Upcycling For Life

I would love to share my story of how I fell in love with fashion, how it changed my life, and now, the way it makes me look at gender and the environment.

I have been inspired by fashion for as long as I can remember, which is as far back as making clothes for my barbies out of pillowcases. My creativity was always thriving from a young age, as I was always involved in activities such as dance and theater; it seemed almost natural to me that I would fall into such a creative career path.

Fast forward to my late 20’s. This was when I really began to embrace how designing and sewing gave me a flutter deep in my soul, and “Dramatique Designs” was born. The name integrates my love of the stage, flair for drama, both onstage and in the pieces that I create.

But going forward it was not as simple as that, and I have taught myself as much as I have learned from others in this beautiful journey.

Growing up, I had a deep love for the environment and the effect that waste had on it, but did not take time to truly understand what it all meant to me until I was older. I knew that our footprint on this planet mattered, but “why” was the big question that seemed to infiltrate my young mind. As I became more interested in sewing and design, I started researching the devastating effects of waste and how much clothing ends up in our landfills. It affected me deeply, and still does to this day. It is a topic of conversation that I wish more people knew about.

As I went deep down the rabbit hole in my research, I realized that what I created for others had to be reflective how much I cared about this planet, and that I could use my passion for creating and sewing to take the old (thrifted clothing, vintage fabric, throw-aways), and turn it into something wearable while saving it from the landfill. This is what drew me to my love of upcycling. I love creating something out of nothing; the transformation is beautiful and exciting. I also believe that upcycling highlights the idea of eradication and turning something that may be waste into something new. Upcycling promotes sustainable innovation for me.

Alternately, I began realizing how challenging it was for people to find clothing that was not just designated with the label of “man or woman.”

When my teenager opened up some time ago that they were non-binary, it really made me put some deep thought into fashion and how it relates to gender identification. While the fashion world is coming out with gender neutral lines and small changes are happening, it still seems as if most clothing is labeled for men and women; even the gender-neutral lines that exist seem to be focused on baggy, streetwear styles that masculinize gender fluid clothing; why can’t we instead make all clothing gender fluid? I know women who would wear a tuxedo, men who would wear a flutter sleeve blouse, and gender fluid people that simply want the choice to pick whatever fits with their mood or style at the time.

It truly made my heart ache to think of how much this affects every other gender identity. Where was their place in the fashion world? I realized that it was time for me to make a change by supporting my non-binary teenager in the community they felt so passionate about and embraced; so I took all gender labels off of my website. I now make sure to express that the clothing I make is for all genders, no matter how one may identify!

There are no labels, there are no judgments, everyone deserves to feel beautiful and special. Every piece that I cut, sew, and iron makes me smile and feel pride because I know that whoever puts it on it is not going to feel judged, they are simply going to feel handsome, beautiful, and amazing. It is of great importance to me that I support my child, and that they feel represented. This is not a trend; it is how they identify.

I love what I do and the creativity that I express when I turn something old into something new; I am doing my part by not recirculating brand new into the earth, instead I am creating new from old. It makes my heart happy to rescue what may be trash to one person and turn it in to treasure for another. And it makes me happy to know that no matter how one may indentify, they are able to wear whatever makes them happy and whole as a human being.