Between two camps

As an artistic person, I adore Individuality and Uniqueness.
We seem to walk between too camps. one being the copycat, following what the "cool" people do, the other blazing our own way, perhaps alone.

You ever see someone do something really cool, and you think to yourself "all the good ideas are gone"?

We want to stand out in a crowd, but not like a sore thumb. We want to fit in just enough to not disrupt the overall harmony.

An example that the costumers can relate to is the 18th century Curtain-Along as instigated by Jen Thompson of Festive Attyre when she saw the Waverly curtains at her local hardware store.

The print came in three colorways and many costumers have picked them up to make costumes from. They run the gamut from 18th century panniers to Regency, and I have even seen a Victorian ensemble made from them.

Many of these costumers thought long and hard about what to do with their curtains, not wanting to make the same thing as someone else, sometimes even changing their plans.

I cant tell you how often I have worked on something in secret, just so that I didn't get copied, only to find out later, someone else had already thought of the same thing and I didn't want to be thought of as copying THEM.

It is a delicate balance that we must walk.