Thursday, July 2, 2015

Curated by? Not.

Every now and then the misuse of a word becomes extremely popular... and terribly annoying. My big beef right now is with the two words: curated by.

Wow. That sounds really important doesn't it? It used to have significance relating to museums and fine art. A curator is someone well schooled in their specialty, after years of higher education and work in the field. Now it seems that anyone who selects content or a product is suddenly a curator.

I choose the products that I sell on my website and at consumer shows. Does that make me a curator? Hardly. Do I need to put the words, "Curated by Catherine Goetz" to sound important or for people to know I chose them? I don't think so.

So no, I am not a curator of fabrics and neither are all those 'sewing celebrities' who claim to be. I am pretty sure that none of them has a PhD in textiles nor have they spent years in the field studying fibres, textile manufacturing, printing, design, dyes and so forth. They do what any business person does; choose products, buy them and resell them.

Instead of curators, they are experts. They have a great deal of knowledge about sewing. They also have a particular style and taste that influences their choices. Do they carefully select the fabrics that they sell? Most likely.

So don't be overly impressed by the words "curated by". Think instead about the person who has chosen the products, and whether or not you like their choices and trust their judgment. It's that simple.