Thought all my designs needed a zipper. A teacher in my night class said 'stop hiding the fabric'.

I was working on a jacket sketch for my final project. Kept adding zippers to every closure. My instructor, Ms. Chen, looked at it and said, 'You're using hardware like a crutch. Let the wool do the talking.' That hit me. For the next piece, I made a wrap coat with just a big wooden toggle. The heavy herringbone holds its shape so much better without metal teeth cutting through it. Anyone else get stuck on one type of closure for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

hunt.shane17d ago

But sometimes a crutch is just a tool you're good with... I get the push to try new things, but if zippers are your thing, maybe you should just get better at using them. That teacher's advice could just mess up what was already working for you.

evaperez17d ago

My first year at design school I went through 27 yards of black twill tape making drawstrings for everything. It felt so clean and modern until a visiting artist asked if I was afraid of buttons. That question stuck with me for months. Sometimes your hand just gets stuck on one solution and you need someone to shake you out of it. Your wrap coat sounds like it found its own voice.