The Emmylou Dress

With a love for folk country music and a simpler way of living, the Emmylou dress was inspired by silhouettes from the 1970s and a desire to have a dress I could garden in and then nip off for coffee or brunch with just a quick change of shoes. Since the first two dresses I designed for Atelette were lighter in hue, I wanted a darker color for the next release and one that was a bit easier to wear. Not that the Aveyron or Bennet are difficult to wear, but the Emmylou is designed to simply slip on overhead and go! Like all Atelette dresses, the Emmylou features hidden side pockets and the skirt is fully lined. 

It took a bit of time to get this one produced as I really wanted the lining to match the self color of the dress (a muted thistle grey). The Emmylou is nursing friendly and with an elasticated bodice and waist, is bump friendly for your first trimester.

I wanted the Emmylou to be comfortable, effortless, and lovely in a color and print that is timeless and you could wear all year around. I really do hope you adore her, she's probably my favorite dress silhouette out of all my designs so far (well, there's only been three, so I suppose that's not saying much, hehe!)

The Aveyron Skirt

The 1930s feedsack inspired floral print of the Aveyron dress I loved so much that I decided I wanted a skirt in the same fabric! I have always wanted a cream colored ditsy floral print a-line midi skirt that buttoned down the front and with front patch pockets and throughout all my years of sourcing vintage and vintage inspired clothing, I've never actually come across such a skirt! You'd think it would be simple enough! So I decided to make it myself!

For ease of wear, the Aveyron skirt features a wide elasticated panel in the back of the waist. Initially I wasn't going to do elastic and just do a set waist, but the elastic allows for more ease of wear and comfort, so I decided to add it. The Aveyron skirt is made of cotton and is fully lined. The front patch pockets and buttons down the front are all functional and I think the Aveyron skirt looks lovely with a white or cream blouse tucked in or tied at the waist. It also pairs well with a lightweight sweater or cardigan and it's especially pretty worn with Edwardian inspired camisoles.

The Loiret Skirt

I've already done an entire preview of the Loiret Skirt in this blog post, but to summarize, this ramie cotton midi skirt was inspired by wrap skirts of the 1940s (so a more fitted silhouette) with little borrowed notes from Edwardian skirts that buttoned to the side. I modernized the fit and style by doing a little notched hem giving the shape of the skirt a bit of a tulip silhouette. This is the only very seasonal garment I designed as it's really only best for wearing during the warmer months due to the color, style, and fabrication.

To me the Loiret skirt is like taking your grandmother's vintage skirt and modernizing it a bit to fit into your modern vintage aesthetic. The Loiret is perfect with a plain white tee, a cropped top or bandeau, or wear it over your swimsuit as a chic cover up when you're lakeside or at the beach. She would also look really lovely with a worn in linen or chambray button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. 

 

PRE-ORDERS for the Emmylou Dress, Aveyron Skirt, and Loiret Skirt
opens 5/20/22 and will begin to ship from our office 5/31/22.

Inspired by found vintage photos of women from the 1940s and a desire to have a timeless and feminine staple that walked the fine line of being dressy with utilitarian details, the concept of the Loiret Skirt was born.

The Loiret Skirt is Arriving Mid March 2022

In a soft yet sturdy ramie and cotton blend, the Loiret skirt features a wrap style waist with side button inner fastening and decorative buttons along the side hip. A single front patch pocket is perfect for tokens (I designed it to be large enough to fit most mobile phones, especially my clunky iPhone 11+) and little memo notebooks. The Loiret Skirt by Atèlëtte will come fully lined (as most of our Atèlëtte designs will be!)

With a straighter silhouette that hugs your curves, the Loiret Skirt shows just enough leg action to be playful and flirty for when you're sitting outside a bistro with une petite cafe au lait et croissant aux chocolat. But she's also unfussy and can be worn with just a plain white tee shirt and slip on sandals for a quick nip to the local food co-op or farmers' market with your vintage oversized sisal tote in slung on your shoulders.

The Loiret will also fare well when you're doing light chores around your garden (like starting your seedlings) and she makes a wonderful date night companion when paired with a bandeau neckline bodysuit and your hair pulled into a French twist showing off your delicate little golden hoops.

The Past Revisited

I have always been drawn to things of old. Having sold antique and vintage clothing for over a decade (and a collector for longer) my heart has always had a soft spot for feminine lines, a certain color palette, and my eyes drawn to specific prints and patterns. I wanted to design garments that pulled bits and pieces from all the different eras of fashion I adore, particularly the Victorian and Edwardian era, the 1930s to the early 1940s, and the 1970s. 

My inspirations came mostly from found vintage photographs, antique catalogs, my own collection of vintage and antique clothing, paintings, and my own imaginings of what my favorite fictional characters might wear. All the colors for fabrics and knits were inspired by my love for dried flowers and landscape paintings particularly those of Camille Corot.

The Bennet Dress is an amalgamation of what I imagine (and hope) both Jane and Elizabeth Bennet (from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice) would wear. I feel a kinship to both women and their sensibilities, and I wanted to design a dress that I imagine they would share. 

The Aveyron Dress was inspired by my time in the Aveyron region in France back in 2016 and part of my heart is still there roaming the fields and fields of Queen Anne's lace in the Midi Pyrenees. 

The Arduous Search for the Maker

I spent a little over a year in search of manufacturers for my label. I had wavered strongly between having my garments produced domestically or overseas as each decision had their own positives and negatives. It was a very, very time intensive process which is why it took me so long to find a manufacturer! 

After weighing out the pros and cons of each decision, I decided to have Atelette produced overseas after finding a manufacturing company in Guangzhou that was able to do very small production runs and also included services to help me navigate the process and journey of creating my first label as I did not go to school for design. Another factor in my decision to go with my manufacturing company is that it is also family operated and small and they have an office in the West Coast that was available for me to reach out to whenever I had questions (which was often). Due to Covid, all the work for Atelette was done remotely which had so many challenges in and of itself as you can imagine!

While I will not be marketing Atelette as Sustainable/Ethical/Slow Fashion (individuals will have their own personal definition of what qualifies as being one or the other or all three), in many ways Atelette does cross the lines of Sustainable, Ethical, and Slow Fashion, but more on this on a later post.

3 Lessons on Manufacturing

I have learned SO MUCH during this process and I wanted to share some of this new found knowledge with all of you so you have a better understanding of how garments can go from concept to design. 

Lesson One: Just because you have an idea does not mean it can be made. Well, technically it CAN, but do you have the time and money to get it produced by the right factory who has the right tools and equipment?

Lesson Two: Different fabric/textile/clothing factories produce different things and offer a myriad of services. It took me so long to find my manufacturer because I needed them to be able to do A LOT of things to help me on the pre-production side. The "downside" is my manufacturer is not equipped to create other types of garments (like coats or any thick materials, anything denim, intimates, swimwear etc) so if I ever wanted to expand Atelette, I will have to find other manufacturers. (P.S. - A company like Everlane works with over 30 different manufacturers)

Lesson Three: Speaking of factory limitations, the smaller the factory, the less it can produce. This applies to actual output meaning how many actual pieces of a single dress do you get produced? For big brands like Urban Outfitters for example, they're producing 500-1,000 of the same piece. For Atelette, I'm producing dozens. Vast difference. Another limitation with my manufacturer because they are smaller is the inability to do plus sizing or petite sizing. They do not have the machinery or equipment to do so, similarly to not having equipment and machinery to work with denim or intimates and swimwear. So, at this moment in time, in the very early stages of Atelette, our garment will not have any plus or petites. 

Limited Release & Attainable Pricing 

In the process of narrowing down my search from hundreds of manufacturers to dozens, then finally to three, then one, I have learned so much about all the costs that goes into producing your own garments. And there are A LOT of costs involved. From tech packs, to getting patterns graded for sizing, to physical samples being sewn, then those samples being revised and sewn again (and again!) and all this being done remotely through Zoom or Facetime. It has been an absolute labor of love and a slow process. 

Another reason I went with a manufacturer overseas is during my search for a domestic producer, the cost of Atelette for the quality I wanted with all the details I wanted was getting more and more expensive. When I brought my designs for the Aveyron Dress to a US manufacturer based in LA and told them I wanted it fully lined, seams finished, hidden pockets, all cotton... I was quoted the dress would need to retail around $325 for me to able to make some kind of profit. 

It didn't feel right to me to have been selling dresses for $68-$85 on mypiggywiggy and then all of a sudden sell $250-$400 dresses for Atelette. I did not feel good about this at all. 

While Atelette will be higher priced than our other garments (that we don't design/produce) because the quality is higher, the price point is still very attainable (for instance the Aveyron Dress, which is our most expensive dress to produce, will retail around $125). For a personal reason, I wanted to keep the prices for Atelette affordable and attainable. Affordability is very subjective as what is affordable to some, is definitely not for others.

A guiding light for me with pricing was the discovery that my sister's future sister-in-law, a young college educated Filipina, finds that mypiggywiggy/Atelette is attainable for her. The fact that mypiggywiggy/Atelette isn't a pipe dream, that she could buy these clothes by saving up her money...Do you know how much this news made my heart sing? The fact that a young woman in the Philippines, my home country, could realistically AFFORD garments from my shop. It means the absolute world. I do not really know how to describe the feeling other than it felt so affirming and my heart truly was overcome with gladness. 

While some would balk and instantly dismiss garments being Made in China, it is important to remember not all things Made in China are equal. With time, diligent research, care and thoughtfulness for the process, passion for your ideas, a steadfast commitment to your dreams, and asking SO MANY questions (what are the factory standards, what are the working conditions, how much does the average worker make?) it is 100% possible to have beautifully crafted garments made in China (or Vietnam, India, the Philippines...) that you can then price attainably and feel really good about in your heart and spirits. 

I hope you are all just as excited as I am for the release of our first two dresses, The Aveyron and the Bennet. So much love and attention went into the journey to create them. I still pinch myself about it! I can't believe they'll be here so soon!  Pre-Orders open on 2/22/22!!!