Audacity Dresses

Hi!

I want to officially introduce myself now that I am finally putting my fashion degree to use and starting a clothing line!

First off, I’m really excited that anyone is reading this, if anyone is.  Please email me any feedback you have on my dresses or site to jess@audacitydresses.com and be sure to check back often for new additions!

My full name is Jessica Susan Audey and I was born on September 23rd, 1983 in Cleveland, OH.  I knew I was destined for fashion at a young age when my Uncle dressed me up as a gypsy for Halloween and I wouldn’t stop wearing costumes since.

Me and my dad Halloween 1986

And, it didn’t stop there.  My mom’s prom dress from 1975? Found it and destroyed it I used it so much. My Grandma’s wedding dress?  In pieces.  I was pretty much in costume everyday.

As you can see from this gem, I did not shy away from current trends. If neon was hot, I’d be wearing it. To top it off, neon was hot when perms were hot, so being the trendsetter I am, I got them both at the same time.

My brother and I loving the neon

Moving on to high school, I took things up a notch and started embroidering my uniform skirt much to the dismay of both my teachers, who kept giving me demerits for uniform violations, and also to my mother, who had to pick me up late from school after I worked off my demerits.

While rummaging through the linen closet I found the key to my future: placemats from the 70s in matching patterns.  I quickly cut up squares and, with the help and learning expertise of my grandma, made probably the ugliest bag known to mankind. But kindly enough, no one said that to me.  So I just kept sewing things and they got uglier and uglier.  I started making five panel skirts and using a different fabric for each panel.  I should have caught on earlier that my mom didn’t appreciate my keen eye for fashion when she kept “accidentally” getting bleach spots on my garments therefore rendering them useless.

Finally, I refocused my efforts and for my senior project in high school I made my prom dress under the excellent training of Barbara Seidel in Cleveland Heights.

Prom 2001 - still dating the same guy

That gets me up to when I came to Chicago for college. I was originally a business major at DePaul, but quickly switched after I started working at a custom handbag shop in Chicago.  At 1154 Lill Studio I met Jamie Hayes who started working at 1154 Lill at same time as myself and was finishing up her second degree at Columbia College Chicago in Fashion Design.  Seeing that it was possible to make beautiful garments and have a job in the industry, I decided to transfer to Columbia to start four years of fashion training.

After cutting fabrics at work all day, and then sewing all night for school, I got pretty burnt out and stopped sewing for about a year.  I made quick dresses out of work fabrics for work parties.  I set them up in Lill’s store on Armitage and was amazed when people commented that they actually liked them!  I really didn’t start taking any of the comments seriously until one customer, Jackie, called and wanted me to make her wedding dress.  After some initial hesitation (I tried sending her to the place that is custom making my wedding dress!) I agreed to make the dress for her.  Jackie lives here in Chicago, but coincidentally grew up in the Cleveland area as well! Here’s her awesome dress on her wedding day (and I copied off of her and got the same farylrobin shoes in every color they had available).

Jackie's Wedding May 2008

Making Jackie’s wedding dress really inspired me to start sewing again. Thanks, Jackie, for being my first customer!  After her wedding dress I made some skirts for the Depart+ment Festival at Pitchfork this past July.  I actually sold some and that finally launched me into starting a site.

So that brings us to today!

Don’t forget about Fashion Focus Chicago! Starts October 1st through October 8th. My friend, Horacio Nieto is debuting his line at Macy’s on October 2nd as part of Fashion Focus!  Check out his amazing new collection!

Thanks! Til next time…