Back Story

    Hi all.

      It is time, and then some for me to give you a bit of back story about me, what I know, how I came to know it, and some of my motivations for putting this out to the digital universe.
    I grew up in a household where creative projects were going on all the time.  My dad was an architect, and when he wasn't working on a project for someone, he was involved in creating something for the house, and even from time to time hauling out his paintbox, and working in watercolors.  Mom was forever involved in sewing projects, dipped her hand into upholstery work, and was unafraid of bigger building projects. When she decided that the basement laundry room needed to be better utilized, it was she who did the bulk of the work building cabinets.  And my sister as well, was and is a very creative and talented lady. So there was a buzz of "doing" in the house.
    I was drawing as soon as I could hold a crayon, and I spent a good deal of my time drawing, doing images of people in fancy clothes. I could perhaps intuit from that that my interest in apparel was innate, I really can't say.  But its true that I found people and their clothing fascinating from the start.
    When in my early teens I showed a desire to learn to sew, my mother and my grandmother, who was living with us by then, helped me along that path.  So by the time I was in junior high school, I was sewing, not constantly, but enough to get the bug.
    Once I decided to go to college, after a short, unlamented sojourn doing a waiter job in the Pocono mountains area of Pennsylvania, I decided to enroll in a theater program at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, my home town.  Apart from people in the Theater world, no one has ever heard of that school, but in that milieu, it has a good reputation.  In any case, I went and focused on costume design.  I can credit my first costume design instructor Mary Turner for turning me onto the wealth of wonders to be found in old clothing. It was she who told us all that the best way to understand good garment construction was to get old clothing, take it apart, and try to put it back together. So, I did just that, and in the process grew to have a substantial collection of antique clothes.
    I was well and truly smitten by that time, and started getting a hold of as many books as I could on the subject of apparel. I read voraciously, and drew things out for myself, so that I could better understand what I was reading about.
    Once out of school, after coming to realize that I wasn't cut out for the theater world, for a number of reasons, I began, now and then to put my skills to use creating costumes,a nd occasionally special occasion clothing for people, and for myself.  And all through this time I was reading, reading, reading.  
So, my interest and study go back 40 years or more.  Do I have an advanced academic credential to wave at you all?  Nope, I don't. What I have is information, passion and a desire to share.  What I have learned, coupled with my observational skills has brought me to the place I am now.  And I intend to keep sharing, growing and learning, with you, for you and also for myself.

If you want to know more,  don't hesitate to ask.