“Fantastic. Let’s get down to business. I have quite a few exciting updates to share with you.” I smile.
Lea dims the lights and pulls up the PowerPoint presentation she’s put together for me. The first slide contains photos of the mockups of the two wedding dresses.
“Over this past week, this amazing team has worked out all the kinks on the muslin prototype for both dresses and has moved on to the fabrication phase. The fabric bolts I ordered from Wentworth Textiles arrived last Thursday. The fabric has been cut and draped and work on the bodices of both garments is well underway.”
The screen changes. “Our plan this week is to finish the top by tomorrow, baste the skirt together to the bodice, and ask Clarissa to stop in for a fitting on Wednesday. As you can see from the projected timeline, dress one is on track to be completed by Friday, and dress two the following Wednesday.”
“Brilliant. What about the boleros and the maid of honor dress? How are we looking on those?” Sonya asks.
Lea advances to slide three. “I followed up with my Irish lacemakers, and unfortunately, the custom seahorse lace won’t be ready until Clarissa’s summer wedding. But I did manage to find a decent synthetic-lace substitute that containsseashells.”
My head seamstress, Emily, darts out of the room to collect a sample from her workstation. “Here it is.” She hands the sampler to Sonya, so she can inspect it closely.
“You’ll notice that the color is the exact same shade as the ivory silk,” I tell her.
“This is synthetic?” Sonya glances at me.
“I know, right? It feels like the real thing.”
“You could have fooled me. This is excellent.”
I internally let out a sigh of relief. I’m in the home stretch. This progress meeting is going better than I’d hoped. “Turning to your dress, the pattern has been cut and the muslin mockup will be finished by the end of this week.”
“Sooner. I’m aiming for Wednesday,” Emily promises.
“And what color have you picked for me?”
“A cherry-blossom pink.” My cheeks warm. “I noticed that’s your favorite shade of pink.”
“Very observant. It is indeed. I’m a Barbie girl. I can’t wait to see it!” The lights flick back on. Sonya swivels in her chair. “Seamstresses, how are we doing?”
“No problems to report, boss. Min is keeping us on track.”
“Wonderful. Then does anyone have any additional items they’d like to bring up?”
Everyone in the room stays silent. “No? Well, if anything changes, just send me a text or stop by my office. I’ll be catching up on a few housekeeping items today.”
Sonya waves goodbye and exits the room.
I stand. “Great job, everyone. I couldn’t be any happier with how that meeting went. I’d just like to go around the table and touch base with everyone on how they’re feeling about this week’s goals. Please be honest with me. As always, it’s okay to admit if you need an extra pair of hands.We’re a team and we all have the same goal—to have a happy, radiant bride three weeks from now.”
I try my best to inspire confidence and to re-create the style and tone I’ve seen my mentors have when they’re speaking to their project teams. I have a team of four working under me. Everyone in this room, save Lea, is older and more experienced than me. At first, I was worried they’d be jealous or take advantage of me, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
All the women at this table treat me like a professional. I may be a young, untested designer, but they all understand that Clarissa and Sonya wouldn’t have brought me on without a good reason. It’s not lost on me that these four seamstresses are among the best in the fashion industry.
The gowns they’ve personally worked on have been featured in fashion shows and graced the front covers of every major fashion magazine. So I try my best to treat them with the same respect they’re giving me. I think it’s working. They’ve even asked me to join them for drinks a few times.
“Melissa, why don’t we start with you.”
“Sure.” The red-headed seamstress rests her hands on the table. “On Friday, I got about halfway through the beadwork on the bodice before it was time to clock out. Today, I’m planning to finish it and begin building the bottom tulle layers of dress one’s skirt.”
Over lunch,I spend some time working one on one with Lea. It reminds me of when I used to help mentor some of the incoming apprentices to LABT as they adjusted to company life.
“Are these okay? Do you think the LSOF admissions board will find my sample portfolio strong enough?” Lea’s hands are folded on top of her lap. She bites her lower lip.
“These are better than okay,” I emphasize, setting the sketch pad with her work down on the conference room table. “I think the admissions committee is going to do a once-over and send you an automatic acceptance letter to the school.”
She beams at me. Over the past three weeks, it’s been a joy to watch my intern come out of her shell and start to see her build confidence.
