Haute Couture
This is a blog on Haute Couture and couture in general. As a ‘couturiere’ and ‘sewer upper’ of things since the age of six I would like to share my love of making and transforming with others. For me there is nothing as exciting as finding some lovely piece of fabric and listening to it telling me what it wishes to be. As naïve and silly this may sound I remain convinced that each ‘material’ whether it be silk, wood or brick has an ambition to become something lasting and beautiful and it is for us artisans to listen and encourage it to become the heirloom of tomorrow.
There is only one other passion that I can compare with sewing and that is gardening. The idea of taking a bare plot of land and through planting and shaping and tending to turn it into a place that will be cherished by other for years is an amazing experience. Just as there is nothing sadder than a beautiful garden that knows only the presence of its creator the same goes with a beautiful garment that is stored in a closet and only taken out on rare occasions. In today’s consumer world garments have become simply passing purchases with no soul or perennity and the age of investment and passing down has itself passed for the most part. This said there have never been so many ‘vintage’ or ‘thrift’ stores as today so there is hope yet for the better made garment which happily excludes the many high street labels that by their lack of quality and price have no hope of lasting.
My intent here is to show the process through from the initial inspiration and sketch to the ‘toile/draping’ and finally the actual making up of the finished garment and in doing so share with my readers the different techniques and ploys used throughout.
Anyone may contact me with questions, queries and suggestions to which I will happily respond.
There is not a stage of the process that I do not enjoy from sketching to cutting out to sewing and finishing. I love embroidering and beading and take a great delight in lining my creations in an original way making the insides as attractive as the outsides.
I began sewing as a mere child and in the beginning I knew only black and white thread and the ‘pages’ from the local village tailor’s sample books. The day I discovered the existence of colored sewing thread my life changed forever and sewing became an art in itself. My first sewing machine was an ancient pedal Singer sewing machine in a dark corner of my aunt’s front parlor in my home village of Alness in the Scottish highlands. I begged scraps and hand me downs over the years and a great part of my knowledge came from the analysis of the vintage fifties dresses and coats a local village woman donated to my passion. I studied how seems were finished, how much allowance was left and how zippers were put in. I made patterns from old sun faded curtains and fitted them onto a patient kid sister who became my first ‘client’. My mother was my second victim and one day when she was out shopping in a nearby town I made up a remnant of cotton needle cord printed with strawberries into an a-line skirt. Although it was for fun she actually loved it and even bought strawberry pink shoes to match and wore it until it wore out. This enthusiasm showed me that the things I made actually stood up as actual garments and many orders from friends and family followed giving me an income which I spent on drawing paper and materials. At the age of fourteen I entered a national competition to design clothes for a BBC presenter and won one of the three prizes out of 300,000 entries and ended up on the front page of the national newspaper. I was reported as saying that one day I wanted to live in Paris and work for a famous designer! I did end up as head of Karl Lagerfeld’s workrooms in Paris almost twenty years later. My next project was to buy job lots of remnants and zippers and boxes of mixed threads and arranging them into sewing kits I sold them at the local market along with totes cut down from old raincoats. I made the large skipped bonnets that were popular in the sixties and showered the village with them and even slippers and soft toys and pillows and patchworks. My grandmother taught me crochet and lace making and research led me to attempt tatting which was too time-consuming to become a lasting passion although the results were interesting.
In 1973 at the age of sixteen I entered the famous St Martin’s School of Art and Design in London and after an initial first year foundation course I was accepted to the three year design course. I was top student in my first year and because I was a proficient seamstress I was promoted to the third year to help the students prepare their end of year fashion shows garments. Although this distanced me from my fellow students it allowed me access to further techniques and gave me the confidence that was lacking in my home environment.
In 1977 I set up home in Paris living in a tiny attic bedroom and designing, illustrating and patternmaking for men’s and women’s wear collections. Over thirty plus years I worked my way up from designer to draper to head of workrooms for different fashion houses. I have had the pleasure and honor to work for and with many designers which has added to my knowledge and confidence over the years. The fabulous thing in fashion is the fresh start we have each season to make something different and desirable giving the impression that it's always springtime. Springtime in Paris for me each year, how envious does that make you? Fashion does indeed rime with passion and for me it has never been simply a ‘job’. I hope here to transmit some of that passion to others.
There is only one other passion that I can compare with sewing and that is gardening. The idea of taking a bare plot of land and through planting and shaping and tending to turn it into a place that will be cherished by other for years is an amazing experience. Just as there is nothing sadder than a beautiful garden that knows only the presence of its creator the same goes with a beautiful garment that is stored in a closet and only taken out on rare occasions. In today’s consumer world garments have become simply passing purchases with no soul or perennity and the age of investment and passing down has itself passed for the most part. This said there have never been so many ‘vintage’ or ‘thrift’ stores as today so there is hope yet for the better made garment which happily excludes the many high street labels that by their lack of quality and price have no hope of lasting.
My intent here is to show the process through from the initial inspiration and sketch to the ‘toile/draping’ and finally the actual making up of the finished garment and in doing so share with my readers the different techniques and ploys used throughout.
Anyone may contact me with questions, queries and suggestions to which I will happily respond.
There is not a stage of the process that I do not enjoy from sketching to cutting out to sewing and finishing. I love embroidering and beading and take a great delight in lining my creations in an original way making the insides as attractive as the outsides.
I began sewing as a mere child and in the beginning I knew only black and white thread and the ‘pages’ from the local village tailor’s sample books. The day I discovered the existence of colored sewing thread my life changed forever and sewing became an art in itself. My first sewing machine was an ancient pedal Singer sewing machine in a dark corner of my aunt’s front parlor in my home village of Alness in the Scottish highlands. I begged scraps and hand me downs over the years and a great part of my knowledge came from the analysis of the vintage fifties dresses and coats a local village woman donated to my passion. I studied how seems were finished, how much allowance was left and how zippers were put in. I made patterns from old sun faded curtains and fitted them onto a patient kid sister who became my first ‘client’. My mother was my second victim and one day when she was out shopping in a nearby town I made up a remnant of cotton needle cord printed with strawberries into an a-line skirt. Although it was for fun she actually loved it and even bought strawberry pink shoes to match and wore it until it wore out. This enthusiasm showed me that the things I made actually stood up as actual garments and many orders from friends and family followed giving me an income which I spent on drawing paper and materials. At the age of fourteen I entered a national competition to design clothes for a BBC presenter and won one of the three prizes out of 300,000 entries and ended up on the front page of the national newspaper. I was reported as saying that one day I wanted to live in Paris and work for a famous designer! I did end up as head of Karl Lagerfeld’s workrooms in Paris almost twenty years later. My next project was to buy job lots of remnants and zippers and boxes of mixed threads and arranging them into sewing kits I sold them at the local market along with totes cut down from old raincoats. I made the large skipped bonnets that were popular in the sixties and showered the village with them and even slippers and soft toys and pillows and patchworks. My grandmother taught me crochet and lace making and research led me to attempt tatting which was too time-consuming to become a lasting passion although the results were interesting.
In 1973 at the age of sixteen I entered the famous St Martin’s School of Art and Design in London and after an initial first year foundation course I was accepted to the three year design course. I was top student in my first year and because I was a proficient seamstress I was promoted to the third year to help the students prepare their end of year fashion shows garments. Although this distanced me from my fellow students it allowed me access to further techniques and gave me the confidence that was lacking in my home environment.
In 1977 I set up home in Paris living in a tiny attic bedroom and designing, illustrating and patternmaking for men’s and women’s wear collections. Over thirty plus years I worked my way up from designer to draper to head of workrooms for different fashion houses. I have had the pleasure and honor to work for and with many designers which has added to my knowledge and confidence over the years. The fabulous thing in fashion is the fresh start we have each season to make something different and desirable giving the impression that it's always springtime. Springtime in Paris for me each year, how envious does that make you? Fashion does indeed rime with passion and for me it has never been simply a ‘job’. I hope here to transmit some of that passion to others.