A Different World

Shirley Peck felt baby dolls.

Despite the crap coming at me.  I was able to entertain myself in my own world.  I seemed to have grown up differently within my own home.  My mother did not get a 9 to 5 job, but she was always doing something other than cleaning the house and taking care of kids.  I thought it was great for her to have her projects and I followed her everywhere. 

I don't quite know when she started selling her dolls professionally.  I would help her by making little felt flowers for a penny each.  I didn't know that was child labor prices, I just thought it was cool to get money at 7 years old.  She had a Representative who sold her dolls and she was quite popular.  I have a box full of professional doll photos.  She had ads in magazines and went to doll shows.  I helped her with that, but I only went to the big Toy Fair in New York once.  That is where doll stores would see the new lines and buy stock for the year.  It was a very big deal and costs thousands of dollars to have a booth.  Mom would manage to buy a shelf and then she would take my Dad or even better, my Aunt Debbie to New York with her.  She liked Debbie the best because she was skinny and pretty and very fun to be around.  It didn't matter that she didn't know much about the product.

Example of one of Shirley Peck Original later doll with truck.  I hope you can tell it is Red Riding Hood.

So I grew up with this artist business in my life from the beginning.  I have developed some of the strangest skill set because I would help her to earn money.  As I grew older I was able to take on the more specialized skills needed for her.  I did the computer work.  I made the flyer's and the tags.  I assembled the boxes and for awhile they had plastic windows in them that I would need to glue in.  I helped to dress the dolls and I got the orders ready to ship for her.  As you might imagine this was not a subject I could use in conversation.  I read a post recently were a cousin asked if we remembered "the creepy dolls in grandma's basement."  The post made me sad because that is how most people view dolls.  The clever techniques and the artistry to sculpt, paint and make clothing for the dolls is completely overlooked because they are "creepy".  So another aspect of my life was push aside because of preconceived ideas, but honestly how many people are actually interested in the doll world?  Not many. 

She began to trust me and I started to help with the dolls.  She had an idea to do fairy dolls, but the wings are always a problem.  How to make them?  She couldn't take the time to paint each one.  We don't like the look of nylons on wire.  The dolls with real butterfly wings were the ones we liked the best, but Mom's dolls were to big.  Finally she figured on embroidering the wings on the machine.  It was a great idea, the only problem?  I had to figure out the actual how.  When we started the project the software was still new and expensive.  It was very difficult to use, but through trial and error I was able to figure out the best way to create the wings.  I am so proud of them I have them in my portfolio.  Now the software is so advance I can create the same design that took me days in only a couple of hours.

 All of the wing designs are from real butterfly wings. 

 Mom would draw how she wanted the color blocks to look.

 Then I would digitize the points into the software and create the design.  We would experiment with the colors and fabrics.

I didn't know at the time that my mother was very brave to drive into the heart of Los Angeles to get to the fabric district.  I was so used to the homeless, to the foreigners, the dirty streets and the crazy traffic that I didn't realize the pain and agony it took to go there.  Once I was doing the driving myself I learned that I was very lucky to be exposed to a completely different world and not be afraid.

I believe my first time in the fabric district was at the age of ten.  We lived an hour away and there was a horrible move on the freeway that took crossing 3 lanes of traffic at 70 miles an hour.  If you don't do it you get pushed off the freeway with no idea where to go.  We know our exit and what to do once off.  Over the years I have picked my stores.  I knew who had the stuff I liked.  Where to park and what my route would be.  You have to be out of there by 4pm or meet the worst traffic, so time was important.  That first time I followed Mom a bit shell shocked.  I wasn't sewing at this time, so I didn't have any idea what to look at.  We were in a store that I still go to today over 20 years later and Mom found some fabric she wanted.  I was confused because there wasn't any price stuck to it, so Mom grabs the fabric and says to the guy hovering over us, "How Much?"  They almost always respond with, "How much you want?" "Um, about a yard."  "Then 10 dollah." "No, that's too much."  I remember being surprised my Mom said no.  I knew she wanted the fabric.  "How about 8?" she countered.  "No, no."  He shook his head "9."  "Sorry, still too much. Thank you for your time."  She turned to leave and I frowned in confusion, but then I saw her wink at me and knew she was up to something, so I followed her lead.  "We will be going now.  Thank you again."  And she walked towards the door with me following behind.  "Wait!  You can have it for 8."  She turned to me and smiled.  That was some of the best haggling I had ever seen!

Example of the fabrics I would buy downtown.  This is my Wardrobe as human dress made from silk velvet to look like theatre curtains and silk dupioni.

This is the gold Belle dress.  I thought I was only making Belle's costumes and so I spent alot of time on this one.  It has three large rows of silk shantung ruffles with a beaded top skirt and collar ruffle from fabric I bought from"Best customer."  This would be a $500 dollar dress, but I was able to make it for about a hundred in material.

I used that knowledge every time I went downtown LA.  I was willing to walk away because I knew someone else would have the same fabric who was willing to work with me.  I loved it costuming.  I could buy expensive silk for the same cost as cotton or the cheap poly version.  I knew all the kinds of fabric and what they were used for in a professional capacity.  When I took the fabric class in Fashion Design college I laughed because I knew just as much as my teacher from years of education from my mother.  I would go to the fabric district with fellow students and they would go the Micheal Levine's a store with set prices.  I stopped going into that store because I could get the same fabric for cheaper if I did a little digging on the street.  My fellow students were terrified of the no price stores, so I would take them to the places that I had developed a relationship with.  I would show them how to haggle just like my mother taught me.  I walked those streets every 4 months, but never mind an actual name, I knew them by my own names.  I loved this small store, the shop owner would see me and yell, "Oh, my best costumer!"  I would try to buy from him because he gave me great deals on beautiful beaded fabrics that would be over $40 a yard.  So when I want a certain type of fabric I tell my mom to try at "Best costumer"store.

I miss the fabric district so much I can't bear it.  I see the design in my head and then find the right fabrics and trims to make that vision come true.  I loved the variety down their and I would find what I needed.  We have buckets of fabric, but that is not how I work, that is how my mother works gathering different combinations of supplies and constructing her design through what she already has.  I haven't done much sewing since I stopped costuming.  The need isn't there and it really is hard.  I had no idea what I was accomplishing with the costumes.  I am very proud of my work, even though I felt like my mother and I were taken for granted, especially my mother. She did the many ie needing 7 Christmas dancers or needed 9 furry monkeys, while I did the one-of-a-kind dresses.