My Own Outfit for the White House Design Celebration

In October 2014, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the First Lady’s event to celebrate fashion design following a Fashion Education Workshop at the White House. Members of the fashion industry were invited to the event to enlighten and mentor select fashion students around the Washington, D.C. area. Of course I could only fathom wearing a custom made dress for something so special, and I decided to make my own. Picking the fabric proved to be hard enough of a task as my creativity was running wild while I shopped in New York’s bustling Garment District, and in my mind, possibilities seemed endless. Knowing my time limitations before I had to leave for the event and squeezing this in between other jobs, I eventually settled on a simple and comfortable design with a vintage-inspired look.

When I see a special fabric, I buy it, resulting in closets full of very special things. I travel a lot and love to search for fabrics and unique design elements that I can collect and then utilize when I have a fun event to go to, or need to make something unique. I had a collection of stones ranging from jasper, turquoise, citron, to Swarovski. I decided to use this special collection of treasures and embroider it along the hem of the dress. I was even sewing right up until I zipped up the dress to walk out the door–Amtrak can now be considered an extension of my studio. Designing and making a dress for myself was WAY harder than doing it for other people, but I am so happy with how it turned out, and my brother and I had a blast at the wonderful event celebrating the importance of the fashion industry, and meeting Mrs. Obama!