On Thursday evening, Gucci was kind enough to invite me to a cocktail party at their Boston store in honor of the Florentine artisans who were in town for the brand's 90th anniversarry. While the rest of us sipped cocktails, these talented craftspeople were stationed around the store, demonstrating the workmanship and attention to detail that goes into each Gucci handbag.
I had no intention of buying a bag that night on my budget (someday...), but in today's world of fast fashion, it was all quite a sight to see. The making of the New Bamboo, for example, involves the hand-assembly of 140 individual pieces, and each bag takes 13 hours to complete. At one table, a woman gingerly operated a sewing machine, while at another, it took three people's concentration to emboss a bag with what looked to be old-fashioned metal printing blocks.
Most of us would be hard-pressed to give up our fast-fashion ways, and it can feel awfully good to score a leather bag for $30. But seeing those artisans behind their worktables, sewing and cutting leather as Gucci workers have for 90 years, tends to put things in perspective.
Of course, the party was filled with well-dressed revelers:
My stud of a neighbor, Frank Amelia, and Erin Gates of Elements of Style
I didn't catch this girl's name, but she stopped me in my tracks with her
lacy frock from Anthropologie and her leather Guccissima bag.
You may have noticed from these photos that I finally got a decent camera! I found a Canon PowerShot G11 on Craig's List for a great price, and I couldn't be happier with it. Of course, it doesn't magically make me a great photographer and I still don't know the first thing about photo editing, so thanks for being patient with me.
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