Too many words. That’s what some geezer said about someone’s website at the Web 2.0 course, led by Chris from EcoTube, I attended the other week. And I thought, hmmm, if that’s too many words he’d gawk if he saw me wee blog. Which is
probably … no, definitely why it takes me so long to write these posts.
There is a prima donna ‘writer’ inside of me saying, “Too many words!? There are just as many words, my dear fellow, as required. Neither more nor less.” But I am not entirely convinced of this fact – meandering is and has been a preoccupation of mine you see.
Which is why I let my friend, R, talk me into Twittering. You can only say whatever it is you have to say in 140
characters or less. So one is forced to get to the bleedin’ point! My Twitter adventure, thus far, has comprised of an announcement of my intention to embark on said Twitter adventure, and R pointing out, a week later, that my Twitter adventuring seemed somewhat lack lustre. Probably because I had tweeted – twitted? twat? twot? – once in that week. At this point I did consider writing something whip cracking, witty and Wildean about procrastination…[it takes one to know one, you see] only, ironically, I haven’t got round to it.
Not to mention I have yet to completely purge myself of the suspicion that Twitter is narcissism par excellence – unlike blogging of course, ahem. Only I read an article by India Knight, in Easy Living Magazine, who says:
“I love Twitter. People assume it’s a vast repository of excruciating Pooteresque banalities … But it all depends on who you ‘follow’ … Above all, I’ve been delighted by strangers’ wit, articulacy, intelligence and good humour. If you’re a writer, sitting at home in front of your computer all day, Twitter is like a huge cocktail party going on all around you … it’s a cynacism-killer for an ultra-cynical age, and utterly marvellous.”
So I was more than a little intrigued to meet Sheena Matheiken of The Uniform Project at the Futerra Swish I
attended during Greengaged at the Design Council. If you take a gander at their website, you’ll see that the concept – wearing the same dress for a year for charity and as an exercise in sustainability – is explained by way of a pictogram equation. And it says more than a whole menagerie of words ever could.
Which also brings me to the word ‘swish’, a term coined by Futerra, a communications agency with an eco and ethical edge, to describe the concept of clothes swapping in a controlled environment. This was my third clothes swapping experience and pretty successful it was too. I swashed a deceptively simple black
pinafore style dress, with pockets, which I have worn countless times since. Inspired by this new-found
simplicity and The Uniform Project, I have begun to seriously consider the benefits to be had in wearing a uniform of sorts.
I mean, if you had a dress made to measure, which flattered your figure, you could pretty much guarantee you’d always look good. I asked Sheena whether she’d return to her former wardrobe habits after the year was up, but she said she found it hard to think past the project right now. Fair enough when you consider she is having to think outside the wardrobe every day and come up with a new look using the same dress and a clutch of accessories. But it is this creative aspect which Sheena says has been particularly satisfying, and which I reckon, is an underrated element of the style equation. Because, when it comes down to it often less is more when it comes to wardrobes, as well as words.