5 Annoying Questions Every Fashion Designer Gets
Yes, you look great!
When a person decides to study or work in the fashion industry usually has a story behind it that comes from wanting to create, knowing how to sew, experiment with fabrics, express through patterning and movement, or want to create a style.
To achieve all that, one must study and when we study fashion we learn the insides of the insides about creating a garment. It’s a process of art, starts with inspiration, goes through research, experimentation, patterning, illustrating, choice of materials, sewing, fittings, embroidery perhaps, and so on.
So, being that involved in a garment takes energy, patience, and a lot of experimentation that, in our heads, it’s impossible to understand what the general opinion is about our career.
I have more friends that are not fashion designers, in fact, not designers at all, so I know what am I talking about when I write this article.
I have also made a small survey with my fashion designers friends and we all agree on these 5 questions we get the most and have nothing to do with our knowledge.
1. Do I look good? Be honest.
What the outsiders mean is: you know about fashion, and fashion is about being dressed, so you totally can tell me if my decision of marching these jeans and this blazer was correct.
What the fashion designers hear is: I have no idea about what you do and I will enclosure you in a very small box of abilities.
A stylist or an image designer are the ones that can answer that question with the proper criterion and will give you the advice you’re looking for.
The difference is that a fashion designer creates the clothes and the stylist knows how to wear them. Of course, a fashion designer has an implacable eye and taste and might be able to help but it’s not what we do. We can answer as the friend we are, our profession it’s not that much involved in this answer.
2. (shows a dress in a magazine) Could you design something alike?
What the outsider means: could you make a replication of this dress?
What the fashion designer hears: (Starts sketching and hears the outsider saying that they want something very “loyal” to the shown picture) No, no. I don’t want your skills. I want you to make me a Valentino because I can’t afford it. I want you to become a personal Zara shop.
When it comes to shapes and basic patterns, seamstresses are magnificent developers. Fashion designers must know how to sew because they create different shapes and have to explain how-to for the production. But if you ask a fashion designer to recreate an already designed dress, it’s a waste of talent. Why wear something that others have worn when you could have your own?
Trust me, I make all of the dresses for weddings I attend and everyone is wearing the same dress with different fabrics, and every single time I get a compliment, and sometimes new clients.
3. The invitation says etiquette, what does that mean?
What the outsider means: you’re a fashion designer, you know about glamour, you must know. So, tell me.
What the fashion designer hears: I have only seen fashion designers at red carpets and fancy events, so you must have had those experiences as well.
Uhm… yes and no. As part of our research, before starting the designing process, one should know as much as possible. We might have to know where the garment will be shown or worn and therefore to know the protocol in events.
Again, we design garments, everything outside our workshop it’s not in our hands.
4. How’s my makeup?
What the outsider means: clothes and make-up go together, why wouldn’t you know this answer?
What the fashion designer hears: I don’t care at all about learning what you do and what you don’t.
How am I supposed to know? The makeup industry is a whole other world with different perspectives of aesthetics and others priorities to pay attention to.
A fashion designer does not necessarily know about make-up; I have a few friends who have taken courses in make-up but nothing professional. Again, a designer has a good taste and a good eye for details, so they might tell you a good answer but don’t expect them to help you with blending, and a brush. We like needles and threads.
5. What kind of fabrics should I buy to make my curtains?
What the outsider means: you buy fabrics like there’s no tomorrow, I’m sure you can give me this advice.
What the fashion designer hears: you buy fabrics like there’s no tomorrow, I’m sure you can give this advice.
This one hurts. Because a fashion designer can tell you about curtains because we know about fabrics and sewing, and everything there is to know about textiles and fibers, so a fashion designer can help with that.
The reason why it hits the ego it’s because, as I mentioned above, fashion design is about expressing, and art, and experimentation, and when it comes to curtains, it’s only our technical mind who works. It’s like asking a surgeon to apply a vaccine, to ask a writer to edit a chapter, to ask an engineer to clean a computer, or to ask an architect to build IKEA furniture. They all could do everything, but they know beyond that. It’s the same with fashion designers.
As funny as it is, I still get these questions from my friends who have seen me become a fashion designer in 10 years, and every time I explain to them the reasons I shouldn’t know what they are asking, every wedding I get those questions. I recognize who is doing it to bother me, or who’s doing it because they don’t think of me as a fashion designer but as a friend, and a friend can tell you everything you need to know about the way you look or give you advice about your Halloween costume but I roll my eyes when I hear the phrase: “I need your fashion knowledge”.
If you’re thinking about studying fashion design, read my article about things you should know before studying, or if you are considering it, then this article will give you a clear idea about what to expect.
