What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
1–10 of 14 posts
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#2Fashion is basically wrapping paper for the body.
It adds something, sure, but it's way over-hyped.
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#3I've had some good Maths lessons out of dimensioning pencil skirts, pattern re-sizing, and the 'hang' of a dress related to the orientation of the warp and weft of the cloth. And there is always the small business angle. Perhaps more mundane than OP.
Note: I teach basic maths in vocational colleges in UK.
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#4Fashion is basically wrapping paper for the body. It adds something, sure, but it's way over-hyped.
architecture is just wrapping paper for houses.
UI design is just wrapping paper for programs.
Presentation is just wrapping paper for food.
Interior design is just wrapping paper for homes and offices.
Typesetting is just wrapping paper for words.
It's thinking like this that gets us poor experiences in all these fields. Aesthetics matter, but treating these things jut as aesthetics misses both their beauty and their engineering.
And hey, art is cool. Even when it is just art. Paint is just paint, but it can make beautiful things when handled well. It may not be your thing, but no need to hate on it.
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#5The best book I know on high tech clothing design is Spacesuit from MIT Press[0]. Great story of how the engineers and designers at a women's underwear company (Playtex) massively outperformed all the "military armor" inspired hard-shell suit designs put forward by the favorites of the ex-military-aviation guys running the space flight program at the time.
As someone who has built high-grade muscle and body simulations for the film industry, trying to respond well to the full range of motions and deformations of the human body is definitely a non-trivial engineering challenge. In men's fashion, for example, Italian cut pants look great when you wear them but the front pockets are guaranteed to lose any coins you're wearing when you sit down because the engineering tradeoff swung too far one way and didn't address enough issues the other way (the issue has to do with the way the inner pocket structure is anchored to the seam of the pants, so it never gets out of place but also is forced to tilt the wrong direction dumping its contents if you sit on an overstuffed couch). The spacesuit designers had to get every part of the body right (though as anyone who has watched The Right Stuff[1] knows the original suits weren't actually designed to manage a couple key body functions, which became an issue when launches got delayed).
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#6Fashion is basically wrapping paper for the body. It adds something, sure, but it's way over-hyped.
architecture is just wrapping paper for houses. UI design is just wrapping paper for programs. Presentation is just wrapping paper for food. Interior design is just wrapping paper for homes and offices. Typesetting is just wrapping paper for words. It's thinking like this that gets us poor experiences in all these fields. Aesthetics matter, but treating these things jut as aesthetics misses both their beauty and thei…
Maybe I sounded like a grumpy old man in that post, but what you say matches what I think because the things you mention should receive equal attention.
And that includes wrapping paper!
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#7I came across this "Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown" years and years ago. Nice to see it's still around.
http://www.neatorama.com/2013/12/31/A-Stress-Analysis-of-a-S...
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
architecture is just wrapping paper for houses. UI design is just wrapping paper for programs. Presentation is just wrapping paper for food. Interior design is just wrapping paper for homes and offices. Typesetting is just wrapping paper for words. It's thinking like this that gets us poor experiences in all these fields. Aesthetics matter, but treating these things jut as aesthetics misses both their beauty and thei…
Maybe I sounded like a grumpy old man in that post, but what you say matches what I think because the things you mention should receive equal attention. And that includes wrapping paper!
I would also say that clothing is a form of communication. Certainly, it's one that you may not value, but I believe it's something that we should be aware of if we're to be effective communicators. First, there's the forms of clothing and their association with certain people and certain kinds of respect. If we see a person dressed as a pastor, that immediately affords them a certain kind of respect within a certain community. There are fights within hospitals over the role of the lab coat worn by doctors. Second, clothing is designed to enhance certain physical characteristics that afford a different kind of perception and respect. In a man's suit jacket, the button stance is designed to create a V-effect on the chest, which suggests physical power and strength similar to a V-shaped figure. The layering of colors within the clothing is designed to bring attention to the face, which we as people tend to value very highly.
Again, you may not value these things, but the vast majority of the world does. One of the things that I struggle with from fresh graduates out of technical schools is that they don't value it and it hurts them professionally because their peers and management do. That might not be right, but until one becomes the boss, it's important to understand and effectively utilize this language. I'd feel pretty stupid if I didn't reach my professional goals because I didn't value how I dress sufficiently enough. And, yes, there's a limit to how much it matters just as there are limits to all language. Though, that doesn't minimize its impact.
With respect to the article, the physics and modeling of fabric is incredibly difficult. Part of the reason that clothing manufacturing hasn't been as automated as other fields is a testament to how difficult it is. Personally, I find such models fascinating.
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I sounded like a grumpy old man in that post, but what you say matches what I think because the things you mention should receive equal attention. And that includes wrapping paper!
I would also say that clothing is a form of communication. Certainly, it's one that you may not value, but I believe it's something that we should be aware of if we're to be effective communicators. First, there's the forms of clothing and their association with certain people and certain kinds of respect. If we see a person dressed as a pastor, that immediately affords them a certain kind of respect within a certain…
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a well-dressed man or woman, but fashion is something you get bombarded with.
As a thought-experiment, replace fashion by typography. Imagine you wake up, and you have to think about typography, then you get to work, people talk about typography, you come home and turn on the TV, people talk about typography, then at some point, it becomes too much. Personally, I'll probably still appreciate the craft, but I consider it a "solved" problem for myself, something that others deal with, and I direct my attention elsewhere.
As for the communication aspect of clothing, that's actually something I have resentment against. You change clothes only once or perhaps twice a day, so the communication is extremely low-bandwidth to start with. And an even bigger problem: it reduces the person to one thing. A person wearing a pilot suit becomes a pilot (only), a person wearing a labcoat becomes a doctor (only). But obviously people are more than their profession.
And clothing can also be a way to intimidate or to mask intentions (think of the used car salesman wearing a suit, not because he likes it, but because he wants to sell that car).
Re: What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would also say that clothing is a form of communication. Certainly, it's one that you may not value, but I believe it's something that we should be aware of if we're to be effective communicators. First, there's the forms of clothing and their association with certain people and certain kinds of respect. If we see a person dressed as a pastor, that immediately affords them a certain kind of respect within a certain…
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a well-dressed man or woman, but fashion is something you get bombarded with. As a thought-experiment, replace fashion by typography. Imagine you wake up, and you have to think about typography, then you get to work, people talk about typography, you come home and turn on the TV, people talk about typography, then at some point, it becomes too much. Personally, I'll probably still app…
Whether fashion is covered too much or too little seems pretty subjective; it's going to depend on what you read, etc. The physics aspect doesn't get talked about much and you don't see much on Hacker News normally, so I wouldn't say it's over-covered here?
(On the other hand, we do see an awful lot of criticism of UI design and that includes complaints about typography :-)