It was just over a year and a half ago that I met my 15-year-old daughter for the first time.  And happily it was made official 8 months ago when I married her father.  Maria grew up in a rather confined lifestyle, so she was introduced to the "real world" just two years ago.  She went to a public school for the first time and wasn't quite sure where she fit in.  Her thoughts were all over the place, but she just felt "different".  She made friends who dressed a little different.  Nothing wrong with it, it was just different.  She began wearing lots of black and LOTS of eye makeup.  Being a girl from Green Bay, WI, and a jock at that, it was extraordinarily different from myself at age 14.  However, this girl is gorgeous!  I could see it and wanted her to see it.  I wanted Maria to embrace 'her style' and show her that it can be beautiful.  

After the wedding last year, I realized it was time to start re-branding my business as I rebuilt.  I now had 10 kids, and 6 of them are preteen/teens.  It was Maria, my now oldest daughter, who inspired me the most.  I wanted to play with her style and make it truly beautiful.  That was when I started dreaming up the "Tragically Beautiful" Collection.  And what a better way to bond with my new daughter.  She woke up every day after I spent hours at the studio the night before, "Mom, what are you working on now!" "I'm so excited! I can't wait to see it".  You could see her eyes light up as she peaked at my sketches and fabric swatches.  I was even excited with each sketch I drew and went to her looking for approval.  We make a great team!

And all the dreaming and hard work proved to be a success the day of the photoshoot.  It was Maria's first model shoot.  ......She's my daughter, and she's gorgeous isn't she?!......

Well it has been quite some time since I visited the blog.  Between holidays and actively working on the new collection there wasn't a whole lot of time for writing.  There is so much that goes into a collection like this.  From dreaming to sketching to purchasing fabrics and trims....and then of course re-thinking the design because you couldn't find that exact fabric.  And even then you still are not completely ready to cut or sew.  Being from a small time like Seymour, we don't exactly have models at our disposal.  So doing a model call around here, you might not get the exact size you are looking for.  So, you  have to design the clothes to fit the models you get.  I was very pleased with the models that came my way, and when I met with each one of them, it sparked even MORE imagination to this collection.  The day of the shoot, I was tired after a week of "making it work" and one solid all-nighter.  But boy was I pleased at how well each design fit the model's personality.  They rocked it!!