teenLook #6 - November 2019 - Arizona Skeoch

teenLook fashion
Hi, my name is Michelle. I own Ovadette. And
I’m the coolest person I know. There I said it.
Interview over. Kidding. Sounds totally high on
myself, right? Not really. When someone calls
you up and says hey, we want you to write all
about yourself for us to put in a magazine for
TONS of people to read all about you and what
you do….. you have to admit
– pretty cool. And absolutely
terrifying.
UNIQUE FASHION DESIGN BY MICHELLE
INSTAGRAM / ovadette
Be the coolest person
you know!
It’s difficult for me to talk
about myself most days. When people ask me
what I do, I always have a moment of terror
and feel all shy as I respond with the usual -I’m
a designer. I make clothes out of paper. That’s
when the response usually comes – Oh? How’s
that? The answer is always the same - Awesome
actually.
When I first started out on this little adventure,
I never thought it would become something
to talk about. I started out the same way
everything does. I
saw something that
made me think; I can
do that. And I did.
Sounds pretty simple
right? Everything
we do in life starts
with an idea of sorts,
whether it be riding
a bike, learning
to drive, or building
model planes. The
trick to being creative
isn’t about having the
PHOTO / Donna Lynn Photography
www.ovadette.com
ideas – it’s about being determined and passionate
about making those ideas come to life. I had
a lot fails at first. And I mean A LOT. Making a
paper dress is cool and all, but taking them off
the mannequin and putting them on a person
without having them fall apart everywhere is a
whole different challenge.
As my skills have evolved
and seeing this passion grow,
I find I still get stuck when
people ask me about it. Even
though these designs started
as a personal challenge, the question I get asked
most often is how I got into doing it. But that’s
never the question I want to talk about. I did it
because I could. Cause one idea led me to another,
which led to this and that and ta-da! Paper
stuffs. My secret isn’t people sending me millions
of dollars for each dress, and it’s not a personal
studio and tons of free time to dedicate to this
craft. My secret is this – be inspired. My designs
are all about showing the things people can do,
bringing beauty, bringing the imagination into
something that’s otherwise quite ordinary. Being
inspired by things around me, and people around
me, wanting to make something to inspire someone
to see more, to be more. We are all more
than we appear to be, and we are all made better
when we grow and come together.
A pile of paper is just that. Until we help it become
roses and feathers. So I can make a pretty
dress. But it’s never complete until someone
puts it on and says –
“This makes me feel so beautiful.”