It's art that you wear!

The 25th Annual Wearable Art show is coming up next week, and we have a new book that showcases decades of textile-based art.  Artwear: fashion and anti-fashion, by Melissa Leventon, features pieces from a 2005 exhibit at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.  Leventon - who curated the exhibit - begins with an historical look at the merging of fashion and craft.  From the Arts & Crafts movement of the late 1800's to the renewed emphasis on nature during the 1970's and on into the recent experimentation with digital techniques and industrial fibers, textile artists have pushed the boundaries of fashion and perception.  Truly elegant painted silks, delicately beaded dresses, intricate smocking and elaborate construction techniques come together in amazingly creative ways.  Pages and pages of color photos will inspire budding textile artists, and get you fired up for the show next weekend.  (You might even think about getting a jump-start on Wearble XXVI)