I love homemaking. I studied Home Economics for my Bachelor’s degree. They’ve changed the program some and the name (when I graduated it was called Family, Child, and Consumer Science), now it’s called Child & Family studies. I went to LSU and the program was housed in the College of Agriculture. Fun fact, Home Economics comprised of studies of the family & child, nutrition, and clothing.
To this day, fashion merchandising (fashion design) and nutrition studies are still housed in the College of Agriculture. You would think that Fashion Merchandising would be in the College of Art and Design, but no, it’s in the College of Agriculture because of its roots in Home Economics. Same with Nutrition. It’s also housed in the College of Ag because of the same roots. In fact, I took a class that was a combined class with Family, Child, & Consumer Science students, Fashion Merchandising students, and Nutrition students.
The course was broken up into thirds and we all learned about the interconnectedness of the disciplines and it was an amazing opportunity to learn about all three in the same class. I really love the major that I studied because I love homemaking and I have always been interested in both fashion design and nutrition. In fact, I am in the process of creating my wardrobe for the upcoming year!
I loved making clothes in high school, and I made extra money by doing seamstress work for my dad. As an attorney, he wore a suit everyday, and so I would replace shirt buttons, iron garments in between dry cleanings, hem pants, etc. It was great exposure to fashion design and fabrics and materials. I saw how long a quality garment can last when properly taken care of. I saw that when you take a garment home, you’re not done with it, that it still needs tailoring and maintenance.
As a teenager, the clothing I saw in stores was mostly fast fashion. Going with him to stores and working on his suits and other clothing items, I saw a level of quality that I did not see in many stores where teens typically shopped. I love the quality of menswear suits and it started me on a journey of appreciating fabrics and a level of quality that I otherwise may not have experienced.
will do a post soon on my wardrobe progress, I am so excited about it. I’ve planned out what I want and ordered my fabrics from Mood (which is such a full circle moment for me as a Project Runway fan!). I am so proud that I followed my passion and studied what I really wanted to rather than just picking a major that I thought would make me a lot of money.
As it turns out, the vast majority of degrees did not pan out to be the financial opportunities that many thought they would be, but I maintain that you are better for having studied it if you are applying it to your life.
The child development classes were integral to my teaching practice. Learning about parenting styles had a direct crossover to the classroom with my approach to leading students. Learning about nutrition has continued to impact my day to day life, and even today I am doing maintenance on my pantry and planning meals, and working on maintaining my home.
What I love is that homemaking is for anyone! It’s not gendered, it’s not about relationship status or being married. It’s about creating a home for yourself.
In my many travels, I have gained so many beautiful influences, and it is my pleasure to bring these influences back into my home and life. It’s a beautiful life, and you can have one too!
Today I’m working on pantry maintenance. I’m going through and clearing out/organizing things. It really lifts my mood when I get to organizing and cleaning out my space. I recently had a birthday and part of what I’m doing for my new year is cleaning out my space. It’s also good to get an eye on everything to remember what I have and what I still need.
