The way my mom tells it, I first became fashion aware around the age of 5.  One morning, I objected to the clothes my mom had picked out for me to wear to school.  Specifically, I refused to wear the pants she selected.  Honestly, I have no memory of the event, but according to my mom my reason for rejecting her selection was, “They like me in dresses.”

Me in my patchwork bell bottom suit. Might these have been the pants I was objecting to?

Although my mom claims my fashion awareness started in kindergarten, I remember first becoming passionate about fashion in the 5th grade.  There was this girl in my class, I think her name was Holly, who had a pair of Guess jeans that I just had to have.  Before falling in love with those jeans, I had never coveted anyone else’s clothes, let alone been aware of what others were wearing.  That was my turning point.  My new found awareness of fashion sparked what would become a lifetime habit.  So it was around the age of 11 or 12, I became a fashion magazine junkie.

Inevitably my preoccupation with fashion manifested in a hobby of mine, drawing. I have always loved to draw and I started keeping a sketchbook around the age of 10.  Once I became interested in fashion my sketchbooks were no longer filled with pictures of landscapes and Garfield the cat.  Instead I drew pictures of girls in clothes.  I drew the clothes that I fancied and wanted for my own.  I drew clothes of my own design.  I even drew sketches of the clothes in my closet.

A drawing from one of my old sketchbooks. Note the 80’s hair and penny loafers.

As I became an adult my magazine habit endured.  I’ve long since graduated from Seventeen magazine to InStyle and Lucky.  Unfortunately, however, my devotion to maintaining a sketchbook has faltered.  College, parenthood, and career took precedence over trying to hone my skills as an artist.

A few months ago, I decided to renew my focus on developing my skills as an artist.  And though not all my drawings are of beautiful women wearing wonderful clothes, I must admit fashion illustration is definitely one of my favorite forms of artistic expression.

Here is my first attempt at fashion illustration since I started drawing again.  I built the outfit around the playsuit, which I would have loved to buy but my size was out of stock!  I love this playsuit because you can dress it up with heels and bold earrings, or dress it down with cute flat sandals and a pendant necklace.  On a day when the temperature is approaching the century mark, nothing beats easy one piece dressing.  I’d like to think that my 5 year old and 12 year old self would approve of both the outfit and the drawing.