I have made so many "first post" posts...

But this time I hope I'll stick around!

I guess I'll introduce myself? That's me in the photo (obviously) which seems like a good place to start. My name is Annie Belle. Not legally, but I've always gone by Annie Belle. Which is why I named the blog "la petite belle." It's a pun, sort of. I'm lame. 

I'm almost 22 and about to graduate from K College. I knitted a house for my senior art thesis, which you can read/see here. I submitted it to Art Prize in Grand Rapids, but it doesn't look like I'm going to make a connection with a venue :(

That's okay though because I'm about to start a business knitting super-sized accessories and home goods! It's just an Etsy shop right now, but I would eventually like to connect with a few retailers. If I don't take over the world first. Which I kind of want to do. 

I had a blog, which I kind of forgot about, but I'm in a class with a blogging assignment right now and I realized that I miss it. I think I got too into making Meaningful Posts last time, so now I'm going to focus on things that make me happy and let meaning come from that.

So what are those things? I really, really, really love clothing and design, especially from the 1920s-1960s, but I'll take just about anything design-related from history. I am driven by nostalgia for a life I have not lived, and I am much more comfortable knitting and sewing at home than I am living it up at a bar. While I do love the idea of a fifties housewife--except for the cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing!--I am also an unapologetic feminist with a social justice background (or as much as one can have at 22), and I think I'm drawn to that image because I love investigating how women rebelled against it, and how they found agency within the limited roles society afforded them. I also like exploring the ways in which our knowledge of the time period is informed by a sort of revised history, so hopefully I'll write some posts on women I admire!

I genuinely cannot see myself working in an environment that doesn't involve textiles, design, or fashion in some way, so I guess this blog will sort of be about me negotiating that. Hopefully there will be sewing tutorials, knitting patterns, and other life pro tips along the way!

Thanks for joining me and I can't wait to hear from you all!

xx,

Annie Belle