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My mother started teaching me to sew when I was 7 years old.
After 25-years as an accountant, I left the industry because I was miserable and decided I was not going waste another moment of my life doing something I was not passionate about.
In 2012, I launched my first business, Marlene Atelier, a couture house where I designed and implemented wardrobe strategies for some of Chicago’s premier female C-suite executives.
From 2013 through 2018, I spent every waking moment learning to tailor.
I lived and studied in London the summer of 2016, where I attended Savile Row Academy and studied under Andrew Ramroop.
I started the American Bespoke Tailoring Academy because I believe that this time honored craft must be passed along to the next generation in order to preserve its integrity.
So, I mentioned earlier that I left a 25-year accounting career at the age of 48. But how I became a tailor is a story that started a bit before that.
I started an accounting practice in Chicago in 2002 and ran it very successfully for 7 years. However, in 2009, it became very apparent to me that things were about to go sideways; the economy was taking a big downturn and I was losing clients right and left. So, I sold the business and in the process, was totally screwed over by both the buyer and my partners and ended up almost going bankrupt. I had no one to blame but myself for thinking I could rely on others. It was a lesson I would not soon forget. I was unemployed by my own hand, in the worst economy in 10 years.
I had to find a job and in the process engage myself in something that would help me put my recent experience in the rear view. So, I decided to break out the old sewing machine and make myself some new suits. I hadn’t had the time to sew since college, and I found myself leaving my worries behind and reuniting with a lost love.
Eventually, I found a job with an accounting firm as director of business development. This position gave me the opportunity to wear all those beautiful suits that I made. It did not take long for the women in my network to start asking me where I had bought them. When they found that I was actually making them, well, the inquiries just started rolling in.
Starting and growing Marlene Atelier was such a great time in my life. It was the perfect situation. My friend Caroline Jourdes and I launched our lines together in September of 2012, throwing an epic event with over 400 people in attendance. I was still working at the accounting firm and had developed a fabulous network of C-suite executive women that I rubbed elbows with on a regular basis. And I was working with my tailor Gidal Vodovoz to make all those fabulous women suits. I had my cake and I was eating it too.
But I new this situation was not a long-term plan for me. The truth was, I hated my job. What pushed me over the edge was the passing of my mother, Mary in March 2013. Before she died, she told me how proud she was of me. She believed, that after being a square peg in a round hole for most of my career, I had finally discovered who I was meant to be. Mary asked me to promise that I carry on her legacy by developing my skills into something more, and no matter how hard it got, to never give up. That was a promise I have kept.
Losing my mother made me take a hard look at my life and I realized that she was right. I never really fit in the accounting industry. I was miserable. So, I put the corporate world in my rear-view and set out on a quest to learn tailoring.
My mother and me at the launch of Marlene Atelier in 2012. |
My first line of suits on display at the launch of Marlene Atelier in 2012. |
Like anyone setting out on a quest, I was very excited and a bit idealistic. I honestly had no idea how difficult it was going to be to learn tailoring. I thought as an experienced seamstress, I would have an easy time of it. But I quickly found out that was not the case.
The first challenge I faced was finding the resources here in the U.S. And if you have made any attempt to learn tailoring on your own, you know exactly what I am talking about. There were literally no schools in the U.S. that taught tailoring, so I was on my own. I was shocked that there was so little out there relevant to what I was trying to learn. I mean seriously, I think at one point I was searching the “Dark Web” for tailoring knowledge (which was a little scary). I took adult continuing studies at the School of Fashion at the Chicago Art Institute, bought every tailoring book still in publication, and found some that were not. And although I was learning some things, there were still some gaping holes in my knowledge.
Finally, in my continual search, I happened upon Andrew Ramroop and the Savile Row Academy. I was thrilled! Finally, a school where I could go and be formally trained! But in speaking with Andrew, I learned that he only offered his class over a 15-month period. There was no way I could afford to live in London for over a year, no less get the Brits to give me a visa for that long. However, at the time, Andrew had done a video series of how to make a Savile Row style jacket by hand and offered me that as an alternative. I jumped on it.
With my newfound sartorial resources, I rolled up my sleeves, fired up the computer, and started learning the long sought-after skills of a tailor. For nearly 4 years, I worked alone 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day to learn and perfect my skills. I remember the first time I tried to baste on a top collar, it took me over 25 times to get it right! AARRGG! But I would not give up. For the love of Mary and the promise I made her, I would not give up!! There were a lot of tears shed out of frustration and high-fives with only myself to celebrate the little victories, but slowly I learned and perfected my skills.
In the winter of 2016, I called Andrew to tell him of my progress. At this point I was making garments for clients. However, I was having a tough time with the fit. I just so happened that Andrew was teaching a cutting class that summer in London and asked if I wanted to attend. And so, my never-ending quest for sartorial knowledge brought me on the adventure of a lifetime where I spent the most amazing 6 weeks of my life studying tailoring right in the epicenter of it all, Savile Row. Mary would be proud, don’t you think?
Meeting my mentor Andrew Ramroop in the Summer of 2016. |
The adventure of a lifetime, Savile Row, the epicenter of the sartorial world. |
After I returned from London, I realized that my quest for sartorial knowledge was complete. I no longer felt the need to seek information out. I had obtained it. The time that I had spent learning this time honored craft had turned into a deeply embedded passion and desire. It had become a part of who I was and how I defined myself. I finally had the skills and the confidence to call myself a bespoke tailor.
I thought about the challenges that I faced to learn the craft and realized that my next step had to be more transcendental than just making suits for clients. As I look back on those years honing my craft on my own with fond memories, it was really hard trying to learn on my own. And I did not want others to experience those same frustrations. So, just as my mother had shared her craft with me, I too wanted to pass on what I had learned with others. That’s when I decided to start a tailoring academy in the U.S.
Teaching has been one of the most satisfying and fulfilling experiences I have had in my career life. I take so much pleasure and pride in seeing my students, many of whom never held a needle and thread before, learn how to make bespoke garments. I try to remember what it felt like to discover tailoring for the first time. Because I want my students to have someone to share a high-five with when they feel a sense of accomplishment and someone to ease their anxiety when they make a mistake. I want them to enjoy the learning process as much as they can. And I feel very blessed that I can be the type of teacher that does not forget that it was like to learn. I am, without a doubt, one of the luckiest people on the planet to do what I do.
And so my plans are to continue tailoring and teaching until the “Good Lord” decides otherwise.
So, if your passion and desire to learn this beautiful craft is as strong as mine, I encourage you to take those first steps to feed your passion, and know that someone is here to help you along the way.
Teaching my in-house students at the Academy. |
A still shot from the Online Academy education series. |
