The Lab : Breaking the Rules

why we love learning rules...and love breaking them even more

Math and rules tend to go hand in hand. Math, like science, like baking, requires more finite precision to achieve a desired outcome. We hold tightly to our rules because without them we’d feel lost and we enjoy the security and they provide us in a number of situations. With a structure, we can feel more comfortable having a place to start and from which to grow when taking on a new set of skills.

In pattern making, like math, there are rules. In order to achieve a desired balance and fit we have to follow them. But once we’ve learned and honed the rules which belong to that skill set, it is precisely then that we’re allowed to break them.

The first instance I understood how and when in pattern making you could break the rules was during my time at Rachel Comey. This was the era of the infamous Legion Jeans, knocked off by everyone at the time. The desire was to have the jean hug the inner ankle and kick out at the outseam.