Hilda Mauro

Homespun – True Tales of Tweed by J. Joseph Pastrana Joseph Pastrana has been a fashion journalist since I came across his name in Los Angeles many years back. Shortly after he left for New York I tracked him down on Facebook and read chapters of a novel he was writing. Sadly, the chapters stopped coming. I continued to follow his whereabouts and when I learned he finished a book, I immediately searched for it and finally got it in Amazon. It was just hot off the press. I am very much a fan of his work. His book Homespun – True Tales of Tweed, talks about the history of tweed and how it transcends over time and cultural boundaries. It was a revelation for a non-fashion industry person like me. I was raised by a parent who was a dressmaker, to the extent I understood the meaning of a dart, selvedge, seersucker, poplin, arm hole, twill and many other words pertaining to making a dress. These words have nostalgic and stimulating memories for me. Homespun will take you back in time where you will learn about the history of this piece of cloth called tweed. Where did it come from? Why did it appeal so much to generations of people from the regular townsfolk to the royalty? The book talks about the business of tweed, its challenges and how it endured design or fashion decline. Yet, traditions like the Tweed Run in cities and countries, and its newer applications in the theater and cinema, as well as the runway couture gave it a comeback. Finding that a character in a film must sometimes have three versions of his costume for the convenience of movement was curious. I found myself scrambling to find an image of a last supper-like staging of characters in Kenneth Branagh’s Murder in the Orient Express to see the pageantry of tweed. Or googling every single artisan and designer name Joseph names in his book. His stylistic device to jump from one character or topic to the next within the chapter is unique. His research is phenomenal and exhaustive. Will Burghes, a today’s character of his book, was the thread woven into the story. I waited for Will to see how his quest for the best wedding day tweed suit ends. I would have wanted to read more about Will, but in the end, it was not a disappointment. Now I understand why my late husband wore tasseled loafers, and what hand-on-the-fabric means when he touched and felt every bespoke jacket he bought. Now I know what Savile Row really is whenever a BBC film takes me there. If you are into fashion or in the fashion industry, it will be a shame not to read this book. – Hilda Tiu Mauro – a non-profit CEO, Los Angeles, CA.