Gift Guide: Junior Project Runway

A few weeks ago, in the span of about an hour, I received 3 separate links to 3 great fashion design products. I took it as a sign — at least one of my kids will be receiving a fashion-themed gift under the tree. If you have budding fashionistas at your house, let me recommend:

1) Shailie by Style Paige
I love this. Shailie is made up of a life-size, kid-size dress form (in an adorable polka dot print, with fab wooden detailing) and kits full of "pieces" (bodices, sleeves, skirt pieces, sashes, and trims) that can be styled and restyled, attached and detached, to create an endless stream of custom dressups. Seriously so cool.

The Shailie Starter Kit comes in a big box like this:




And it has everything you need to get started — the dress form, the brilliant velcro-ized top and skirt (this is what all the "pieces" attach to), lots of fabric pieces to help you create some runway magic — even a padded, wrap-around "closet" to store the fabric pieces.

If you want to add to the starter kit, there are additional dress kits available. Here's the prom kit:




Friends. There is no sewing required. For reals. Find the Shailie Starter Kit here.

2) Hokey Croquis Sketchbook
When your aspiring fashion designer has advanced past "dress-up" stage. Introduce them to the Hokey Croquis sketchbook. Each page has body form outlines ready to be filled in and detailed — with room in the margins for trim pieces and fabric swatches. This should be a required school supply for fashion design majors.



Here's a photos of the a Hokey Croquis sketch sheet in use:



3) Fashion Playtes
You design it. They make it. You wear it. The Fashion Playtes website will take you through an easy click design process. Pick your basic garment. Choose size and color. Then customize the details. Save it to your "collection" or order it and it will be produced just as you designed it. Love it.