. It's obvious the video was made decades ago, but it is still informative, and demonstrates technology...knowledge being put into practical use to solve problems or invent useful tools.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMd4MCKGHBE

Technology has always played a key role in Comme des Garcons progressive approach to clothing. Rei Kawakubo works alongside specialist technicians and fabric laboratories. Looking to technology to find new materials to work with helped CdG establish innovative design possibilities. Like the wonderful crushed up paper bag skirts from the 1997 S/S 'Body Meets Dress, Dress Meets Body' collection.

I have always loved these skirts, it's that thing about paper being made so wearable. Technology enables that to be achieved successfully, plus innovation & imagination. First the thought, then the practical technology that can put the concept into action.

The above skirts appeared in CdG's S/S 1997 collection.

And 20 years later, in the CdG F/W 2017 'The Future of Silhouette' collection, this garment appeared. That fabulous wearable paper at work again!

Japanese designers are great at pushing this boundary, because during its post-war revival, Japan revamped its industrial bases and became a world leader in the technological development of textiles. 

The result of this industry enabled creative textile designers to develop new fibres, new weaving techniques and new methods of dyeing, which helped many clothing designers to produce exciting collections.

One such amazing textile designer was Jun'ichi Arai (1932-2017), a textile designer who had the heart and spirit of a poet.

Jun'ichi Arai created fabrics that had never been seen before. In 1995 he worked on developing the first metallic fibre in the world. Coming from a family of spinners and weavers, Jun'ichi Arai was able to develop that wonderful ability to break rules and snub convention. He flourished in pushing the limits of new and traditional technology. Such talent enabled Jun'ichi Arai to meet the challenge of Rei Kawakubo's conceptual imagination. He could manipulate a fibre's inherent properties with a computer-assisted jacquard loom, extending its potential, yet tradition was always underlying his newest textile technologies. Jun'ichi Arai was skilled in creating fabric which puckered, crumpled, puffed, pleated and protruded.

 

A number of years ago I attended a fabulous textile symposium, 'Through The Surface', and Jun'ichi Arai was a guest speaker. He was such a wonderful human being, gentle, kind and so happy to sign his autograph in my catalogue. I just loved him. I have read that he once wrote 'What I want to make is not "bread" (profit) but "roses" (contentment).

In 1984 Jun'ichi Arai co-founded the Nuno Corporation, along with the highly talented Reiko Sudo. The Nuno Corporation textile company, based in Tokyo, dedicated itself to revitalising Japan's traditional textile culture by means of new technologies. An example of this is seen in Reiko Sudo's 1995 'Bubble Pack'

A pure silk, which has been chemically blistered by printing a dye-resist dot pattern on to it. The technique is based on a traditional Japanese method using seaweed resist paste and seawater. Nuno's technique reduced the time factor involved.

The work that came out of NUNO (kind of translated as "functional fabric") revolutionised how people think about fabrics.
Their website speaks for itself, regard their technological approach to fabric.
https://www.nuno.com/en/

These two pages from a scrapbook of mine show examples of Japanese textiles, described as"straddling its handcrafted past and post-industrial present."

                                         

The yellow "bobbly" one, above left, inspired my manipulated scarf.
It's all about the thermoplastic property inherent in synthetic fibres, which enables them to be heat set into a particular shape. This feature can also be seen in some of the tops that are worn with the CdG paper skirts.

The kinda rusty looking one on the other page is a Reiko Sudo work called something like Scrapyard(Nail)
Want to have a go at creating a fabric inspired by this idea? The link below will take you to a Reiko Sudo workshop someone attended, which covered this very cool technique.
http://portfolios.collegeforcreativestudies.edu/gallery/50984537/RUST-DYEING-WORKSHOP-REIKO-SUDO

I am also interested in Reiko Sudo's workshop on scarf making...
https://reikosudoworkshopsg.peatix.com/

...it reminds me of these cool CdG scarves.....

                          

...and I came across the site of someone who attended one of the workshops. Great information is posted. It's a wonderful way to use up scraps. Excellent sustainability feature from Nuno. Technology also taking responsibility.
http://bjadamsmallwork.blogspot.com/2017/11/scraps-patchwork-workshop.html

A number of years ago now, a student of mine took on a 'Techno-Man' project. The brief was "You have been presented with the fashion trend forecasts for next year. You are required to design a range of casual garments based on the theme of 'Techno-Man' to be sold in a popular teenager store. Make up a garment and/or an accessory to accompany your outfit"

These are her initial designs, delivering a futuristic look...(they were much more impressive in colour, but I think you can get the idea.)

...and the final design. She went the manipulated synthetic fabric way, steaming her own material to create the look she was after. Fab work Vanessa, I wonder what you are up to these days?

               

The Victoria and Albert Museum is showing an exhibition at the moment

Their site provides some very good videos regarding technology and fashion. I've included it because the 'Pulp It' video is interesting (actually all the videos are), seeing as I started with CdGs wonderful paper skirts. I still think CdG's wearable paper has the edge.
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-future-of-fashion

Paper clothing, especially dresses, makes me think of the 60s, when many designers connected fashion with technology. Designers like Pierre Cardin, Andre Courrege and Paco Rabanne were especially inspired by the space race. It's so obvious in this image, rather "trekie" don't you think, especially the orange dress.

Pierre Cardin 'Space' Collection 1967

The designers were excited with new synthetic materials being developed at the time, which enabled them to create groovy shapes and styles. Textile technology inspired these designers to innovate.
In 1968 Paco Rabanne showed an outfit that was moulded, as opposed to the tradition stitched and seamed. In  that same year Pierre Cardin produced his 'Cardines' range These garments were made of concentrated synthetic fibres, which could be heated and moulded into 3D geometric shapes looking very futuristic.

Similarities with this one from the wonderful Junya Watanabe's S/S 2015 collection

Andre Courreges 'Space Age' Collection 1964

These 60's designs remind me so much of  Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey, particularly the space hostess costumes Hardy Amies came up with.

https://vimeo.com/51272873

This is an interesting video about Hardy Amies and the costumes he designed for '2001'. The relevant stuff kicks in about 5 minutes in. I enjoy what Judith Watt, the fashion historian, has to say, and of course, the film itself is all about technology...knowledge being put into practical use to solve problems or invent useful tools.

Experimenting with "moulding as opposed to stitching and seaming" is an Issey Miyake technological approach to textiles.
Miyake's A-POC (a piece of cloth) line is a clothing system whereby a single thread enters a computerised machine and a finished garment emerges at the other end, with the wearer deciding how to cut and wear it. Such fun.

                                    

I came across a piece of pretty material the other week. When I saw it I just thought of Issey's A POC dresses. I think it was the colour striping and it cried out to be made into a simple little summer shift dress. My technology involved old time pattern cutting (slicing and splicing so the fabric went together as I wanted) and Bernina sewing machining.
Roll on summer gatherings.

Now, what about Smart Fabrics?
Smart fabrics are electronic textiles(e-textiles), which allow digital components like a battery, a light and electronics to be embedded in them. They can sense when and how they are being touched so can act as sensors, switches, antennae and displays. Smart fabrics react to external stimuli, changing their properties, composition or function. They transform with the application of an electric current, heat, light and pressure. It is said they promise to revolutionise the textile and apparel industry.

A master in this field is Hussein Chalayan. He was right into it in 2007, as both his Spring/Summer & Fall/Winter collections of that year featured astounding garments that went beyond what an everyday  piece of clothing could do.

The first dress he showed in the F/W collection lit up and played its own movie through the "magic' of LED technology. The movie was a pixelated grid inspired by a cityscape, as seen from space  via Google Earth.

Do you think it will catch on?
I think, what would my movie be?

For his S/S 2017 collection Chalayan worked with the microprocessor-maker Intel to present wearable technology. Models who were wearing special glasses and belts were able to walk the runway alongside visual projections that showed their stress levels on the wall. (Why would you want to!)

The glasses contained sensors and microphones that monitored heart rate, breath rate, and brain waves. These transmitted to chips implanted in the belt.
This link will allow you a view of the collection. When the models wearing the technology come out the lights go down and the projections appear. If the wearer is nervous pixelated figures are dancing, the more nervous the wearer, the faster the figures dance. If the wearer is feeling fear, the projected symbol is running feet. Stress is represented by two hands straining to pull a coiled rope in opposite directions. Interesting concepts, but seeing it materialize in everyday attire is another matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wrI1RnGZv0 

My lovely work colleague Rebecca, who teaches Digital Technology, attended a workshop at AUT earlier this year. She came back with these resources and thought they were a bit of me....smart fibres stuff. The time has come to have a go.

I decided the pressure sensor would be the one to try. 

I brainstormed a need/opportunity...Rush hour in the underground/metro of a busy 21stC. city. People are everywhere. It's jam packed on the train. A pressure sensor is in the cuff of one's business shirt. If someone makes an attempt to grab your wrist the sensor goes off. You are alert and aware!

I got to work, followed the instructions and...hmm, well it's a start I guess. 

I think I have a long way to go before it could ward off an attacker! 

I was inspired by this book

Published in 2000, this book charts the exploration of how smart apparel could  empower a person on his/her journey in the world. It is divided into 5 distinct areas. The first one, Perform, is my inspiration. Perform - digital suits for professional business people. 

It's about travelling light, not clutching that mobile phone. I like the idea of just the touch of the cuff,and it is happening (from someone who seldom clutches her mobile phone anyway!) 

 
Levi's jackets have embraced touch the cuff technology. A cool video demonstrates how it helps 3 young people navigate their way around the city.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/26/jacquard-google-levis-smart-jacket-denim

And this link discusses the conductive thread and how it is woven into fabric, which is what Levi's require to create their jackets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qObSFfdfe7I

Here's another aspect of pertinent future technology, automation. I'm not totally enamoured with automation, as I worry what happens to the humans that the robots replace. I greatly believe in the value that work gives to a human being, but I guess a robot won't complain, when a human being should!
SEWBO Inc have devised a robot to sew a t-shirt. Check it out on their site. It's interesting to observe how human beings overcome problems, and that is basically what technology involves. Seeing a problem and overcoming it, I'm referring to the initial problem with the fabric being limp to work with. But, look at it,is it all being undertaken by the robot? Who/What works the sewing machine?
http://www.sewbo.com/


There is no end of museums/art galleries delivering exhibitions regarding the influence of technology on fashion/clothing industry.
'Shifting Paradigms, Fashion & Technology' (2013/14) was an exhibition that set out  to attend to the question 'What is the future of fashion?' It covered various aspects of technology that ware being utilised in the development of future fashion.
Check out the catalog  http://shiftingparadigmsksu.com/catalog/shifting_paradigms.pdf

This link is an exhibition at Fashion Institute of Technology, NY. I loved visiting this institution whenever I was visiting that fabulous city.
http://sites.fitnyc.edu/depts/museum/fashion-and-technology/

You'll note the first item is a quote from Hussein Chalayan. If you click on that silver mirror finished dress on the timeline, you see it is a Gareth Pugh slashed creation. Although the slashes look laser cut, Pugh actually produced them the "old-fashioned way - by hand and blade." Me too....check out my SLTSLTB red vinyl top, all hand cut using a OLFA rotary cutter.

How to conclude...we are in the midst of the Technological Revolution. Change is a constant. As long as we don't lose sight of the importance of meaningful work for human beings and the very important need for the fashion/clothing industry to be sustainable, I look to the future with hope.

Finish with a film 'The Next Black: A film about the Future of Clothing.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCsGLWrfE4Y

SLTSLTBsigning off.

What am I looking at this time?

Not looking at, but looking through.......

my childhood kaleidoscope.  I loved it!

When Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons burst onto the Paris fashion scene in the early 1980s, black was her favoured colour, and critics were rather negative, calling her followers "crows" and the clothes "apocalyptic.
But she was to emerge from that palette.

In the 1996 Spring/Summer collection RK celebrated colour in a collection called 'Kaleidoscope'. It made people sit up. Wonderful candy-floss wigged models strode out in colour-blocked patches of solid colour, looking like "walking rainbows".

Some of the reviewers of this collection expressed it as reminiscent of 'Sportsmen' by Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935), painter/ pioneer of geometric abstract art and member of the Russian avant-garde. Maybe it was the inspiration.

And as always, RK takes garments from the collection and adapts them for a general clothes rack.

My long sleeve tee take on this collection. A great way to use up scraps.

 

Colour, it livens up the world.

So, what is colour?
"It is the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light."
To see colour you must have "Let there be light!" When light shines on an object some colours bounce off the object and others are absorbed by it. The eye only sees the colour that is bounced off or reflected.
Issac Newton was one of the first to understand the rainbow. He refracted white light with a prism, which resolved it into ROYGBIV

In this link, the enthralling Professor Brian Cox explains what Newton did and why it was so brilliant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--b1F6jUx44

The different colours have different wavelengths. The longest wavelength that humans can see is Red and the shortest is Violet.

This video might help to explain it a bit more.  It sure explains it better than I can!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8_fZPHasdo

Dyes brought colour to clothing.
Early clothing, which was made from linseed or cotton didn't need dyeing as the garments were used in their natural colour, a pale grey or white.
As civilisations developed, a need to distinguish people's rank, class and gender developed. This encouraged the use of dyeing with natural products, such as plants, minerals and insects/animals.

Mineral dyes come from various minerals found in/on Earth. Such as...
Hemalite - Red
Limonite - Yellow
Lazurite - Blue

Animal dyes involve insects, lichens, shellfish. Like...
Kermes - Scarlet
Cochinial - Crimson Red

Plant/Vegetable dyes come from leaves, bark or roots of trees and plants. For example...
Madder - Red
Saffron & Safflower - Yellow

The dyes used for garments were in proportion to wealth or importance of a person. Wealthy people wore brightly hued colours, lower class people wore clothes in shades of white or brown and slaves clothing was dyed grey, green and brown.
This is a nice little video showing some of the natural dyes, which brought a dash of colour to the early world and still can.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIz4DZ84kko

One of the interesting natural dyes was known as Tyrian Purple, the colour of royalty.  The source of this highly prized dye was sea snail's secretion...1000's of them, so it was a very labour intensive dye to produce  These factors contributed to the high value of the dye, which ensured it became a status symbol, thus restricted to the "high born". Another prized factor was the dyed colour became brighter with weathering and sunlight, quite unusual for a natural dye.

Images of ancient peoples clothed in "Royal Purple"
Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian and a Roman wearing a 'Toga Praetexta'.

Here is a link to a little more information concerning the sea snail that gave rise to purple colour. It's kind of cute.
https://vimeo.com/70961446

Synthetic dyes, which were invented in the mid 19th century, coloured garments in such a way that they became more affordable, coinciding with the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the middle class.

The instigator of synthetic dyes, William Henry Perkins, was searching for a cure for malaria, when he discovered the first synthetic dye. The colour was initially named mauvein  and later became known as mauve.

Perkins' discovery instigated the massive development of chemically created dye colours.
The basic product required for synthetic dyes in the 19th century was aniline, a by-product of black coal, hence synthetic dyes were often known as aniline dyes.
Germany played a major role in establishing the synthetic dye industry. By the end of the 19th century nearly all new dye stuffs were being invented by German coal-tar dye companies. The dyes were not the only product the aniline dye industry produced. Other materials such as sulphuric acid and chlorine gas were produced, and such gases would be used as chemical weapons in WW1....adds a pertinence to the phrase "colours to dye for" doesn't it.


Regard "colours to dye for", check out this post I received from the Costume Networking Group. Astounding information concerning the colour green in the Victorian era.
https://www.facebook.com/mindovermatterpage/videos/1735563056490409/?t=12

Before leaving the subject of dyes, I must mention Indigo. Fascinating Indigo, that deep dark blue, which has been sought after since ancient times.

There are 200 known varieties of Indigotera, but only a dozen or so provide the qualities that work best for textiles. Indigo's green-leaved shrubs are present across South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. It was brought to Europe during the age of exploration across the globe.
Indigotera contains a colouring agent called 'indigotin'. Indigo dyed fabric will only turn blue when it is removed from the dye bath and oxidised by air.
The more times a fabric is dyed and dried, the darker the indigo colour becomes. as seen in the famous 'Yoruba Blue', which is achieved after 7 saturating dips.

A wonderful image of Yoruba women of the Royal Benin Kingdom

Nice touch of colourful yarn, that has been added to a basic stripwoven indigo cloth

In the early 1880s, the German researcher Adolf Baeyer synthesised indigotin

The image above comes from an intensive slideshow about 'Green Chemistry. Microwave Assisted Organomettallic Reaction'. If it wets your whistle, here you go....

http://slideplayer.com/slide/5180009/

The denim fabric your jeans are made of are dyed with synthetic indigo. As we know, what started started off as labourer's clothing became a worldwide casual day wear establishment.
(See my Denim blog https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1545712218411633113#editor/target=post;postID=8133251574188115531;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;pos)

I participated in an Indigo workshop with Clarissa Cochran, in Radwinter. Her cool card...

It was a really interesting experience, observing the fabric turn blue as it came out of the dye vat.

My samples

  

and the instructions as to how to fold and manipulate the fabric to get the required patterns. Fabric fun.

 

Take in this video about an Indian family of Indigo Dyers. It explains a little bit more about the process involved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hes05oYzd6c

Colour is a visual subject with a fascinating history.

Pantone Inc. is a U.S. corporation best known for its Pantone Matching System, which is used in various industries such as printing, coloured paint, fabric and plastics.
Check out their colours in this link
http://www.pantone-colours.com/

and take a tour of a Pantone factory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqqf8Mab7Rg

Panto even name a colour of the year, and this year, it is....

"A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade, PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us towards the future."

Here is someone having fun with a QE2 Pantone System.

My own pantone mugs...earthy colours..

Maybe we have a sort of equivalent to Pantone, in Resene Paints Ltd. Resene is New Zealand's largest privately owned operated paint manufacturing company. The company, established in 1946, has the vision "To be respected as an ethical and sustainable company and acknowledged as the leading provider of innovative paint and colour technology."
Resene NZ Fashion Tech Colour of Fashion is a collaboration with fashion students and colour. Each year the collaboration instigates fashion design around a strong colour theme.

The 2017 collaboration

I was looking through today's paper and it had an article relating to this years's collaboration

I particularly like the creation on the right. Designer N. Taulagaua found inspiration "closer to home in a comfy green couch, making use of quilting techniques and gold domed buttons."

To 'View fashion colour palettes from Apparel magazine combining the latest fashion from the catwalk with paint colours from Resene', go to this link. It's good, lot's of colourful fashion information. Makes me think I should subscribe to Apparel magazine.

 http://www.resene.co.nz/fashion-colour-inspiration.htm

Here's a cool & colourful Junya Watanabe t-shirt..

I'm sure it came out of his Spring/Summer 2001 collection

even the model's hair is wonderfully colour cool!

It would go well with JW's Fall 2000 'Techno Couture' collection. The lightweight red and yellow are fabulous together.

And these garments from Junya's A/W 2001 have an interesting colour aesthetic. Very geometric, rubric cube like.

Reminds me of one of the works at Gibbs Sculpture Farm,which I visited a couple of months back.
'Red Cloud Confrontation in Landscape', by Leon van den Eijkel.
It's about colour harmonies based on red, yellow and blue pitted against against "pacific colours".

A lot Eijkel's work is a dialogue between his European past and his Southern Hemisphere present.

Red, yellow & blue, the primary colours.
Take in this cute video, educating you about the primary colours. It is fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddYUw7a4erk

And another take on primary colours....who do you think inspired it?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRGht33B32k

Leon van den Eijkel's 'Wellington Urban Forest'

Splashes of colour in environmental installations always appeal to me, like Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone's large scale Nevada desert installation. I would love coming upon this, as I traipsed across the desert, with my water bottle in hand.

Issey Miyake's wonderful S/S 1994 Flying Saucer Dress always brings a colourful smile to my face. This garment is totally timeless.

In 2004 the 'Fashion in Colours' exhibition celebrated the perception and relevance of colour across more than 300 years of fashion.
Clothes from the 18th, 19th, 20th & early 21st centuries were grouped into blocks of colour: black, blue, multicolour, red, yellow and white

Go on a virtual tour of the exhibition via this link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3PSb2H36KM

The Victor and Rolf  harlequin garment that was referred to in the virtual tour. 

There is something about it that makes me think of my CdG inspired top, bit obscure, but it's there..

Maybe it's the colours I worked with. They are kinda unconventional, but it is only the use of the pink that makes me think that. Substitute white for pink and what are you looking at...a standard Republic of Ireland flag.

Comme des Garcons Spring/Summer 2018 "Multidimensional Graffiti" collection was a wonderful mash of colourful art and illustration.  

If the runway garment isn't quite your style down the high street, then wear it shirt style. It's still eye-catching.

The collection silhouettes exploded outwards, or exposed holes, which reveled layers of different fabrics. One particular garment was described as having colours of "teenage innocence"...red, flesh and white

                                            

Interesting. When I wore my "Dicky Argyle" t-shirt to work, someone said 'Oh, The Breakfast Club, Molly Ringwald'. The 1985 film, which was rife with various teenage angst over the struggle to be understood!

Molly Ringwald, who played the 'Princess' in the film was dressed in Ralph Lauren pink and brown.

Back to the overall collection...a mosaic of colours and styles.

Garments appeared to include trinkets from Takeshita Dori, a very popular pedestrian street in the Tokyo district Harajuku. Trinkets like... colourful resin jewellery from Thai designer Ek Thongprasert, 

baubles from Florian of Austria

 and lego art by Nathan Sawaya.

I like this concept 'Merry Happy Crazy Colour'. It was a 2010 CdG campaign, inspired by the manic colours in the work of visual and performing artist group, 'Assume Visual Astro Focus' aka 'avaf'.

T-shirts and accessories made up the collection, and each item had a hand tag showing the work of avaf.

Want to know a bit more about the work of 'avaf', here's a link that will help.
https://alchetron.com/Assume-Vivid-Astro-Focus

There's something about this perfume graphic, which reminds me of a cardigan I made. I think it's the red and the orange colours that are placed together, otherwise my creation is muted down by the brown and light pink colours. 

It's all about the way colours work together.

My wonderful Gina, who comes along to Sew What Club, has been working on an amazing number of collections. One is a 'Colour Collection'

 

Emily and Paige had a little project they worked on during the last Sew What Club.

Harold from LifeEd needed a new garment

What a colourful product they produced for Harold.

There was another thing that occurred at school, which related to colour in my world...although it was actually about writing essays.

"Red, white, and blue" is an example of the Oxford comma at work. 

That's all very well, but what I thought about was my own red, white and blue..3 colours, which always make an impact.

and, a red, white, and blue felt collar cape (have I got my commas correct...probably not!)

What do you think of, when the words 'red, white, and blue' are said to you?

The colouring of clothing is very much taken for granted, because generally, we don't give the actual dyeing process a second thought. As fossil resources become more scarce, it will become a challenge to keep colours available and avoidable for the masses. (Something I have never considered!)

What will be the dyes and dying methods of the future?

Will green become the new black.....I think it simply as to!

SLTSLTBsigning off