A Bit About Me

My career in wardrobe did not come about in the average I went to FIDM sort of way.  Organic, yes.  Average, no.  I spent the first half of my adult life in banking and accounting.  Yup, you read that right. Now don't get me wrong, that is a respectable profession, what can I say?  I have a gift for numbers, it all came pretty easy to me but, I've always been in love with behind the scenes magic of how beautiful images and films were made.  I remember when my family took me to Universal Studios for the first time, I was 13 and I was completely disappointed that I could not actually GO ON A MOVIE SET, I mean what was the point of being there then?  How would I see my crush Devon Sawa?  Even then I knew somehow, some way, I would be a part of that magical process.

Fast forward to 2011, I worked in the Accounts Receivables department of a local Litigation Firm.  I was a single mother of two boys and had to be very frugal, but I still wanted to look professional with a little whimsy.  I would devour magazines and Anthropologie catalogs, then I would shop my own closet to make a similar look, supplementing with pieces I would thrift.  Pretty soon I started garnering attention from the office staff and stenographers.  They would be shocked that the looks were thrifted, and often say "I just don't have the patience for that".  So for fun, I would take them on my lunch to Buffalo Exchange, and show them how to shop.  I told my boyfriend at the time (who is my husband now) and he said "you know, people get paid for that", and I said "HOW?!" I simply could not fathom how to turn my passion into a business.

Soon thereafter I was laid off,  so I found a job with a local production company in Accounts Receivable, again.  This company provided all of the live music and entertainment to the different casinos here in Las Vegas.  It was an all hands on deck situation, so if they were short handed they would enlist the whole office help to check on a band, wrangle promo models, sometimes I WAS a model, remind me to tell you about the time I had to dress up like a naughty teacher and keep score at pub trivia party.  Oh goodness, tick that one off the bucket list am I right?  That is for another day.  But that right there is when the lightbulb went on, I started to see the behind the scenes magic of stage. We had a studio up stairs where we took promo photos and I would help style them.  They finally saw I had a talent for wardrobe and knew I was good with a budget.  The company started hiring me separately to take the new bands thrift shopping to polish them up, they were afraid the entertainment directors of the properties would throw them out.  I was finally in my element, enjoying every minute.  Then one ordinary day, the wife of the boss took me in the conference room and fired me for "starting a business under their roof".  I was devastated.  It took me a LONG time to come back from that, I have never had my character attacked in that manner, especially since they hired me to do said business under their roof. I started to look for yet another AR job and my husband stopped me. He told me to pursue this thing I loved.  So, thanks to him I did.

I styled for a lot of photographers for free to build my portfolio. Slowly but surely I started getting hired for assisting jobs, then I started interning for the best stylist in our town.  I had pursued that internship for almost a year but it finally worked out.  I said I will steam, I will take out the trash, I will tape all the shoes but I just want to LEARN.  Within a month, I was helping her dress Santana and his band for their world tour.  I mean, hello, dreams do come true and the rest is history.  I can't tell you how happy and grateful I am to be here now, with the knowledge I have to share with you, I want you to effortlessly dress up to show up.   Whether it is for a speaking engagement, a wedding, a job interview, or just your plain everyday.

I am here for you.