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One of the most amazing things I saw at World Maker Faire New York were all the electronic fashions and designs. When I was in school, girls were still required to take sewing to pass junior high. The only technology we were exposed to was the sewing machine itself. (Although I will admit, by the time we were done we could disassemble and clean a sewing machine with our eyes closed, like a soldier with his weapon.) Today, happily, all that is different. Young women can not only design and sew their own clothes, they also know how to program them to glow and react to their environment!
I met two teenage girls at Maker Faire who were there specifically to see the high-tech clothing. One came in with some friends from Long Island to hear Becky Stern talk about her TV-B-Gone hoodie. The other, sporting a little purse with a cute measuring tape strap, drove all the way down from Vermont with her dad to check out the Diana Eng fashion show. Both are interested in attending the Fashion Institute of Technology -- which in my day was where my clothing designer friends went, but today also offers opportunities for technical artists as well.
I asked the budding designer from Vermont how she learned to work with electronic components. She told me her school had a summer program to introduce girls to engineering. Lucky girls! I also stopped to chat with artist Shannon Henry, who had a booth showing off her tutu-like skirts bedecked with fiber optic filaments which changed color as they moved. She said she taught herself how to put together her fascinating creations from reading books.
Well, I've read books too, and I can tell you, it ain't as simple as that. Growing up believing that tools are for boys can be a big handicap. I envy and admire today's up-and-coming designers, those girls who are not afraid to play around with electronics. And I appreciate the fact that Maker Faire gave technophobes like me a helping hand. Here's a little flashing pin I put together, all by myself, at Maker Shed's "Learn to Solder" corner. Maybe there's hope for me yet!
