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Interior designer says that having family photo 'shrines' in the house is poor taste

Is decorating with family photos tacky?

via Travis Isaacs/Flickr

A collage of family photos.

Shannyn Weiler, a Utah-based interior designer, has caused a debate on TikTok after she urged people to use caution when displaying family photos in the home. The discussion started a debate over whether a home should be decorated for visitors or the family itself and if having a “shrine” dedicated to family members is tasteful.

The video began with a stitch from a designer passionately saying that one should “never’ display “personal photos” in the living room.

“So family photos can become a problem when they become what I refer to as the shrine,” Weiler begins the video. She shared an example from her life, to make the case why family photos should be hung judiciously.

“I got married when I was 21,” she shares. “We were both in school, absolutely broke, we had $50 to buy a couch, so imagine what type of couch that was. We went to go decorate our first apartment and lo and behold, there’s no money for decoration. So we do what most newlyweds do, we use our wedding photos, because we’re so cute and we’re so in love and we just love our wedding day. Everywhere in our apartment was wedding photos… it felt like what I call ‘the shrine.’”

“It’s very real. This also happens if you have one baby, and you might have baby photos taken and it’s the shrine to the one kid,” she continues. “This also happens if you have one grandkid.”

@shannynweiler

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Weiler believes that people should hang artwork or photography about more than one subject.

“They can’t just be on every wall with one subject,” she says. “We need to mix it up. There needs to be a mirror in the space. We need some Etsy art prints or something like that. We just need to mix it together to get rid of that shrine feel.”

The post bothered many who love having pictures of their family around the house. The vast majority of commenters were people who love having family photos strewn about their homes

"The house is for us not company," Sarah Murdock, the most popular commenter, wrote. "I’d rather have pics of my kids and our life up than prints of random flowers and art," Ty Harman added.

"I grew up in an interior design magazine and HATED that my mom never displayed any photos of my family. Felt like she cared more about material things," Alexandra DiGiovanni wrote.

Others noted that people decorate their homes for themselves, not for guests.

"OR we do what we want with the homes WE live in, not guests," Ergot wrote. "I like myself, I don't have a problem seeing myself everywhere. After all, I paid the bills," Gege Chic added.

Some people agreed with the interior decorator and said that having too many family photos in a house looks tacky.

"YES. Photographs of ourselves in my own house feel so weird to me. Narcissistic kind of Jamiecakes wrote. "I don't have a single photo of a person in my house. I think they look tacky," C wrote. "One friend's house comes to mind for me, it was tacky (for me) to see nothing but wedding pics. Like, do you have other interests? Just my opinion but also, they’re divorced now. Mixing in art helps," _sigred added.

Even though the post received a pretty sizable backlash, Weiler’s opinion is widely accepted in design circles. “To us, having too many portraits of yourself on display in your home is kind of like having a tattoo of yourself on your own body. It can come off as vain and tacky,” Sarah Han writes at Apartment Therapy.

After her thoughts on family photos went viral, Weiler posted a follow-up video where she shared an example of a student changing their mind about home decor.

“Sometimes in design, we hear the design ideas and go, 'Mmm nope, that's not for me.' Sometimes, we try those ideas and we still say, 'Nope, that's not for me.' But occasionally we try things and we go, 'Okay, I do kind of like that,’” Weiler concluded her video.

@shannynweiler

reply to @Shannyn #homedecor #interiordesign #hometips #interiordesigntrends2024 #wall art

This article originally appeared on 2.9.24

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Canada Goose is launching a new parka line created by Inuit designers

CanadaGoose/Instagram

The Inuit people have been living in the frozen tundra of northern Canada for thousands of years, so they clearly are the experts on creating warm outdoor wear. Canada Goose, a company that makes highly-rated outerwear, knows something about marketing warm jackets to people in cold climates.

What if you combined the best of both worlds to create a whole new kind of coat?

Project Atigi has set out to do just that. Established in 2019, Project Atigi is a social entrepreneurship program that "celebrates the expertise and the rich heritage of craftsmanship that has enabled Inuit to live in some of the most formidable climates and conditions," according to a press release.

This year's collection features 90 bespoke pieces, created by 18 Inuit designers. Each designer created a collection of five jackets "which reflect their heritage, communities, and artisanship."

"Project Atigi is a great example of cultural appreciation, not appropriation," said Mishael Gordon, an Inuit designer from Iqaluit, Nunavut who participated in the project's launch. "It's bringing together a world-renowned company and Inuit culture that is represented through our clothing and traditions. This is an opportunity for a piece of our heritage to reach a global audience, especially while owning our own designs."

RELATED: What is modern living like for people in the Arctic Circle? These native artists will show you.

"The talent that Inuit designers possess extends across Inuit Nunangat and the art of making parkas has been part of our culture for thousands of years," Natan Obed, President of ITK, said in a statement.. "By partnering with Canada Goose and expanding this initiative, it raises awareness of the incredible talent of our designers and allows us to share more of our culture and craftsmanship to the world in a way that protects and respects Inuit intellectual property and designs."

Proceeds from each Project Atigi parka sale will go back to Inuit communities across Canada via ITK.

"Project Atigi was born in the North, created by the North and for the North," said Dani Reiss, President & CEO, Canada Goose. "We're leveraging our global platform to share Inuit craftsmanship with the world and to create social entrepreneurship opportunities in the communities that inspire us. When you purchase a Project Atigi parka, you're making an investment in the place and people that shape them."

Beautiful. If you want to try out one of these extra-warm coats made with Inuit creativity and ingenuity, they will be available on canadagoose.com starting January 23.

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Fashion designer Karoline Vitto celebrates the female form with clothing collection accentuating fat 'rolls’

Photo by Leighann Renee on Unsplash

Many of us hate our love handles, viewing the extra layers of cushion as a flaw. We try to cram our rolls into shapewear in order to get a smoother silhouette, only to end up in immense pain from our Spanx at the end of the night. But instead of encouraging women to cover up, one Brazilian designer is encouraging people to embrace their rolls by creating clothes to specifically highlight how beautiful they are.

Karoline Vitto debuted her collection at the Royal College of Art's "All At Once"graduate show. Her line consists of dresses, jumpsuits, and tops with cutouts revealing back, tummy, and boob fat in a fashionable way. To create her clothes, Vitto used materials that are normally used to suck the body in, instead using them to make the body spill out. "I have never seen back rolls being appreciated as much as cleavage, for example. So I wanted to propose finding beauty in what we tend to see as 'flaws,'" Vitto told Bustle.


RELATED: Mindy Kaling shared an uplifting post about 'bikini bods' and everyone is feeling the love

Vitto came up with the idea after hoping a waist clincher would smooth out her own figure. It did not. "The piece was so tight that it took both my mom and sister to help me put it on," Vitto said. "And the result was that, despite having a smaller waist with that piece, some rolls would pop up on my back and some would pop down. And suddenly you see yourself buying a specific type of bra to tuck the back rolls in. And then a compression top to go with that and tummy tucker pants…and it never ends." Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt, then felt too insecure to wear it.

In creating the collection, Vitto wanted to explore body image. Each piece of clothing comments on a specific beauty ideal, like a dress with an elastic strap that cuts across the breast which was inspired by Vitto's (and probably every woman's) experiences of not being able to find a properly fitting bra."I wanted to question why we submit ourselves to constant body modifications, or tight lingerie, or why we body shame ourselves so much, when we could see our bodies as something that could be appreciated by its natural texture, form or lines," Vitto said.

RELATED: A girl was told she's 'too fat' to wear jean shorts at her church. Her thoughtful response is going viral.

While many women feel insecure about their own "jiggly parts," the collection was well received. "Women with different body types, sizes, and backgrounds have been messaging me to say that they felt somehow represented by what I was doing, and for me that's the most important thing," Vitto said. "If someone looks in the mirror and doesn't see their bodies as something to be changed anymore, my role was done. That would make me the happiest."

Most importantly, Vitto's collection teaches us a lesson in owning our body as it is. Your rolls don't have to be shameful, they can literally be a work of art.

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The BKLYN Fashion Academy had its first fashion show. The looks are fierce.

"The diversity in this program allowed the work to speak for itself and shows that talent has no color."

A new fashion academy in Brooklyn is focusing on designers and models of color.

All photos courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library.

The BKLYN Fashion Academy is a 12-week intensive program that provides 15 aspiring womenswear designers with the necessary tools to succeed in the fashion industry.

Leading the charge on the program's design and curriculum is Brooklyn Library Outreach Specialist Lynnsie Augustin. She developed the program not only to create a space to feature the designers' work, but also to provide them with the business knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in such a highly competitive industry.

"The BKLYN Fashion Academy became a way for designers to learn all they needed to know to go into business for themselves, as well as provide a space where they could work on their designs and have a stage where they could show them off," writes Augustin in an email.      

Organized by the Brooklyn Public Library, the program has truly taken off. In addition to providing students with education and tools, the program culminated in the stunning Mode En Couleur Runway Show at the historic Brooklyn Library.

Bklyn Fashion Academy Mode En Couleur Runyway Show

We do not own the rights to this music.

Posted by BPL Business & Career Center on Friday, May 11, 2018

Designers showcased all their hard work on the runway to a packed house.

The result? Incredible designs.

The show was inspired by "Les Sapeurs," a Congolese subculture in which individuals committed to the cult of style amid widespread poverty walk the streets dressed to the nines.

"When this program was created, I wanted to incorporate an aspect of fashion that people may not know about," says Augustin. "It gave the designers a chance to do some research on Les Sapeurs and learn about another area of the world that is dedicated to innovative fashion and creativity. It was a chance to bring awareness and to inspire more creativity."

Designer Sharufa Rashied-Walker believes that this theme could've only happened at a program like the BKLYN Fashion Academy, where diversity and art that reflects people of color are championed.

"There was a sense of security and safety in that space, and it was definitely noncompetitive and loving, and you felt the support," says Rashied-Walker. "[The leadership] definitely made it very clear that they were here to support and to cultivate what we needed and what we wanted. And I think that that was something very special. I've never personally experienced anything like that before, and I think it definitely was indicative of the fact that it was a majority of color collective."

Rashied-Walker, who switched to fashion after a corporate career, found a place of creativity and freedom of expression when surrounded by students that largely looked like her. Yet the students were selected simply by the contents of their applications, not by what they themselves looked like.

"The BKLYN Fashion Academy was open to all residents of Brooklyn and the selection process was made based on applications and sample garments, so we never got to see the designers' faces until after they were accepted and came to orientation," says Augustin. "I would say the diversity in this program allowed the work to speak for itself and shows that talent has no color."

Judging by the incredible designs, it's clear that the work speaks to the talent and brilliance of the students — a welcome shift in the fashion industry.

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