Inspirations for a Summer Reverie

Yesterday I shot all of the pieces that are part of our Spring Reverie with one of my favorite models, Patience (who I met through Instagram), in one of my favorite places just north of Portland. The day before I spent the morning driving through the quiet streets on the island, the water's surface sparkling with sunshine, tree branches with fresh new buds and flowers gently swaying in the wind, the scene was so idyllic. I drove around making sure the locations I wanted to shoot were accessible and to make sure the scene was as I last remembered it. Over ten years ago, I visited this island for the first time and instantly felt in love, and I think a small part of my spirit stayed there. So when I go back to the island, I reconnect with this part of me. This part of me that does live a slow and simple life. That whiles away the hours making creating dried flower and herb bundles, hanging linens on a line, feeding a small brood of chickens... I love this island version of myself, but right now, I can't be her. Life is too hurried, too busy. There's a lot on my plate and right now, I'm ok with that. I have the energy for it. Someday I won't, someday that other side of me that does live the slow and simple life will win because my body will slow down.

Even though I just finished shooting (and still currently editing) all the Spring Reverie photos with Patience, I am also already thinking ahead of our Summer Reverie. I have barely just started working on it and part of me feels like I am so behind probably because other brands are probably already working on Spring 2025. I try to hush this voice down and stay focused on my own path, my own two feet, one in front of the other.

Often when I am designing, I have a specific idea of a time and place I want to be wearing this garment. Or other times I am designing based on how I want to feel or how I will feel when I am wearing this piece. Though sometimes, though this is rarer, it's not that deep. Sometimes, I do just design something because it's pretty.

So far for our Summer Reveries I have completed six designs. Surprisingly, I have only designed one new dress! I think it's because I worked on so many for our Spring Reverie that I'm a little dressed out. I will design a few more dresses though, but so far, nothing has really struck an inspirational chord.

I am supposed to receive my new patterns on Monday and I am a little nervous about these pieces and also excited by them. Nervous and excited because it's three new tops, two new skirts, and one new dress and so far in the Development Room, skirts and tops really have not been getting a lot of love.

I am creating another Edwardian inspired top (I will never, ever stop making them to be honest, I dream of being known as a brand that is known for beautifully remade Victorian & Edwardian garments), this top will be very similar to the ones pictured here and I have called her Didou. Don't ask me why, sometimes I just design something and a name will pop into my mind and it's fitting so it sticks. I am also creating two 1970s inspired wrap tops, Garcelle and Willow. The Willow top I am hoping the pinstripe fabric I chose for it will translate will. One skirt is inspired by a 1940s sewing pattern, a striped a-line with a ruffle flounce. Her name is Rouen. The other skirt is my first ever Edwardian petticoat inspired skirt, the Camile. The Andes dress is a 1970s inspired a-line silhouette but combined with Edwardian sensibilities (pintuck pleats, crochet lace, eyelet) and will come with a matching sash. I created this dress specifically because I imagined this version of wearing it while strumming a guitar in a sunroom that overlooks a lake with mountains in the distance. It's very Edwardian meets Joni Mitchell. Well, that's what I was going for anyway!

I hope you loved this behind-the-scenes peek at my inspiration process. I worry sometimes, and by sometimes, not really that often, that someone will look at my garment designs and go "Oh, you're just copying Doen, or Christy Dawn" and if they think that, great! I'm super flattered. But like both of these brands, their inspirations come from garments that already exist (I think Doen does a beautiful job of remaking Edwardian dresses and tops). When you have a vintage clothing background, you recognize the silhouettes and fits and trims. I'm not really a clothing designer trying to design anything ground breaking. I want to make beautiful garments that make you feel beautiful and I want them beautifully crafted.