It seems like eons ago – actually, it was 25 years – when I was attending the School of Fashion Design on Newbury Street in Boston with dreams of becoming a fashion designer.
My career in the fashion industry didn’t fully materialize. I got a plum job right out of design school, working as an assistant to couturier Alfred Fiandaca. That position didn’t quite work out for me, although I truly admired Alfred’s sense of design and the luscious color and textural combinations he worked with. He was a wonderful artist with fabric, and the women he dressed always looked elegant and chic (his clients have included Dionne Warwick and Joan Kennedy).
My employment road led to the retail side of fashion, which was fun until I realized that it wasn’t fun enough to justify working for minimum wage. Many twists and turns later, I have found my dream career – a combination of painting, teaching and writing – but my life today doesn’t involve fashion any more than one of my favorite hobbies, searching for unusual clothing at local thrift shops.
Lately I’ve noticed a number of art schools in the area are offering fashion courses for high school students; perhaps the popularity of this subject has been awakened by Project Runway. But this brought back memories of my dreams of the fashion world, so a month or so ago, I proposed a fashion illustration course to Pat Walker, the director of the Danforth Museum School where I teach.
Pat was open to the idea, so the school is offering a Saturday afternoon fashion illustration course, starting in January 2008. I’m so looking forward to teaching it!
These are pictures I drew while I was a fashion design student. You can see how much fun I had making them!
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