Fashion That Survives the Test of Time

My mom, Diane Lacaille, is an artist and is amazing (check out her work here!). She raised us to believe in creativity. My dad is a dentist and like all dentists he is a complete weirdo. He learned to play the bag pipe (badly) at 60 years old. He also writes books, poems and now songs. He is a great singer and guitar player. So basically, just the bag pipe is terrible, and maybe his new motorcycle but that is for another day.

I grew up with an encouraging artistic family. My mom introduced us to everything: to drawing, painting, papier-mâché and sewing. The two that stayed with me are drawing and obviously sewing. My mother gave us a lot of liberty when it came to artistic expression. I look back to the clothes my mom bought me, made me or helped me make, and I laugh. In elementary school I loved seventies fashion. I had seen a pair of bell bottoms with tons of scrap fabric that made the “bottoms”. At first my friends teased me a bit but I was so happy in my pants (and weirdly confident) that they started loving it too. One girl even asked her parents to go and buy her a pair!

In high school I went trough a phase where I loved the Payne Stewart sense of style. If you don’t know, he was a golfer that played with knickers and high socks. My next move, naturally, was to cut a pair of nice trousers just below the knee and sew an elastic so they would gather nicely at the calf. I then bought fancy high socks to wear with it. I do not understand how I didn’t get teased to death. I also love skirt and knee socks. Completely normal high school behaviour.

I think my love of pattern making comes from the same place this weird adventurous girl found joy. I create patterns that make me happy. Some are for sentimental value and some are what I wish current fashion had more of. Skilled dressmakers designing garments meant to survive years of wear. Not fast fashion that ends up in landfills after a season. An outfit that can be passed on to younger siblings and cherished for years. A garment well made that would still be able relevant after 30 years. My patterns are a mix of vintage, retro and modern to hopefully survive the test of time. Wouldn’t that be nice.

Andee

Xoxo

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