MICHELLE LEE DRESSES WOMEN WITH CONFIDENT STYLE

Lee was young at the time but definitely focused. When the woman sitting across the counter from her questioned whether she had the ability to sew, more so manage her own business, she didn’t only say yes, she proved it.“I wanted the money to buy a sewing machine so I measured her with my eyes, went home and two days later she had a blouse which fitted perfectly. She approved the loan right away,” Lee recalls during an interview with Woman’s Weekly.

The loan was not just the beginning of her business, it set the foundation for a friendship between Lee and the loans officer, Peggy Eaily, which is going strong to this day. She credits Eaily, for “making the dream a reality” and for adding fuel to the entrepreneurship spirit burning inside her at the time. Eaily walked the catwalk for Lee this month when the she staged her annual fashion show under the theme, “Confident Style” on November 9.

Since she was a teenager Lee has had a sense her life would revolve around sewing machines, fabric and styling women. “I would go to the seamstress with my mother as a young girl and hear her complain about one or two things not being right so I wanted to sew for her,” Lee says, and when she left school at age 15 she started sewing on an old machine that belonged to her grandmother. Lee later realised she needed to learn the technical aspects of the work and enrolled for various courses. While her interest was in dressing and styling women, she gravitated towards tailoring and credits one of her instructors, Samuel George, for teaching her everything she knows about tailoring.

Lee had been sewing for a few years prior to securing the loan from the credit union, but it was mostly for family and friends in Kelly Village, Caroni where she grew up. After she got the loan she decided to branch out and again, she credits Eaily for pushing her to grow her client base.

“I grew up with my mother, Molly Brown, supporting me and believing in the work I do. Then she (Eaily) came along and she started encouraging me. This has been such an amazing journey and I’ve had these two amazing women right at my side all this time,” an emotional Lee says.

When she did find a space, it was a small studio at Curepe Junction where she is currently based. She decided to focus on designing work wear for women and men and occasionally, she takes on wedding projects.

“I believe in a confident style which is why I do tailored business suits for women, but I always tell my clients not to let the clothes define them,” she cautions. Lee encourages her clients, especially the woman struggling with body image issues, to be comfortable in their own skin because as she see it, “looking your best is okay but nothing beats feeling your best.”

She stresses to women not to worry about how someone else looks in a particular blouse, but to focus on “what blouse would look good on you.” She dresses all body types and is always happy to sew for women who have trouble finding the right clothes.

“I find that for some women the tight fitting garments and the skimpy bits somehow translate into good style. I have to sometimes remind them that a woman can look good in anything as long as she feels comfortable.”

Lee says a few years ago she realised her job as a dressmaker goes beyond stitching up the garments and also includes little heart-to-heart sessions. She is a straight talker and would often tell her clients when “it’s time to get real.”

“We can’t all look like Halle Berry or the model who lives on our street. We have to embrace what we have, love who we are and take it from there,” she adds.

She is still perfecting her craft, but over the years her reputation has grown. She is known for producing quality, unique designs which fit like a glove. “There is so much I’m grateful for and right now I’m just grateful for the opportunity to work and to help people feel good themselves and all of this is possible because of God.”

Lee says while her achievements mean something, she counts as more important the role she plays in her community and what her success means to the young people in the village.

“I look around Kelly Village and I’m hurt by the paths the youths are taking, but this can change. I want them to see that we don’t all have to be lawyers and doctors to succeed. More important, I want them understand that if I did it, they can too.”

When she is not busy in the studio Lee is at home spending quiet time with her husband of 18 years, Bernard Lee. “He has been supportive and has always been there, and he also models for me,” she adds with a smile.