Category Design

What is meaning of term ‘Slow fashion’?

The clothes we wear are one of the top global polluters. Here’s why. They are produced in large quantities, making them “cheap” to buy, so we wear them just a few times, throw them away and buy new clothes all over again. Such mass production of clothing in a short while is called fast fashion. These large quantities are made by people who are paid unfairly poorly, often working long hours and in uncomfortable spaces. In effect, fast fashion causes human and planet suffering. And slow fashion hopes to correct this. It is the opposite of fast fashion-the clothes are produced in very small quantities and the people creating them are paid fairly. Such clothes are also of good quality, last long, and are more expensive than mass-produced ones. Which means, we care better for them, wear them for a long while, thus decreasing the amount of waste the clothing industry generates.

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WHAT WAS THAT TINY POCKET ON JEANS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR?

People are just discovering what the tiny pockets inside their jeans are used for and it turns out, it isn’t just for fashion.

The tiny pocket in jeans dates back more than two centuries and was first invented by a popular denim brand which is still well-known today.

Apparently, the tiny pockets within a jeans pocket (is the word ‘pocket’ starting to sound weird to you too?) were originally used to store pocket watches in. Of course, everybody has a smartphone or a wrist watch now, so why do some designers still include them?

It turns out the whole tiny pocket concept has an interesting history, which dates back two centuries to 1890. The tiny pocket was first used in Levi’s waist overalls (their original name for jeans) according to Insider, which sat down with Levi & Strauss Co.’s in-house historian Tracy Paneck.

“The oldest pair of waist overalls in the Levi Strauss & Co. Archives (from 1879) includes the watch pocket,” she told the publication.

Suit trousers didn’t require a watch pocket because a watch would be stored in the matching jacket or waistcoat.

Nowadays, Levi jeans and other brands still stitch the pocket in as a way of preserving that piece of history. 

“The watch pocket was an original element of our blue jeans, like the rivets on our pockets, button fly, arched back pocket stitching and leather patch,” Panek explained. “To preserve the integrity of the early design, Levi Strauss & Co. maintains the watch pocket.”

Interestingly though, jeans made during the Second World War didn’t include metal studs in the tiny pockets because metal needed to be preserved for the war efforts.

So there you have it, next time somebody asks why their jeans have that tiny pocket or you want to impress someone with a piece of useless knowledge, you can tell them.

Credit : TYLA .com

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What is the significance of the code AII3 in animation films?

Pronounced A-one thirteen, it is the number of a classroom at the California Institute of the Arts in the U.S. CalArts is a private university founded by Walt Disney in the early 1960s. It is where legendary animation film makers learnt their craft. The mysterious code A113 figures in every Pixar film in some form or the other. The popular shows The Simpsons, American Dad, South Park, etc. feature this number. In Finding Nemo, a scuba divers camera bears this number. The Toy Story trilogy has two vehicles with license plates bearing the number A113. In Monsters Inc. it is the classroom number of Scaring 101.

It is the moviemakers’ way of showing their gratitude to their alma mater which shaped their career. Directors who passed out of this university have churned out incredible box office hits.

 

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What is praxinoscope?

It is an early animation device that predated the movie camera. It was invented in 1877 by Charles-Emile Reynaud of France. It was an improvement upon an earlier device called zoetrope.

The praxinoscope consists of a rotating drum whose inside rim is lined with a strip of pictures containing a succession of consecutive images. The strip may show a clown juggling, horse galloping, trapeze artist in action, etc.

At the centre is a small cylinder covered with mirrors, equal to the number of pictures in the rotating drum. When the drum is spun by hand, the pictures on the strip are reflected in the mirror. The observer sees a rapid succession of images, giving an illusion of a moving image.

Reynaud later called hid praxinoscope Theatre Optique (Optical Theatre) and used it as a part of his shows. He developed it further, projecting the image on a large screen for his audiences. It was very popular until 1900 when it was eclipsed by the cinematograph of the Lumiere Brothers.

 

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What is 4-D?

The term 4-D (sometimes 5-D) is used for movies that make use of physical effects inside the theatre, which occur in synchronization with the 3-D movie. These include seats which vibrate, tilt, sway, drop down and rotate, different kinds of smells to suit what’s happening on screen, for example, burning rubber in a car chase; rain, smoke, wind; strobe lights, water sprays and jets and even mechanical ticklers for the legs and arms!

A 4-D experience can be had only in special theatres which are built to produce the effects. There are movie theatres like these in many countries including India (Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi etc).

Ten films, including Avatar, Kung-Fu Panda and the third sequel to the Pirates of the Caribbean have additional 4-D effects.

 

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For art’s sake

 

My niece is in her final year of fine arts at Stella Maris, Chennai. Her passion is doodling. What are her career options? What can she further do academically? And which are the institutions in India that offer courses in such areas?

My daughter is a student of ICSE board. She is interested in craftwork and has done a craft course. Her extra-curricular activities included decoupage, – , flower making, cards and Chinese ceramics. What should she take up at +2 level? What are the options available, and the institutions for the same? She is an all-rounder and tops in all subjects. But her passion is crafts. She is always with scissors and paper. What is NID and what does it offer?

First, about your niece. Since your niece is already a student of fine arts, she is already in the right place. Doodling might be her passion, but as a fine arts student she would be having a larger career goal. She can do a masters in fine arts, and then proceed to do a PhD in a related field. She can take up the teaching profession and teach at the school or college level. She can even hold exhibitions of her paintings, or else she could be an art curator and join a big museum.

As regards your daughter, she should take up arts to pursue her interest in crafts. She can join a college that offers bachelor of fine arts thereafter. or else, she can pursue graduation in any other subject and pursue in a polytechnic.

 

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