Pivot

On Saturday, May 24, 2014, I was sitting at sports bar & grill with a couple of friends watching a Champions League Football game, when one of them said, out of the blue, “you should design clothing.” I was a little gobsmacked because this person had no idea I grew up wanting to be a fashion designer but went down a different road. At the time I had invested in a local clothing boutique and loved how my customers felt after I styled them, but hadn’t created anything in almost 30 years, so I responded by asking, “what makes you say that?”. He was candid in his response, “you’d make a killing. You have an eye for it.” I went on designing and creating social wear for myself and a few months later we talked again and when I wasn’t sure if I could do it, he sent me a message saying, “in 5 years, you will have showrooms in NYC, London, Paris and Milan.”

While it’s nearly double that time frame (damn business closure and partner divorce, marital divorce, worldwide pandemic and breast cancer…slowed my goals), I am excited and incredibly blessed to say I will be able to check off all of the above. My showrooms are the runways, like galleries where you’d find fine art. I am living proof that at any age you can achieve what you set your mind to.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in fifth gear sewing, planning, jumping on TV….pleading my case why the community should come out to see the show that I’ve dreamt of. I’m sure many of you were feeling like, “Oh God, here comes Dara with her reminders and her asks to purchase tickets for this show, don’t look at her.” I’m happy to tell you that you can look me in the eyes again. LOL. I am so incredibly grateful to my family and friends that believe in and are supporting me in this endeavor.

You have no idea how grateful I am. It is a second job to put on a runway show. Not only do I design the clothes, recruit models, beauty team, photographers, dj, volunteers and sponsors, but I handle the social media and updating my website, pitching the story to other media sources, cater, set the run of show, seating chart and swag bags, AND the most difficult push ticket sales. That is on top of my full-time job and being Macy’s Give Back Captain for our annual giving and volunteering campaign. Luckily for me, I have the best community.

About a month before the show, my sewing machine died. I wasn’t sure about buying a new one or fixing my old one, when my friend, Melissa, offered to loan hers to me (PIVOT). Every time I was concerned I was biting off more than I could chew, I would get a reminder that I was on the right path. I was so inspired and the stories I was building spoke more and more to me, but then I think I over did it.

Two weeks before the show, I was deep cleaning my casita and getting everything set to finalize the looks and host fittings the following week, when I stirred up some sort of bubonic plague. I spent the next couple of days trying to rest and get back on path, but the devil was winning. Instead of full throttle, I had to cancel my fittings the week before and sleep. I finally started feeling better, but I had missed several days of work, so I couldn’t use anymore PTO just to work on the looks. I worked on them in the early mornings and after work. I rescheduled the fittings for the Thursday and Friday nights after work and then again on Saturday from 8am to 4:30pm. Each model was to wear a look for each of the two acts. The first ACT: Moda di Milano was focused on the pieces I was considering taking to Milan and ACT 2: Stories. These were the looks created on stories that I’ve been talking about. They are: The Phoenix, Medusa, Joan of Arc, Cassiopeia, Icarus, Mary Magdalene, Susannah, Selina, Catalina, Eve, and Mary, mother of Jesus,

Friday night, I receive a text from my niece, who was one of my models, she asked me to call her. I did before I went to bed but it went to voicemail. I tried calling her again in the morning, before my appointments began but we weren’t able to connect. Her mom called later that morning and explained that she had to work the day of the show. She had been trying to get someone to cover her shift but had no luck. However, one of her best friends was available to model in her place. Luckily they were similar in size (PIVOT). I asked for her to send me her email and headshot so I could send her details and get the info over to the beauty team. And even though, I shut down ticket sales the Thursday before to properly plan for Sunday (remember seating chart, catering, VIP gift bags), I was still fielding ticket sales. While I was grateful for them, it just added to my already full cup. I finished fittings at 4:30pm, took a breath and then Isaiah joined me for shopping. I made a Costco run for bulk food, I had to pick up an order for Italian sweets from World Market, then got last minute notions from JoAnns. I got home just after 7pm and sat at the sewing machine.

All through the night….I literally sewed from 7pm to 7am fueled on espressos with first Gossip Girl in the background then Vanderpump Rules (don’t judge). At 7am, I took the dogs for a walk, took a quick shower and started loading up my car. I forgot how much I had to pack. I told the volunteers, the beauty team and models to meet me at the church at 8am. Unfortunately, there was a wedding the night before so we weren’t able to get in and set up prior to Sunday so all the things had to happen all at once. I was exhausted yet feeling my 2nd wind when I arrived.

My volunteers: Angela, Melissa, Eilene, Cathy, Carol, and Norma, were the BOMB.com. We started unloading my car and got to work. The beauty team led by Amanda, Stephanie and Yvonne and her students from Adorabella Beauty Academy got to work doing their magic. The models started arriving and once the church cleaning lady swept and mopped the floors we built out the seating chart, put together the VIP bags and I started writing Thank You notes that also served as seat assignments. I realized I had forgotten part of the swag and asked Isaiah if he could run by my casita to pick it up. There were a couple of other things that the team asked for as well. I went to work steaming the garments when Cati arrived to set up her DJ deck. I pulled the models together and we did a quick run through. And by 10:45am, patrons started to arrive.

Since I never get to enjoy the pre-game festivities, I truly hope all in attendance did. I wanted attendees to enjoy some of my Italian favorites like Caprese salad, cornettos, cannolis, charcuterie and themed drinks like Limoncello, Aperol Spritz and Bellini’s (but when I went back to purchase the bottles from Trader Joe’s they were no longer available so PIVOT to Prosecco). The team put on a beautiful display and while it was a warm late August Sunday, it was actually cooler than the past week because of the rain the night before. The 200-year old church doesn’t have air conditioning, so all the doors were open and electric fans were on. Each seat included a hand fan. I quickly jumped into Amanda’s chair and asked that she smoothe my “monica” hair that even in a bun couldn’t tame because of the kinky tendrils. Stephanie got to work on my face. I didn’t ask for full makeup but instead transform my look from a zombie to fresh, like I got six hours of sleep. The masters that they are, they both exceeded my expectations and as the patrons were taking their seats, the models and I got together for one behind the scenes photos. Then they lined up. During the first Act they would be walking to Royals by Lorde and Shake It Out by Florence and the Machine. It was a small runway so I directed the ladies to walk in through the church front door pause then walk up to wear the altar/stage, pause, walk back down and back up and out. Watching the video after, it was magic, like they were walking in from the light the wood floors, adobe walls and flickering faux candles created a heavenly backdrop to the fashion.

Bobby said he’d be floating around to get different angles and perspectives. I called on Bobby when I knew I was going to be showing in the Old San Ysidro church. His photography captures the heart and soul of all things New Mexico in the purest sense. We met through a mutual friend back in 2017 at my show and have been following each other since. He photographed my Paris ou Buste show last summer, so I was very grateful that he was available and interested to capture this event. I asked Amanda to stream the show on Facebook Live and she kindly obliged. Here we were ready to go. I stepped out to welcome everyone provide a quick overview and then I stepped out with the models and the show began.

The models sashayed down the runway and 10 minutes later the first Act was done. I invited the beautiful Ane Romero back to share her gift of music (if you recall last year’s show she paid homage to my gram by singing Buenos Dias Palma Blanca. This year I asked for gospel tunes and we settled on How Great Thou Art with a sound track and Amazing Grace acapella. Her soulful voice moved me so and as I was told many of the attendees, they were moved as well. These songs reminded me of my grandpo and my mom, respectively. This performance gave the models the time they needed to change for Act two.

I jumped into help where I could. I was helping Skye with the Eve dress…did you ever hear the story about the dress that Marilyn Monroe wore to sing happy birthday to President Kennedy, and how she was sewn into it? Well, we had something similar with Skye’s dress and the invisible neck strap snapped. I attempted to first tie it to her necklace but it didn’t work, so then I tried to sew it to the necklace and it snapped. so instead of having a wardrobe malfunction, we opted to make it a dramatic walk with her hand delicately holding the dress in place (PIVOT). Then, Sofi approached me asking where the Phoenix piece was and it was like I hit a wall. I purposefully didn’t put the dress in my garment bag because I didn’t want it to ruffle the feather detail and in that moment, I realized it was still hanging on the garment rack in my dining room. I was mentally trying to figure out how I could drive back to my casita grab it and come back in time for her to change. I knew I couldn’t make it work so we opted for her to wear the same dress from the first Act and she would use the bow as a prop (PIVOT). She performed brilliantly and the bow was the perfect prop built into her dance. Each of these stories were paired with a Sia song. Sia’s music has been instrumental in my design aesthetic and growth as a designer. Here is how the stories came together with each story’s look:

I joined the models for the final walk to Sia’s Immortal Queen and took the stage with a full heart of gratitude. I thanked my sponsors and volunteers.

I could not pull this off without all the support. And I am so grateful to everyone who attended whether you were there to support me (or supported me by buying a ticket but could not be there) or were there supporting your loved one.

I genuinely hope you had a wonderful time. I did. After we cleaned up and talked about the show, I drove home trying not to doze off. When I got home, I slept for hours fully content. Sometimes you are thrown curve balls, and you’ve got to either yell PIVOT or SHUT UP but make sure you build some lightness and laughter into the situation.

With all the twists and turns, it was my favorite show to date. When you get a text from a dear friend the Monday following the show that says, “You did a such a fabulous job! While last year was super fun, this year was magnificent.” Thank you, Serena. And when your bestie, posts on Facebook, “Your collection is a celebration of life and the power of faith! Your ability to blend different elements and push boundaries is a testament to your talent and passion for design. Your life stories, as told through your collection, remind us that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope and a path forward. You are a shining light, and I have no doubt that you will make the 505 in Milan shine even brighter!” Thank you, Ang. These comments, all those who posted photos, and came to congratulate me after reminded me that all the hard work is totally worth it.

And if you missed the show, but want to see it, here is an edited version (just under 30 minutes). It’s got all the fashion and beautiful performances.

Now if you’ve read this far and/or watched the show, let me know, by commenting below, if any of the “story” dresses need to be in the Milan line up. And if you wanted to support this event but time ran out, you can still buy me a coffee or cocktail just go out to the events page to find my Venmo and Paypal settings.

On to Milan!
With Light and Love,
Dara Sophia Romero