EtcPantoufle's Profile

Bio

Born in Mountain view, CA, and raised in nearly a dozen different towns, cities, and unincorporated plots of county land, Melissa's designs are as diverse as her upbringing, which is a nice way of saying unsensibly romantic and a little bit spastic.

Currently living in San Francisco with an unlimited supply of literature, music, and coffee, Melissa has picked up her once-abandoned notions of being a designer and sprinkled them into the melting pot of currently practiced carreers. Formerly, she has been a retail salesperson, barrista, sometimes bartender, events coordinator, vintage buyer, retail bookkeeper, ballerina, figure skater, competetive ice hockey player (left d), and high school drop out. Currently, she is a journalism student, freelance writer, sometimes fashion model, and person who sews things.

On a more serious note, Melissa didn't really drop out of high school, per se, and she does have a high school diploma. She also has an AA in Fashion Merchandising, extensive knowledge of fashion history and retail operations, and one semester's worth of official collegiate training in draping, which is how she makes all of her designs (she farts in the general direction of patterns). She is a self taught designer (that one semester notwithstanding), who began sewing and learning about the art of apparel construction at the age of thirteen by looking at clothing inside out and compulsively taking things apart. She thinks that this has been much better training than a flat pattern making class.

Because all of her designs are draped, and many made of vintage fabric, each is uniquely defined by an infinite number of factors at the time of creation (level of caffienation, recently viewed movies, barometric pressure, etc.) Also due to being draped, all designs are roughly the same size (ie. mannequin-sized/Melissa-sized), which is not to say that Melissa is sizeist. Should you see a design that suits you, and desire other sizing, proportion, fabric, etc. simply request a custom order (custom made items will be priced commensurately to the amount of labor and cost of fabric used, which shouldn't be too much more than a non-custom item anyway). That being said, all designs are one-off, and although I will replicate similar designs for custom orders, they will never be identical.

"Etc. Pantoufle" is an old French saying and imaginary kangaroo that represents the romanticism, spontaneity, imagination, and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality that I try to bring to my designs.

Female, Born on May 18

Favorite Materials

Brocade, lace, poplin, silk jersey, a good sturdy twill, a little more brocade, threadbare woven cottons, generally in the form of vintage linens, Tom Robbins novels, for inspiration, and coffee, for motivation