It was always a tradition in my family for my mother to make all of our wedding dresses but over time it also became the tradition of other families and friends to ask my mum to make their daughters wedding dresses as well!!
I was nine when my oldest sister got married and on the day of the wedding the house was full of aunts, cousins and friends all taking part in the run up to the festivities. The women would be in the kitchen cleaning, seasoning and preparing food whilst the men would be taking care of the drinks...... or slumped over the bar whilst pretending to be helping!!! At that time it was a real celebration of the marriage as a whole. It really was a time when families and friends came together and for cultures and traditions to be recognised, remembered and upheld.
Coming from West Indian parentage, weddings from my background have become more sophisticated and stylish over the years; a reflection of the times. Wedding venues have moved on from the drafty old, musky smelling church halls and in are the banqueting suites, marquees, castles etc with professional caterers, halls decked out to the nines with balloons and flowers and so on. Don’t get me wrong I’m not adverse to the finer things in life but I do miss the traditions and I miss hearing the banter of stories and jokes from the elders whilst they took part in the planning of the wedding.
Over the years I have been involved in many weddings both within my family and with my clients who come from various walks of life and as such I have picked up lots of information particularly about wedding dresses! I've had brides having panic attacks not knowing which way to turn (planning), I've advised brides who want to mix cultures/styles and need to find a balance (which includes a punkish looking lady whose partner wanted a more traditional wedding!). I've had a few brides faint sometimes due to stress and in one year almost all of my brides were either pregnant or became pregnant whilst their dresses were being made!!! So I think in my next blog (hopefully soon) I'll talk about wedding dresses from a dressmakers perspective, how you should approach a seamstress and what you should be looking for, the difference between buying "off the peg" and bespoke etc!!!!
As its only a couple of days away from the 2012 and I doubt that I’ll have written another blog before then, heres wishing everyone a fantastic new year and may you be blessed with lots of love, health, wealth and happiness.
Thursday 29 December 2011
Wednesday 23 November 2011
My Parents
My parents came over in the 1950's and like many of their generation they wanted a better life for their children. They worked very hard in bringing us up with strong principles and ethics and using the skills they had they worked long hours to provide us with a home and a good education.
My mother was a skilled seamstress who taught herself to cut clothes freehand as well as sew. She was very talented and gifted and knew instinctively how to cut and manipulate patterns and fabrics. You may say I’m bias but in all the years I’ve been working with and alongside seamstresses I’ve met anyone who could sew like her. When she came to England she took in sewing and worked from home for a number of years until we were all at school then she went out to work as a sample machinist in various fashion houses. As a child I would watch her as she made clothes for family, friends and clients. She would get me to help with small things, encourage me to practice on my dolls. She bought me a child’s sewing machine, tapestry and fashion design sets. She said it was to help me learn about design and how clothes should fit etc. Mum was mainly about her children with education as a very, very close second.
Both my parents are from an Island called Carriacou in the West Indies. A tiny island but the biggest in The Grenadines!!!! (Very important fact). In England my father worked full time in the post office but outside of work he became a fundraiser for Carriacou. At that time they did not have phones and the only way to contact people was either by letter or telegram (which was usually bad news). So my father would organise dances (Greenwich Town Hall springs to mind) and coach trips to raise money to buy Carriacou their first telecommunication system. It was here that I learnt about business. All of us in the family were involved in helping at these events. At a very early age I would be manning the cloak room taking money, putting coats away and tallying up at the end of the night. Later I would help in the preparation of the food.....there was always food at these events particularly the dances where the family would cook for hundreds of people without really analysing the enormity. We would help in selling tickets to friends and asking others to promote it. Without actually knowing it I think I knew more about profit, loss and balance sheets than anything else before going to secondary school, the learning curve in those "business lessons" were endless but invaluable.
My mother was a skilled seamstress who taught herself to cut clothes freehand as well as sew. She was very talented and gifted and knew instinctively how to cut and manipulate patterns and fabrics. You may say I’m bias but in all the years I’ve been working with and alongside seamstresses I’ve met anyone who could sew like her. When she came to England she took in sewing and worked from home for a number of years until we were all at school then she went out to work as a sample machinist in various fashion houses. As a child I would watch her as she made clothes for family, friends and clients. She would get me to help with small things, encourage me to practice on my dolls. She bought me a child’s sewing machine, tapestry and fashion design sets. She said it was to help me learn about design and how clothes should fit etc. Mum was mainly about her children with education as a very, very close second.
Both my parents are from an Island called Carriacou in the West Indies. A tiny island but the biggest in The Grenadines!!!! (Very important fact). In England my father worked full time in the post office but outside of work he became a fundraiser for Carriacou. At that time they did not have phones and the only way to contact people was either by letter or telegram (which was usually bad news). So my father would organise dances (Greenwich Town Hall springs to mind) and coach trips to raise money to buy Carriacou their first telecommunication system. It was here that I learnt about business. All of us in the family were involved in helping at these events. At a very early age I would be manning the cloak room taking money, putting coats away and tallying up at the end of the night. Later I would help in the preparation of the food.....there was always food at these events particularly the dances where the family would cook for hundreds of people without really analysing the enormity. We would help in selling tickets to friends and asking others to promote it. Without actually knowing it I think I knew more about profit, loss and balance sheets than anything else before going to secondary school, the learning curve in those "business lessons" were endless but invaluable.
Thursday 17 November 2011
It all started along time ago!!!
Its really strange sitting here writing to.....well no one at the moment!!!! Very strange!!!! Its taken me along time to pluck up the courage to join the 21st century technology with twitter, facebook and blogging etc but after being nagged by several people I thought i'd give it a try and who knows maybe someone might find what i have to say interesting.
Well I suppose the main purpose for me starting a blog was to advertise my business but really when I think about it, my business is really about me; my background, my family, what really prompted me to start the business, what i feel i can give to potential customers, what I feel I can give to others who maybe in business as well as learn ALOT from others. So i've decided that my blogs (I hope) will be a journey.........an interesting journey and maybe if i'm lucky a sharing of thoughts and great ideas.
Well I suppose the main purpose for me starting a blog was to advertise my business but really when I think about it, my business is really about me; my background, my family, what really prompted me to start the business, what i feel i can give to potential customers, what I feel I can give to others who maybe in business as well as learn ALOT from others. So i've decided that my blogs (I hope) will be a journey.........an interesting journey and maybe if i'm lucky a sharing of thoughts and great ideas.
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