Melanie
James wanted a mod-style dress for a night out in Leicester as a teenager. So,
she asked her mum to make one, and it was the start of a love affair with
sewing and all things '60s. Becky Jones finds out about her new clothing line.
Dressmaker
Melanie James wasn't born until the 1970s but, for her, no other decade
compares to the swinging '60s.
It's a
love she's inherited from her parents, who brought her up on a musical diet of
The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks.
"I
went through a phase of listening to chart music but there was something about
60s soul music that grabbed me from a really young age," she says. "I
rarely listen to anything else now.
"There's
something so free about the 60s. Everything was really strict before that. It
was the first generation where people were so expressive, with their fashion
and their music. I don't think anything's really been the same since
then."
It's
fitting then, that the 36-year-old is becoming renowned for her fabulous
60s-inspired mini-dresses, each bearing a name popular in the decade, such as
Nancy, Cynthia and Jacky.
Having
previously sold all of her creations on eBay, Melanie is now supplying her
"Love Her Madly" dresses to shops, including Mod For It, in Leicester's
Silver Arcade.
With their
figure-hugging tunic style, short hemline and largely monochrome design,
Melanie's dresses epitomise the 60s. You can almost imagine them being worn by
the likes of Twiggy and Cilla as they strutted down Carnaby Street at the
height of their fame.
What makes
the dresses all the more impressive is the fact that they've been made by
someone who, until eight years ago, had never used a sewing machine.
At school,
Melanie chose to study ceramics rather than textiles and, at home, though her
mum and sister enjoyed sewing, she simply wasn't interested.
"My
mum had a sewing machine and just looking at it filled me with fear," she
smiles.
As a teen,
Melanie didn't know what she wanted to do with her life, so rather than
"pick a course just because it sounded like a fancy one to do" she
opted to leave school at the age of 16.
"I
liked the idea of freedom and having money," says Melanie, who got a job
working in a restaurant bar.
"I
knew I wanted to do something creative but I didn't know what that was."
Despite
the fact her mum and aunt worked in the hosiery industry, pursuing a career in
fashion wasn't something that occurred to her. Her dramatic change in career,
from bar worker to dressmaker, came about after a night out at the University
of Leicester.
"I
was 27, I'd quit my job, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn't
want to carry on working in a bar," she says.
"There
used to be a night at Leicester Uni called Brighton Beach and I used to go to
that. I desperately wanted a Mod-style vintage dress to wear there, but I
couldn't find one anywhere, so I asked my mum to make me one.
"She
used to make all her own clothes in the 60s.
"She
made me this little black and white dress and that night I had so many girls
come up to me and ask where I'd got it from. They said if they could buy
something like it, they definitely would."
That, says
Melanie, was her light bulb moment.
She may
not have been interested in sewing before – but here was a way to explore her
creativity, indulge her love of the 60s and make a living.
"I
got my mum to teach me how to make a dress. We got an old pattern and adapted
it a bit and she helped me cut out the fabric.
"I
just completely fell in love with it and picked it up so easily. I never
thought I'd be able to do it, but it went really well – apart from the second
dress I made, where I sewed the arm on to the neck."
After a
number of lessons from her mum and aunt, and many hours of practice, Love Her
Madly was born.
Well, sort
of.
"Love
Her Madly was the name on my eBay account, which I opened before I started
making dresses. I was 21, completely in love with Jim Morrison and thought it
sounded like a cool name for an eBay handle.
"When
I started making dresses, I used the name 'Moddest' for them, but everyone said
Love Her Madly was a much better name – and I agreed."
Eight
years on, Melanie can't imagine a life without dressmaking.
She works
in a converted studio in Braunstone, weaving her magic using a vintage Frister
and Rossmann sewing machine.
She uses
60s patterns and takes inspiration from old music videos and footage from
Carnaby Street and other famous 60s hangouts.
"For
the first year-and-a-half I made a point of never making the same dress twice,
so every single dress was completely different, but I got to the point where I
was exhausting myself of ideas and the designs became so popular I had to start
making them again," she says.
Melanie
mainly uses a colour palette of black, white, red and navy.
"Occasionally,
coming into summer, I might find some fabric in other colours, but I like those
colours and they suit me so I tend to stick to them."
All the
fabric is sourced from Leicester Market, while the buttons and zips are bought
from local haberdashery shops such as Button Boutique, in Malcolm Arcade.
"Its
important to keep it local," says Melanie. Mod For It, with its similar
attachment to the Mod subculture, is a perfect fit with Love Her Madly, she
says.
And she's
pleased it's in her hometown.
Two London
shops have now signed up to sell Melanie's creations: Dolly Mix, just off Brick
Lane, and Sherry's, off Carnaby Street. "I've been selling on eBay for
eight years (during which time she's sold more than 2,000 dresses) and although
it's great because I can get to a massive market worldwide, it's nice to be
able to actually see my dresses in a shop," she says. "It feels more
serious.
"I
felt quite nervous seeing them in a shop for the first time, to be
honest."
As well as
the dresses available in the shops and through eBay, Melanie also takes on
commissions.
Dresses
cost about £40 – which for a handmade, bespoke dress, sounds like a bargain.
What's
next for Love Her Madly?
"I
don't want to become a massive big brand.
"If I
was going to have my own shop, I'd have to go to somewhere like London or
Brighton, where there's a bigger scene.
"The
stuff I do is so specific.
"I
like the idea of it just being in a few exclusive shops. Who knows what will
happen in the future, though."
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