Skip to main contentInstead of saddling Mom with your ever-increasing therapy bill this year, shower her with a truly righteous Mother's Day gift: custom couture. Besides doing a good turn for the grande dame in your life, the gesture will anoint you with the glow of good taste and graceful manners--the perfect complement to your first spring sunburn.
Catherine Stephenson, a longtime Portlander schooled on textiles at University of Wisconsin, nearly sketched the entire book on Portland's upper-crust custom sewing scene. In addition to co-founding the Professional Association of Custom Clothiers (established locally in '84, it's now a national organization), Stephenson also instructs haute couture sewing at Portland's fashion-friendly Art Institute. A French term coined in 1908, haute couture means, literally, "high sewing," and its use is strictly regulated in France. But in our unbuttoned U.S.A., it has come to mean a super-finely sewn clothing that is sold to a very limited (read: usually deep-pocketed) audience.
For the past 25 years, Stephenson has been an haute couture designer toiling at a business under her own name. Her clients (many of whom return like the seasons for sassy day frocks, special-event gowns or chic little cocktail numbers) tend to be self-expression junkies who dig the creative process--and, let's face it, the luxury--of a garment dreamed up and stitched just for them.
You see, Stephenson doesn't thrash out a line every season and cross her fingers. Instead, her clients bring the inspiration--be it a sketch, a page ripped from Vogue, or a half-coherent monologue--and Stephenson works dressmaker magic. Rarely is a dress a strict copy--more often it's a synergistic co-creation between client and designer.
Stephenson's especially responsive to mothers of brides, many of whom are hair-tearing frustrated by the dress-up clothing available to them off the rack. The complaint Stephenson hears countless times: "Too froufrou." She says most mother-of-the-bride dresses are basically bridesmaid gowns in bigger sizes. The horror!
Ah yes, the Mother of the Bride. As a role, it's as tough to put your finger on as First Lady--yet Stephenson has a knack for appraising and reflecting the subtleties of the parts her clients must play. With June a-knocking, Stephenson is up to her eyebrows in gauzy georgette fit-and-flare frocks and smart summer suits for savvy moms who want to cut a crisp figure. Going marital? Before Mumsy settles on some appalling lavender pup tent from the mall, be inspired by Stephenson's buttercream wool-silk-blend-with-gold-metallic-flecks skirt suit. And that one's just for the stepmother of a groom--a tough role to dress for, if ever there was one.
Beyond the basic wedding, the mod mom might also need to rock the fashion party a few times in her life (the anniversary dinner! The rotary club lunch! The MTV Music Awards when your album goes double-platinum!). So spend that little extra. Stephenson charges $35 per hour, with a top-notch dress ringing up at $900-$1,200. Yeah, the rate might raise more than a few eyebrows, but this is haute couture, a skill all too rare in the Wild West.
And it's well worth it. In a nutshell, what separates custom couture from the Nordstrom Savvy department is muslins, or the "ghosts" of the eventual garment. These pieces are cut from light cotton and serve as each client's utterly personal pattern. Stephenson saves these shapes every time she makes a garment, which makes future fittings a doyenne's dream come true. Forget "virtual body typing" and measuring tape--this is the real deal.
"I aim to please," says Stephenson. "I try to give each client a dress she feels powerful and beautiful in."
Give mom the gift of custom, and she'll finally feel like the queen she is. Of course, then you'll really have a monster on your hands.
Get your couture on with Catherine Stephenson at 239-6825 or www.musicfestnw.com, or call 243-2122.
Don't trust anyone over 30, unless she's a venture capitalist. Email hiss@wweek.com.
WWeek 2015