ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: CHICAGO, ILL. / LOS ANGELES, CALIF. / WWW.JUMPSU.IT
JUMPSUIT J COURSE INFORMATION & SYLLABUS DOCUMENT: RDS . JUMPSUIT How to Make a Personal Uniform for the End of Capitalism
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Fashion is inherently political. We see this in the way our clothing produces social signals to ways it is bought, sold, worn, and produced. In this six-week class the Rational Dress Society, in collaboration with the Arts Research Collective (ARC), will position fashion in the context of theory and practice. Students will learn to sew a JUMPSUIT of their very own alongside lessons and discussions on topics including, Marxism, feminism, cyborgs, revolutionary dress, the environment, labor and the end of western capitalism. June 17th - July 26th Wednesday/Sunday 8:00 - 9:30 est
WHAT IS THIS COURSE ABOUT?
This course will be structured in two parts. In the first half, we will learn to sew JUMPSUITS using a free pattern designed by the RDS. In the second half, we will learn to design our own personal uniform, to replace all clothes in perpetuity. Alongside sewing, patternmaking and design demonstrations, RDS cofounders Abigail Glaum-Lathbury and Maura Brewer will lead a series of discussions and workshops to reimagine what a post-consumer society might look like. Together, we will turn theory into practice and form new bonds of solidarity in times of self-isolation.
WHAT WILL STUDENTS LEARN?
This class is designed for any individual who would like to make a JUMPSUIT regardless of prior sewing experience. Together with online workshops, supplemental instructional videos and resources, students will create a RDS monogarment from start to finish while discussing the historical and theoretical framework of our current political landscape. Lessons are designed to facilitate critical engagement with media, theory and fashion paired with technical and practical sewing demonstrations.
1 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: CHICAGO, ILL. / LOS ANGELES, CALIF. / WWW.JUMPSU.IT
JUMPSUIT J COURSE INFORMATION & SYLLABUS DOCUMENT: RDS . JUMPSUIT How to Make a Personal Uniform for the End of Capitalism
SUPPLIES & EQUIPMENT
Students participating in this course interested in making a JUMPSUIT will need the following items. All forms of engagement and participation are welcome.
• A sewing machine • Three yards of a woven (non-stretch) material such as denim • Scissors that will cut fabric • Pins • Thread • Zipper • Access to a printer or printing shop • A flexible measuring tape • Iron and ironing board • A seam ripper
COURSE OUTLINE
LESSON 1:// Fashion and counter-fashion (Investigation of the intertwining of fashion, commodity fetishism, and how a personal uniform becomes an act of resistance.)
LESSON 2:// Post Fordist Fashion (Sewing the first portion of JUMPSUIT and establishing concepts the neoliberal economy and spectacle)
LESSON 3:// “Ethical” Consumption (Considering consumption as a vehicle for ideology while stitching the bottom portion of the JUMPSUIT)
LESSON 4:// Counter-Fashion as Institutional Critique (Exploring fashion as an expression of political and sartorial solidarity while joining together the top and bottom portion of your monogarment)
LESSON 5:// Our Bodies…Ourselves (Considering the reinvention of existing garments while completing the final steps of your JUMPSUIT and discussing concepts of performativity and poststructuralist feminisms)
LESSON 6:// Into the Future (Developing patternmaking strategies for the future while examining concepts of degrowth and strategies for cyborg living) 2 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: CHICAGO, ILL. / LOS ANGELES, CALIF. / WWW.JUMPSU.IT
JUMPSUIT J COURSE INFORMATION & SYLLABUS DOCUMENT: RDS . JUMPSUIT How to Make a Personal Uniform for the End of Capitalism
WEEKLY OUTLINE
FASHION AND COUNTER-FASHION: Investigation of the intertwining of fashion, commodity fetishism, and how a personal uniform becomes an act of resistance.
June 17th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Reading an industrial pattern & the language of construction • A brief history of standardized sizing • Equipment
Concepts: • Commodity fetishism • Dialectics • Alienation LESSON 1://
June 21st, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Measuring yourself & determining your JUMPSUIT size • Selecting a fabric • Cutting your JUMPSUIT
Concepts: • Industrial revolution / birth of fashion • Ready-to-wear • Conspicuous consumption / signaling
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND ONLINE TUTORIALS: • The Rational Dress Society Official Guide to Measuring • The Rational Dress Society Guide to cutting • A Brief History of Sizing Systems • The Secret Life of the Sewing Machine
3 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: CHICAGO, ILL. / LOS ANGELES, CALIF. / WWW.JUMPSU.IT
JUMPSUIT J COURSE INFORMATION & SYLLABUS DOCUMENT: RDS . JUMPSUIT How to Make a Personal Uniform for the End of Capitalism
POST FORDIST FASHION: Sewing the first portion of JUMPSUIT and establishing concepts the neoliberal economy and spectacle
June 24th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Introduction to the sewing machine • Sewing together the JUMPSUIT top Sleeves & Body
Concepts: • Neoliberalism • The spectacle
LESSON 2:// June 28th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Joining the sleeves and body to form the top • Assess and make adjustments to the fit of your JUMPSUIT
Concepts: • The double-knit / deskilling / outsourcing • Revolutionary dress and Civil Rights
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND ONLINE TUTORIALS: • The Rational Dress Society Official Guide to Sewing the JUMPSUIT Part 1 • Understanding and troubleshooting your machine “ETHICAL” CONSUMPTION: Considering consumption as a vehicle for ideology while stitching the bottom portion of the JUMPSUIT
July 1st, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Stitching together the front and back pockets • Joining and top stitching the crotch and inseams
Concepts: • Ideology • Sustainability and consumption - there are no limits 4 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: CHICAGO, ILL. / LOS ANGELES, CALIF. / WWW.JUMPSU.IT
JUMPSUIT J COURSE INFORMATION & SYLLABUS DOCUMENT: RDS . JUMPSUIT How to Make a Personal Uniform for the End of Capitalism
July 5th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Stitching the outseams • Sewing and completing the waistband • Assess and make adjustments to the fit of your JUMPSUIT LESSON 3:// Concepts: • New media economies • Isolation / atomization
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND ONLINE TUTORIALS: • The Rational Dress Society Official Guide to Sewing the JUMPSUIT Part 2
COUNTER-FASHION AS INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE: Exploring fashion as an expression of political and sartorial solidarity while joining together the top and bottom portion of your monogarment
July 8th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Stitching the top and bottom portions of your monogarment together • Preparing and stitching the front fly
Concepts: LESSON 4:// • Cultural capital
July 12th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Setting in a zipper • Preparing and sewing the collar • Hemming & completing your JUMPSUIT
Concepts: • Habitus • Institutional Critique
5 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: CHICAGO, ILL. / LOS ANGELES, CALIF. / WWW.JUMPSU.IT
JUMPSUIT J COURSE INFORMATION & SYLLABUS DOCUMENT: RDS . JUMPSUIT How to Make a Personal Uniform for the End of Capitalism
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND ONLINE TUTORIALS: • RDS Official Guide to Sewing the JUMPSUIT Part 3 • RDS Official Guide to Sewing the JUMPSUIT Part 4 • Additional demonstration for stitching a fly front closure • Additional demonstration for stitching a collar • Additional demonstration for “stitching in the ditch”
OUR BODIES…OURSELVES: Considering the reinvention of existing garments while completing the final steps of your JUMPSUIT and discussing concepts of performativity and poststructuralist feminisms
July 15th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Finishing your monogarment - setting in a zipper and finishing the collar LESSON 5:// Concepts: • Performativity
July 19th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Deconstructing and re-envisioning an existing garment
Concepts: • Poststructuralist feminisms
INTO THE FUTURE (HIGH-FIVE!): Developing patternmaking strategies for the future while examining concepts of degrowth and strategies for cyborg living
July 22nd, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Pattern making for the future part 1
6 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: CHICAGO, ILL. / LOS ANGELES, CALIF. / WWW.JUMPSU.IT
JUMPSUIT J COURSE INFORMATION & SYLLABUS DOCUMENT: RDS . JUMPSUIT How to Make a Personal Uniform for the End of Capitalism
Concepts: • Capitalist realism • Degrowth
July 26th, 2020 8:00 - 9:30 EST Demonstrations & Construction Lessons: • Pattern making for the future part 2 LESSON 6:// Concepts: • Cyborgs • Open source
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND ONLINE TUTORIALS: • How to make your own dress form
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