Well I am finally bowing to pressure & starting my CADARRA Blog!
I really want to share with you the fashion side of my life. Maybe it should be titled confessions of a mature age fashion junkie.
Hopefully it will give you an insight into the versatility of CADARRA & the motivation behind the design. The blog will also show the many places CADARRA fits in & the many style s that are created ‘on the run’.
How it all began
With a mother who loved fashion & was a wonderful seamstress, my formative years were spent surrounded by creations mum had made from pieces of fabric which she pinned, draped and designed onto styles of her own. No store bought fashion for our ‘Lorn’.
As a single mum, to help make ends meet she took up a sales position with the Fashion Department of David Jones’ flag shipstore in Hunter Street Newcastle. It wasn’t long before she was promoted to 2IC ( second in charge) & went off to work each day proudly wearing her white carnation. This badge of honour was to depict the point of difference between the senior staff versus the ‘floor girls’. Mum’s fashion flair & creativity did not go un-noticed, she was soon selecting the garments for the runway models and writing scripts for the comperes. She also selected the theme & fashion range for the visual display staff (window dressers).
DJs was renowned for its innovative window displays. Mum started at DJ’s when I was 9 years old & continued to work there til I was 16. Little did I know at the time that Mum was working to pay for my ballet tuition, costumes etc etc. Thanks to mum my childhood was full of a love of dance, costume & prop design.
The Dance
Thanks also to Marie Walton Mahon who took me on as a teacher & launched my teaching career. I went on to be principal of Just Jazz School of Dance for 18 wonderful years. With 3 studios each with over 100 students. Miss Patsy was a busy girl. Thanks to my understanding husband & 2 little girls I was able to devote 3 days a week to teaching, choreography & concert preparation, fortunately working after school hours I was still able to be ‘Mum’ at school activities and was so grateful as most working Mum’s don’t have this opportunity. The love of dance is ingrained into my soul & now in my late sixties I still attend classes at Sydney Dance Company whenever I can. Watching my 3 grandchildren grow into beautiful caring individuals is the thing I take most pleasure in these days.
CADARRA
I was widowed in 2007 & my therapy was to travel. I didn’t expect to see my husband in foreign places & there were far too many memories at home. Over a 7 year period, not including many domestic trips within Australia, I have travelled overseas 27 times!! With wonderful girlfriends to travel with, my life was full, so was my suitcase. After the first few trips it became apparent that to save my back “schlepping a heavy case” as well as waiting for check-in luggage plus the risk of lost baggage, I had to re-assess my ‘just in case” packing .
The answer came from a full skirt a girlfriend purchased in Bali. The quantity of fabric allowed for draping & after much restructure CADARRA was born. Now my packing down to a fine art. I travel with 7kgs of silk accessories, (fine merino wool in the winter) minimal toiletries & 1 spare pair of shoes in my carry-on case. I usually wear 2 CADARRA strapless & knot the top one at the hipline. I team this with a contrasting CADARRA Wrap & finish the look with a versatile non crushable jacket, another tip is to wear my heaviest shoes on the flight with a pair of thick socks in my handbag to wear once on the plane.
So there you have it, the motivation behind the CADARRA design.
In future blogs I will go over my various design experiences & the trials involved in having fashion manufactured in Australia.
Once a customer you will receive a link to the detailed (step by step) “How to Wear CADARRA” video. In future posts I will showcase certain styles & how to achieve several design options with a simple fashion tweak.
Until then check out the website www.cadarra.com.
For my Sydney friends & clients, please come & visit me any Saturday at the CADARRA “Pop-Up” in the hall at Paddington Markets.
Take Care and welcome to TEAM CADARRA.
Cheers
Patsy
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