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Customisation and Autonomy

I interviewed some people about how they customise their lives. This is my reflection on my interview with a different Phoenix S. (I swear that was a coincidence), a student who personalises their clothes.

28 December 2024

I recently chatted with Phoenix (he/they), an artist and avid customizer. For Phoenix, customization has spilled into every corner of their life—from painting random possessions to adorning belongings with pins and stickers, and even crocheting entirely new garments. Though many of their garments are inspired by queer and punk visuals, their approach is ultimately deeply personal and unique to them.

Some of their favourite customisations include a pair of trousers, wallpapered in political, artistic, and queer-rights patches, all DIY-ed or artist-made and a sweater featuring a painted rib cage and dotted with visibly mended tears. Phoenix describes how they can track history through the accumulated modifications and how each repair adds another pop of personality to an item.

“BEING ABLE TO CUSTOMISE YOUR THINGS
WITH THOSE DOMESTIC SKILLS...FEELS VERY MUCH LIKE
RECLAIMING A PART OF YOURSELF.”

Phoenix has been sewing and crocheting since they were seven, taught by their mother and grandmother. These are skills that are conventionally viewed as feminine and domestic, and Phoenix, being queer and trans, described how using those same skills for customisation allowed them to “flip the script” and “reclaim” those skills to better express themself and their identity.

“IT’S A PART OF BEING SELF-ACCEPTING, BEING ABLE
TO LIVE AUTHENTICALLY. IT’S BEING ABLE TO
MAKE...YOUR WORLD FIT AROUND YOU.“

When asked why they customize, Phoenix put it simply: autonomy. Whether it be chopping up clothes to accommodate sensory issues, or altering old, sentimental clothes to be more gender-affirming, customisation allowed Phoenix to not simply take the world and their clothes as is. They describe the sudden feeling of freedom that accompanied the realisation that they could dress unconventionally, that they could modify their clothes to better express their “selfhood”.

Phoenix acknowledges how intimidating it can be to start making and wearing customised clothes, to take the step and be “visually and impactfully different”, and mentions the trepidation they felt when they first started. However, they advise those interested in starting to just go for it. Even if the modifications are reversible, using washable felt tips or removable patches, they recommend just jumping in, enjoying the process, and being okay with the first few creations falling apart.

This article is a part of a magazine I made! You can see the full issue here!