Stuff Digital Edition

BOOT SCOOTIN'

Flora Knight takes Tyson Beckett on a tour of her wardrobe full of global influences and an appreciation of craftsmanship.

You can tell a lot about a person by peeking in their wardrobe. Ask bootmaker and fiddle player Flora Knight and she’ll tell you that her wardrobe says, “I’m oldfashioned, love colour and am thrifty (or cheap, ha!)”

Having been born in Canada, raised in New Zealand and now based in the United States, Knight struggles to nail her colours to one specific culture. A global identity has, she says, “left me with a very fluid sense of identity and culture and the way I put myself together perhaps is an ever revolving amalgamation of these cultures and experiences that I have interacted with along the way”.

Some of those experiences include her time in a country singing duo with Sean Knight, during which the pair won three golden guitar awards. Now based in Guthrie, Oklahoma, clothing connects Knight to her past.

CREATIVE INSPIRATION FOR ME COMES FROM

living in the world and observing the ingenious ways in which life uses what is around it to create something from nothing. The most inspiring thing to observe creatively is to see someone give something a go with no qualms about what the outcome may be. Music, books and other artists, of course, provide a lot of inspiration also.

I MOVED FROM CANADA TO NEW ZEALAND WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL,

and travelled a lot in my 20s. Having moved back across the world to the US in December 2020, I don’t feel comfortable saying I belong to a specific culture or have attained a cultural identity.

I TEND TO CREATE SOMEWHAT OFA TORNADO OF CLOTHING

all over the house when I am getting dressed, and I think that is because I take things on and off until I’m wearing something that feels true to how I want to feel in the moment. If I’m going to a dinner party and I want to wear baggy jeans and sneakers, then I’ll do that, if I want to wear a silk dress to the beach and that’s what I’m feeling, then that’s the way I go about feeling my most authentic self.

I’VE LOVED GOING ALL OUT DRESSING UP FOR ANY OCCASION.

Even from a young age I can remember certain outfits. My mum is amazing at putting together costumes in an inventive way and I can remember her draping things over me and turning objects into costumes on me and bringing a feel or idea to life for an occasion or events.

ONE OF THE MOST PRECIOUS THINGS I OWN

is an engraved small silver locket that some beloved girlfriends gave me for my 18th birthday. My neck feels cold if I don’t have it on.

I MADE THIS LIGHT GREEN RAYON DRESS

years ago when I first started making clothes and shoes for myself.

My mum thrifted the 1940s rayon fabric from somewhere and I begged her to let me make something out of it. I’ve worn it to death but it’s still one of the most comfortable things I own, flows so nicely and always reminds me of how far I’ve come in what I have learnt over the years. Plus it’s perfect for dancing.

I HAVE A LOVELY BLACK WOOLLEN SWEATER

with white polka dots that I’ve had my entire life. It was maybe made in the 1930s. I have a picture of my great-grandmother wearing it, a photo of me as a little girl wearing it and I still gently wear it today. I have an arctic fox fur from her too, which is possibly older, but there’s no way of knowing.

THIS BEAUTIFUL BLACK SILK SHIRT

belonged to my grandmother. She called it her “Concert Shirt”. She would wear it when she’d have a concert playing her piccolo and flute. I can remember her red curls sitting on the shoulders of this shirt and thinking she looked so beautiful and elegant. I wear it now when I need to tap into a bit of that special Grandma energy.

TĀNGATA / PEOPLE

en-nz

2022-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/288020515475216

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