Think I dress weird now? Look at me then...

I was 5 when my grandmother crushed my dreams of becoming a famous singer when she said: "Erin you can't sing." After crying myself to sleep that night, I woke up the next morning and decided I wanted to be an artist. Then at the age of 10, I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer. There it went back and forth artist, fashion designer, artist, fashion designer until 2001 when I discovered that I could be both! For my Fine Arts thesis, I made wearable art.

My line of wearable art created to address women's issues was called F Yu Couture. The title plays on the idea of feminism as a swear word. Lets face it, even in 2010, 9 years after I created the pieces it still is. More people than not, regardless of their education, have no idea what "feminist" means and cringe at the word. I won't divulge too deep into the subject but for the record a feminist is one that believes women deserve social, economic and political equality. That's all. I hope that all that I am acquainted with ARE feminists.

My favourite piece out of the series was the "Stay Away Coat" as seen below. I sewed the coat out of shiny black vinyl and punctured it with over 200 2 inch nails. The coat represents the daily "armor" a woman puts on. Don't cat call me. Don't hit on me. Don't hurt me. I'm thinking of pulling this one out for Friday and Saturday nights living in down town Toronto...

Other pieces focused on stereotypes and explored labels- sluts, prudes, the "Wonder Woman" (one who takes on the roles of homemaker, mother, wife, worker).

And only because I promised... Here I am in my couture- a dress defaced with text from Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale".