Knit 1, Purl 2, Fall Fashion Focus

Please welcome new columnist Jamie Drumwright to Try Handmade! She’s going to be covering trends in fashion design as they float back and forth between indie handmade and the runway. Previously a corporate director of retail merchandising, she “sees handmade as the new haute couture.” Welcome her to this space, and check out her first contribution to Runway to Reality and Back.

:: Erika

Which came first the chicken or the egg? Fashion imitator or originator? Today’s fashion trends are much more complicated than a designer or celebrity dictating what is acceptable fashion and what isn’t. Social movements, hobbies, economic factors have all taken fashion out of Paris’s hands and put it in yours.

Even better the evolution of Etsy and other handcrafted shopping environments have made it easier than ever to get exactly what you want. Take knitting for example. Around Y2K the popularity of knitting as a hobby trend took off and thousands of entrepreneurs were born. Over the last two fall seasons the popularity of knit or crocheted scarves has surged with handmade offering the most variety, best quality and reasonable pricing. Department store fashion lines just can’t compete with resources like Etsy. This fall some of the yummiest ever are showing up on Etsy’s pages with established sellers like Beautiful Bridget and Cricket’s Knit Creations showing beautiful styles for men and women.

And the runways this fall? Not to be outdone they have shown a trend of emphasizing the neck and shoulders. Shoulder pads, shoulder cut-outs, heavy neckline embellishments and yes, cowls. American designers like Michael Kors, and Donna Karan sent designs down the runway showing variation on all of the above and fashionising.com is showing Paris street wear of huge scarves and cowls as an alternative to shoulder pads. You can get your fix for those on Etsy too, with established sellers like Econica and newbies Spratters and Jayne offering great options for all fashionistas.

My choice for a fall addition to your wardrobe? Take a cue from the grassroots of crafting and get something that is figure friendly, available in a multitude of colors and sweet on your checkbook, a great fall scarf!