Keep Growing

To think it will ever get easier is a disservice to the mind. It never does get easier, you just get better at resisting the urge to back down. I have a checklist of activities that mix between personal promises and doing the work that moves the needle forward for my fashion dreams. It has started with writing handwritten letters with notes of gratitude and now two bolts of fabric I have meant to sew for a friend many years back.

I finally opened the back end of the Elsa Fitzgerald website to look at the stats and there is a lot of organic traffic with over 100 people visiting a day trying to learn more. I can even see the dresses that are the most popular in terms of clicks. That would be Cecelia and Gabrielle. I have been making excuses about finalizing the design range plan. In truth my body has changed and I am not sure that these dresses suit the person I am today. Not because of my build but where I am in life.

I am now 41 and when I designed this collection I had just turned 30. So when I think to return to Elsa Fitzgerald Bali collection I find that I am not likely to not wear it today. I have to decide am I rebuilding the past or being inspired by it. How can I iterate Elsa Fitzgerald for Stacy Stube for a 10-year range of women from 40-50+ who are well traveled and want sophistication, but not necessarily wanting the garments that hug every curve.

Another image wearing vintage from Retropolitan for the Duchess of Baltimore Shoot. I did end up purchasing many if not all these items for my own wardrobe, but sadly they did not last as long as I would hope because I would wear each piece often.

Photo Credit: Pat Bourque

For this shoot I wanted to place myself around the city living in heritage garments to normalize the look and fashion aesthetic of a Duchess of Baltimore. Photo Credit: Pat Bourque

It has taken me several scattered hours to reach this point where my letters are complete. Now I am just waiting on a new wax seal arrives with my name on it.

These two bolts haunt me in a way, because I keep saying I will get to sewing them into a shawl for a friend. But then I get busy and forget, don’t make time and do not bother. I returned to the cold garage looking for the bolts, which I did find. Though my sewing kit is somewhere in the many boxes that I will have to check tonight.