This page is for a recently re-discovered passion and desire I had as a teenager to become Fashion Designer. but was shelved for close to fifty years. Below is my backstory.
Like others, I spent a lot of time at home pondering what to do during covid in 2021. With so much time at home and with the death of my only child, Treye Jenkins Smith, (see his story), I began sketching fashions something I did as a teenager. I was very surprised to discover I still had the basics of this skill. You can see my first sketch in the gallery below the polka dot overlay.
I actually went on to make this overlay dress in the early spring of 2022, teaching myself how to make a flat block pattern from the sketch, and sourcing the right fabric. I wore this design to Columbus Ohio Fashion Week in October 2022. In attendance, a fashion design college student interviewing VIP guests interviewed me and said she loved my outfit. She then asked me who I was wearing and ask me to twirl, lol! I was proud to say me and twirl for her!
The story behind my emerging fashion brand goes far back to my teens. I learned to draw fashion illustrations when I was a teenager. My mother bought me art supplies and I began drawing fashion illustrations in sketchbooks of women's clothing mainly gowns. She also introduced me to sewing, taking me to sewing classes at Sears Department Store also as a teen. I made my first outfit a teal color knee-high sleeveless tunic vest with a white silk lining. You can see remember it all so well, and funny I still love the color teal, it is one of my favorite colors. I was about 15. I also made other clothes that I wore to high school. I really wanted to be a fashion designer and desired to attend Pratt School of Design in NY, but as a Baby Boomer, we were strongly encouraged to get a "real" job. And that is what I did, but now it's My Time to reinvent myself for my passion in Fashion Design, as Simply Me, Karen Marie.
So as I travel this reinvented journey, travel with me! I have included in the gallery below sketches, recent fashion designs, and sewing projects!
Welcome to Simply Me, Karen Marie Fashion!
Welcome to My Fashion Designs established: Oct 2021
Karen Marie Images:
Simply Me, Fashion
Welcome to Simply Me, Karen Marie Fashion!
Karen Marie Images © 2013