Tiny HousesThese homes range from 65-140 square feet. Because they are on wheels, they are considered travel trailers, and do not require a building permit. You can pretty much put one anywhere you can place an RV. Buy it ready made, or build it. |
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Small HousesDesigned to meet International Building Code, each home has one room of no less than 120 square feet. All homes have the option for a 1st floor bedroom. |
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A sweater, pullover, jumper, or jersey is a relatively heavy shirt intended to cover the torso and arms of the human body (though, in some cases, sweaters are made for dogs and occasionally other animals) and usually worn over a shirt, blouse, T-shirt or other top. Sweaters tend to be, and in earlier times always were, made from wool (typically of sheep, though possibly of alpaca or other type); however, they can be made of cotton, synthetic fibres, or some combination thereof. Sweaters are maintained by washing, and the use of a lint roller.
Types and design
The term "sweater" is a catch-all for various types of garments. A fundamental division is between a cardigan (which opens in front) and a pullover (which does not). If the sweater has no sleeves, it is generally called a sweater vest or tank top.
A garment of this type was originally named a sweater because it was designed to absorb the sweat released from an individual's body, although this has now become a household name, and other styles of garment, (as named above) have kept the original term.
Even within these groups, there is a great variety of design. All the various types of necklines are found, although the V-neck, turtleneck and the crew neck are the most popular. The waistline is typically at hip height, but can vary significantly. The sleeve length is likewise variable, ranging from small cap sleeves to short sleeves to three-quarter sleeves to full-length sleeves. The front seam of a cardigan allows for further possibilities, such as a surplice or a bolero jacket. All the hems may have various types of borders, such as picots, ribbing (knitting) and frills.
One advantage of sweaters is that they conform well to the body without requiring the tailoring as woven garments. For example, shaping such as darts, flares and gores — commonly found in woven blouses, a comparable garment — are rarely needed in sweaters, thanks to the Elasticity and drape of knitted fabrics. Even when such shaping is needed, it can be knit into the fabric itself, without requiring seams. However, this very elasticity makes it necessary to use more care when washing.
If made of thick cotton, it is usually known as a sweatshirt. A hooded sweatshirt is commonly known as a hoodie. These items of clothing have been vilified in the United Kingdom as representative of a yob culture and banned from a number of shops and shopping centres.[1] However hoodies showing affliation to subjects, groups, colleges (in the case of collegiate universities) and universities themselves are common wear from students in further education. A jumper with an open front fastened by buttons or a zipper, is called a cardigan. A hockey sweater was, in the early days of ice hockey, recognisable as what people in the 2000s would call a sweater, but has since evolved into a sort of jersey. Thus, in modern-day North American usage, the shirt of an ice-hockey player's uniform is traditionally called a sweater, regardless of the style.
In British English, a sweater is called a pullover, sweater, jersey, or jumper, this last term being the most common name in British English and Australian English. In South African English, a sweater is always called a jersey. Sleeveless pullovers are known in American English and Australian English as vests or sweater vests. In British English they are known as tank tops.
Thin sweaters may be worn tucked in to the waistband of trousers; but otherwise, men's sweaters are to be worn untucked.
Sweaters are a versatile item of clothing, which can be worn on top of almost any outfit. Sports sweaters, especially hoodies, are often worn on tops of sports kit which travelling to or from a sports ground. Sweaters can be worn with a dress shirt underneath (and optionally a tie), which has the advantage of allowing the wearer to have the option of removing the sweater when it is uncomfortably warm and still look presentable in many situations with only the shirt. In the late 20th century the sweater increasingly came to be worn as an alternative to a shirt when finer materials made them more comfortable next to the skin.
Some women's sweaters are meant to be worn belted; sometimes, a belt or drawstring is knitted into the sweater itself.
In ice hockey, the uniforms that present day players wear are sometimes referred to as "sweaters" although they more resemble the jerseys worn in other sports. This is because original uniforms were simply sweaters with the team's logo stiched on the front. However, as technology changed, so did the uniforms as actual sweaters absorbed too much moisture and became weighed down and bulky throughout the course of a game.
SO, i hope that was entertaining and informative.
Cheers, The Gown Rack
For all of you who love Peanuts the cartoon strip will of course know that Linus has a favourite blanket, his blue blanket. Apart from the fact that it’s winter, if you are wondering why else are we mentioning the blanket now, is simply because we all have our own blankets. Or in other words something familiar, something comforting (specially since it is cold out there) or in other words a piece of clothing that we all possess to get us through the dreary winter in a cosy yet chic way. It could be your long black coat that covers up perfectly and effortlessly takes you through cold dinner dos. Or it could be your favourite pair of corduroy pants that are not only slimming but snug as well. Taking that thought forward, have you noticed that despite fashion diktats, we all hold on to the essentials. Even if the fashion critics buried the trench coat some seasons ago, it doesn’t stop us from flaunting it. Precisely why we decided to do some snooping around in women’s closets across the city. And the results were overwhelming! While one fashionista swore by suede coat, a cafe owner couldn’t do without her reversible shawl while a designer still rated her black turtleneck sweater as a favourite to a diet consultant listing a handwoven silk kurta that’ seen her through many stylish winters...For more, it’s over to the ladies:
Aditi Srivastava, CEO, Flying Cats:Always dressed immaculately, Aditi mentions a long trench coat in grey or black her winter favourite. “Simply because it goes perfectly with trousers,” tells Aditi who prefers her short and trendy velvet and corduroy jackets in colours such as maroon and black for informal wear.
Babi Grewal, Fashion Designer:When it comes to formal occasions, Grewal invariably reaches for her formal long coat. “In casual wear, I can’t do without my cashmere black turtle neck sweater,” she smiles to say.
Aditi Mehrotra, Food & Diet Consultant:Deciding on what outfit to wear for a social soiree during winters doesn’t take Aditi too long. “A handwoven silk kurta in a jacket style with a long overcoat teamed with woollen pants is my pick each time,” Mehrotra admits. And when she’s pottering around the house, she can’t do without her track suit and a woollen cap!Tammy Juneja, Entrepreneur:“My black suede jacket has seen me through many winters,” tells the pretty Tammy who picked up the same on a shopping spree in the US some years back.
Anu Bains, Interior Designer: “For formal wear, it’s got to be my vintage velvet jacket in deep purple,” admits the interior designer who is equally quick to share that when it comes to informal wear it’s her black jacket by the Spanish brand Zara. “No matter what fashion rules, black remains my favourite winter colour,” she adds.
Prabhdeep Brar, Professor, Fashion Design:Winter is all about being snug yet smart, feels Brar who lists out a “soft neutral coloured high neck, tight fitted skivi” as her best friend for winter!
Devika Ahluwalia, Owner, Scribbles, Ad Firm:Speaking of essentials, Devika is still holding on to her reversible cape-cum-shawl she picked up when she was pregnant. “It’s really comfortable and I am still using it,” tells Devika who also likes to slip into her hooded sports jacket when home. “When it comes to formal wear, I always step out wrapped in an heirloom Pashmina that belonged to my mother-in-law. It’s more than 25 years old but I still flaunt it,” Devika says.
Hema Bedi, Event Planner:When it comes to fishing out a perfect evening ensemble, Hema wastes no time. “For it always is my Esprit polo neck sweater which works under just about anything - be it jackets, stoles, shawls, and makes for easy and quick dressing,” lists out the lady who when not in any of those outfits is in her “really warm but “cool looking” track pants. “I rush for my walks in them and then go onto a coffee break to shopping to dropping the kids to school,” Bedi candidly admits.
Kandla Nijhowne, Catering Specialist:“My best bet is a sharp, well-fitted jacket that has scope for showing off a pretty neck pieces or sometimes a scarf,” tells this guru of fine fare who dresses as delicious as her food! And yes, when it comes to winter, black is not her colour. She also likes to flaunt her intricately embroidered Pashmina.
Perhaps you’ve heard it said before that wearing tight pants can cause infertility in men…maybe that’s why you don’t wear tight pants. According to an alleged scientific study, Swedish men in the 1970s were found to have higher infertility rates than men in surrounding countries. After much detective work, the scientists formulated the “Swedish Tight Pants Theory” postulating that the higher incidence of wearing tight pants in Sweden was to blame for lower sperm counts.
Whether or not this study is true, it is widely believed (among doctors as well as laypeople) that tight pants do in fact damage the testicles and can cause infertility or cancer. But that’s not all. Wearing tight pants is associated with a host of negative consequences for both men and women. For starters, the same reason tight pants causes infertility problems in men (overheating of the crotch area) can cause yeast infections and urinary tract infections in women.
According to Pravda, tight pants also limit the mobility of hip joints, cause stretching of joint capsules, and negatively affect the spine. A too-tight waist constricts the abdominal area filled with vital organs, causing problems such as reduced lymph flow from the pelvis, improper immune system function and poor circulation.
Wearing “low riders” or “hip huggers” might result in compression of nerves, which leads to a burning and tingling feeling in the legs. In 2003, during the height of the hip hugger trend, a Canadian doctor wrote a letter to the Canadian Medical Association Journal in which he observed meralgia paresthetica (a nerve disorder similar to carpal tunnel) occuring in the thighs of “three mildly obese young women between the ages of 22 and 35, who had worn tight “low-rise” trousers (also called hiphuggers) over the previous 6 to 8 months.” Harvey at Bad Example agrees, hip hugger pants are just bad news. His hilarious post describes people who stuff themselves into hiphuggers as sporting the “muffin look.”
Fortunately for our health, tight jeans are no longer as much of a fashion-must for women and are actually a fashion “oh no you didn’t” for men (somebody please tell him that).
This Thai website about the jeans manufacturing industry hilariously reminds those of us old enough to remember (fortunately, not me) the dangerous fashion trend that produced the terms “skin tight” and “spray on” jeans:
We have all heard the stories from back in the 1970s, when teenage girls, especially in the USA, would buy their jeans so tight that they’d hardly fit in them to begin with and how they would then soak in a bath tub took make certain that their wet jeans would dry up to look like, and certainly feel like, nothing short of a second skin. Today’s skinny jeans have a much more comfortable fit and feel, but the principles are pretty much the same as they were with the wet tight jeans back in the old days.
Most people will remember that these wet jeans or dried up jeans had to be surgically removed on more than one occasion, but in current times the number of wet jeans removals in emergency rooms of hospitals have, fortunately, decreased a lot.
So, let’s hear your thoughts on this issue. Are tight pants a thing of the past or a clear and present danger? Even better, send a picture of you (or someone else) wearing absurdly tight pants.
| Tuesday, 25 November 2008 Rike Feurstein - Berlin | ||
 You can often divide people into two distinct groups - "hat people" and "non hat people". Wearing a hat takes confidence, courage and a unique personal style. Whether the hat is worn for comfort or a statement or both, the choice of hat says a lot about the person. Rike Feurstein (a self-confessed hat-aholic) has done a lot for the hat industry with her clean, minimalistic, sculptural shaped designs. Her unique perspective breathes new life into classic shapes with the choice of irreverent fabrics or colours. She references iconic shapes from the 40's and 60's and reworks the look by injecting her own twist. Rike studied in New York and London before opening her own studio and showroom in Berlin and has an international stockist's resume including Barney's, Saks, Harvey Nichols, Tsum and Le Bon Marche. – Kate Vandermeer | ||
Published: 18 Nov 08 10:29 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20081118-15592.html
German film director Werner Herzog is among the 15 filmmakers who have made next year’s Oscar shortlist for best documentary film, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills has announced.
Sandra Backlund works many long hours in her workshop in Stockholm. Photo: Caroline Tibell/Scanpix
When it comes to fashion, Sweden is often associated with ready-to-wear brands such as H&M and Cheap Monday. But fashion capitals Paris and Milan had better look out, because Stockholm is edging its way into couture and avant-garde clothing. And the new Swedish fashion generation is eager to experiment — who would have thought knitwear would be the talk of the catwalk?
Sandra Backlund, Sweden’s knitting artist extraordinaire, first discovered her calling in fashion as a student at Umeå University in northern Sweden. After studying more theoretical subjects such as art history, she enrolled in a textile class.
“I really found what I was looking for there,” she says. “I think my interest in fashion came from that, in combination with being a young girl in a small town in northern Sweden where I often had to make my own clothes.”
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Two woolly creations from Sandra Backlund's fall/winter 2008-09 collection "Last Breath Bruises." Photo: Annika Aschberg
Backlund describes her design aesthetic as “a combination of science fiction and sheltered, warm pieces of fantasy.” She enjoys exploring the human form through fashion: “Designers have always used things like corsets and shoulder pads to shape the body — I’m just doing it with wool. I consciously dress and undress parts of the body to seek dynamic shapes. I like the softness together with the sharp silhouettes.”
Although it’s clear Backlund adores the warmth of wool, the pieces in her fall/winter 2008-09 collection, “Last Breath Bruises,” are anything but your average sweater. Her handmade, slightly outlandish attire features heavy architectural construction and large silhouettes.
Backlund doesn’t create her garments based on patterns, but designs as she knits. “I like to make the pieces as I go,” she says. “You don’t have to take things apart. You can improvise without having to deconstruct.
“The handicraft process and the handmade feeling are very significant. I experiment a lot with different materials and techniques, but I think I’ve found the ultimate way to express myself through my heavy wool collage knitting.”
Some of Sandra Backlund's creations are now on tour with the exhibition "Swedish Fashion — Exploring a New Identity" (read more in the right column). Photo: Nina Andersson
The 33-year-old designer started her own label in 2004 after graduating from Beckman’s School of Design in Stockholm. Since then, she has taken the Swedish fashion scene by storm, sweeping up awards such as the 2008 Swedish Elle Award and the 2005 FutureDesignDays award for up-and-coming talent.
Backlund has also caught the eye of the international design community. In 2007, she won the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie in Hyères, France, which she says was probably the moment she realized just how successful she had become.
She also collaborated with Louis Vuitton on several knitwear pieces for their fall/winter 2007-08 collection and worked with Franca Sozzani of Vogue Italia for the Protégé Project, a competition where five young designers are mentored by prominent figures in the fashion world.
Despite her success, creating two handmade collections per year with 10 or more individual pieces can be challenging. As she explains it, “what I do — it’s not possible to rush.”
In particular, Backlund finds that running her own company takes time away from her true passion. “There is so much going on except the actual design process,” she says. “It’s really hard to find the balance between the creative and the commercial.”
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And you thought knitwear couldn't be glamorous? From the "Last Breath Bruises" collection. Photo: Annika Aschberg
She also struggles with the pace of the fashion business. “There’s this pressure to constantly renew yourself. For me, this is not the ultimate form of expression. I like to recycle ideas. It’s a bit of a reaction against fast fashion.”
Backlund often sequesters herself in her studio with her knitting needles. For her, solitude is a way of life, as her passion for her work comes at the expense of her personal life. However, she says the long hours and repetitive movements of knitting have begun to take their toll.
She has recently come to accept the fact that she can’t do everything herself, and is trying to find ways to lighten her load. Backlund is exploring the possibility of collaborating with an Italian knit specialist to produce more wearable, commercial pieces, and would like to focus more on accessories, such as bags and hats.
Backlund says the challenge lies in that she sees her garments more as pieces of art than clothing. “I don’t want to make a scarf just like any other you find in the store, except four times the price because it’s handmade,” she says.
But like the slow process of her knitting, Backlund doesn’t want to rush to any quick decisions: “I need to do it in my own way.”
