Kathryn Phillips -- Emerging Designer For Shabby Apple

                                                                    Sidesaddle line

Kathryn Phillips has always dreamed about being a fashion designer, ever since she was a little girl growing up in Cedar City.

 We just love when dreams come true. So, when we heard one of our own Southern Utah gals just launched her new vintage dress line called Sidesaddle with Shabby Apple as part of their emerging designers program we couldn’t wait to ask her how she made her dream come true. Plus we posed a few other questions we couldn’t resist asking.

Shabby Apple is a Utah based company that sells designer dresses and skirts tailored to “make women feel feminine and beautiful for what they wear, not what they bare,” according to their website.

Kathryn's new line of dresses fits this company motto perfectly. As she says, her  line is “ultra-feminine and fun with details that are a throwback to the forties and fifties while still maintaining a modern, forward-thinking feel. I wanted to create forms that celebrate the feminine shape and use colors that are flattering on every skin tone. These dresses were made with the intent of making any woman who wears them feel amazing."

 

 

 

 

Q & A with Kathryn Phillips

While Kathryn is a native Southern Utah girl she is currently living in Dallas, Texas.

Q. Why are you living in Dallas?

A. I moved to Dallas because I was having a hard time finding a good job in Utah and I'd read that the job market was better in Texas. Within a few months I found a job as an imaging and color specialist at an auction house. Of course this is just my day job until I can make my designs profitable, but it's a great fit for me and I'm really liking Texas. The other reason is that Dallas has a strong fashion market and there are some good resources for me here.

Q. When did you decide you wanted to be a fashion designer?

A. I actually wanted to be a fashion designer from a really young age. I spent a lot of time sketching my designs and dreaming about the clothes in movies like An American in Paris and White Christmas. But when it came time for me to go to college and pick a major I decided against fashion for two reasons: first because there weren't any programs in Utah at the time, and second because it just didn't seem practical. So, for a stretch of about ten years I really just looked at fashion as a hobby. The need for fashion designers is shrinking and the job market is really heavily saturated. So, when I went to school I decided to major in English and minor in fine arts so I could take illustration classes. It ended up being fortunate for me because I feel like my art classes really enhanced my eye for design and my ability to draw figures. It wasn't until I learned of Shabby Apple's emerging designers program that I began to think that maybe my fashion dreams could come true.

Q. What prompted you to pursue designing a line of dresses for Shabby Apple?

A. Shabby Apple has an annual contest where they have people submit designs and people vote for their favorite, and whoever wins gets their design produced. I entered the contest and was one of the finalists but didn't win. A little while later Athelia Woolley, Shabby Apple's founder, contacted me, saying she really liked the designs I'd submitted for the contest and wondered if I'd be interested in producing my own line through the emerging designers program. It was really one of those situations where it was too good to pass up. I knew it would be a lot of work and a fair amount of risk but I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to see my dreams turn to reality.

Q. What kind of training or schooling did you take on your path to becoming a designer.

A. As a fine arts minor my emphasis was really in drawing and illustration. I spent a lot of time sketching out the human form. I even drew some cadavers so that I could better understand our underlying muscular structure. I've also done some sewing, although I still consider myself to be a beginner. But I consider my real training to be my lifelong interest in the clothes that people wear and admiring the beauty that can be found in the fashion world. It really is an art form.

Q. How long have you been working on this line?

A. I started researching and sketching in January of this year so the entire process of having it produced took about ten months.

Q. Can you explain the basic process of designing a line of clothes for Shabby Apple?

A. It all starts with my illustrations, then I find sample fabrics and I send everything off to a pattern maker, the amazing Sarah Hansen, who makes the sample dresses and patterns. Then I have to nail down the bulk fabric orders and send those to the manufacturer who then makes top samples for our approval. We make whatever changes need to be made to fit and fabric and then the dresses go into production. After that they're shipped to the warehouse. And then of course there's the business end of things, securing the finances and dealing with the money stuff. Shabby Apple took care of all the advertising and marketing, as well as carrying the line. The people at Shabby Apple as well as Elizabeth Findlay, who was the point person at the manufacturer I worked with, were looking over my shoulder the whole time, guiding me through the process. I couldn't have done it without them.

Q. What was your inspiration for the Sidesaddle collection?a

My main inspiration was actually the female shape and how to best emphasize the things that we love about our bodies. I wanted to use strong lines to emphasize the best qualities of the womanly form.

 

 

 

Q. What is your philosophy for how women clothes should look on a woman or make her feel?

A. You really just have to wear the things that make you feel good because the most important thing you can put on is a confident smile, and wearing clothes you love will help you have that confidence. Fashion should be fun and its changeable nature gives us the freedom to literally try on different hats. So my philosophy is, if you love it, wear it.

Q. What was your greatest challenge in developing this collection?

A. My biggest challenge was finding fabrics. I changed my color scheme several times in order to get the fabrics that I felt would be right for this collection.

Q. What are you working on now?

A. Right now I'm just researching and looking at what's happening in fashion. I'd like to do a line of skirts next and possibly someday do a plus size line.

Q. When you are not designing amazing clothes what do you enjoy spending your time doing?

A. I love reading and writing, one of my life goals is to get a novel published, and I'm crazy about art so I've loved being in close proximity to the art museums here in Texas, I'm lucky enough to have my sister and her family here too so I spend a lot of time with them, and I'm completely addicted to pinterest and facebook. It's a problem. I may need to go to social networking rehab soon.

 

Some of Kathryn’s designs described in her own words.

Sidesaddle, in beautiful aqua and nut brown, uses color paneling to draw the eye down and create the illusion of a smaller waist. The gathered sleeves and sweetheart neckline add a punch of femininity.

The goal of Aintree was to create a dress with a simple elegance that could be dressed up with a statement necklace a brooch or some fabulous bracelets, or dressed down with some great boots and a scarf. At least, that's the story from the front. From the back k you get a beautiful surprise with he diamond inset and ultra flattering pleats.

Grand National -- Princess seams to draw the eye in, a forgiving pleated waist, a sweetheart neckline for added interest, and an ultra hip sweater top make this dress a force to be reckoned with. This look is fiercely feminine and is sure to turn heads while the neutral charcoal gray guarantees that you’ll be the coolest chick in the joint.

Kathryn also designed a dress for another vintage line at Shabby Apple. You can see Block Party in the 65 line at Shabbyapple.com

p.s. we wanted to show you a picture of Kathryn but she is camera shy and we couldn't track her all the way to Texas. However, we hope you will glimpse a little Kathryn in her classic designs for Sidesaddle.