Interconnectedness

What’s obvious about this podcast is that we’re not only going to be talking about fashion. Trufelman’s already made her claim clear: that fashion is, and always has been, intertwined with changes in technology and culture. Let’s begin with introductions!

Articles of Interest, Episode 1 “Kids Clothes”

Esteemed podcaster Avery Trufelman, best known as a producer of NPR’s widely popular 99% Invisible, created the spin-off Articles of Interest to explore the inspirations and contributions of fashion and sub-culture throughout society. She uses her extensive experience in radio and entertainment to create an engaging and informative podcast, weaving in her personal life, friends, and hobbies.

Technology

The first episode, titled “Kid’s Clothes”, introduces the listener to the nuances of fashion by drawing a parallel to technology. In the same way that a program documents code, fashion documents the outside historical influences on people and trends, through clothing. Fashion is, in Trufelman’s own words, “another way we tell history” (“Kid’s clothes 00:02:54 – 00:03:21).

One of these historical influences is, in fact, technology. The process of making clothes was once an extremely taxing process, requiring laborers (usually children) to manually create really intricate designs. Technology, however, is always evolving. Looms turned into Jacquard machines, and the child laborers turned into punch cards. Intricately designed clothes went from low supply to mass-produced.

Fashion is simply a reflection of changes in people’s daily lives, over the course of history.

Culture

Clothing for children, historically, was similar to that of adults. Trufelman describes this style as “little adults” (Kid’s Clothes 20:00:01 – 20:00:06). But as the cultural ideal of freedom in the west was proliferated, so was the understanding that childhood should be enjoyed. Child labor and slavery were eliminated, children began going to school, and so the style of children’s clothing became unique and distinct from that of an adult’s.

In the modern day, the children’s section is full of sequins, color, and glitter. Clothes are made to protect children and reflect the joyous and carefree nature of childhood through designs and patterns.

Clothes are intertwined with changing cultures and values throughout history.

Questions to contemplate:

1. How can we create opportunities for younger children to express their personal style and give input?

2. Despite so many children’s clothes being impractical and uncomfortable, why are there no alternatives?

Works Cited

Elshaikh, Eman M. “Read: Child Labor (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/whp-origins/era-6-the-long-nineteenth-century-1750-ce-to-1914-ce/64-transformation-of-labor-betaa/a/read-child-labor-beta.

Science Museum Group. “Model of a Jacquard Loom, with Shuttle and Components: Science Museum Group Collection.” Model of a Jacquard Loom, with Shuttle and Components | Science Museum Group, Science Museum Group, https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co44888/model-of-a-jacquard-loom-with-shuttle-and-components-model-jacquard-loom.

Trufelman, Avery. Articles of Interest, Season Kids’ Clothes, episode 1, Radiotopia, 25 Sept. 201

Trufelman, Avery. “Kids’ Clothes: Articles of Interest #1.” 99% Invisible, Radiotopia, 1 Jan. 1970, https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/kids-clothes-articles-of-interest-1/.