Typical Day
Stitcha Gritch starts her day at 6:00AM by letting herself into her shop via the back entrance. She moves around sewing machines and naked and half-clothed mannequins with a large iced coffee in her hand until she arrives at the small but gorgeously decorated room she uses as an office and consultation space.
Her first order of business is to check her calendar for the day, and then go through phone and email messages. Prom season will soon be upon the city of Houston, and approximately two dozen high school girls who want (and can afford) unique and beautifully tailored dresses are scheduled to visit her over the next several weeks so she can design, sew, and then fit each of them with an exclusive, expensive gown.
While it doesn't look like she'll have to deal with many clients this morning, she's booked solid with afternoon and evening appointments.
Stitcha owns and operates a couture (pronounced ka-tor) shop in one of the most well-to-do neighborhoods in Texas. She's been a fashion designer for twenty years, and an entrepreneur for fifteen.
Wealthy women from all over Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast come to her when they want someone to design them a suit, ball gown, wedding dress, or complete wardrobe of their very own. You name it, she does it.
Stitcha goes into the workroom at the back of the shop and starts sewing. She hums to herself as she carefully runs material under the needle of her machine. Before she knows it, the clock reads 7:00AM, and the three seamstresses she employs—Silk, Satina, and Jersey—are in the shop and seated at their own machines.
At 9:00AM, Stitcha's business and front desk manager Thimbleina arrives and opens the shop for business. The phone starts ringing soon after, and Thimbleina fields calls from women who need to schedule or reschedule consultations and fittings, or who want to check on the status of an order, or who are looking for the dentist's office that is just one number different.
The day starts out like any other: busy. At 9:30AM, an enormous Bentley rolls up outside her shop and an elderly woman steps out. Mrs. Megabucks has arrived.
Mrs. Megabucks has been a client of Stitcha's for a decade. Every January, without fail, the old lady calls on Stitcha to make a fabulous gown for the Annual People-With-Lots-of-Money Fundraiser, which Mrs. Megabucks hosts at the River Oaks Country Club every May.
Stitcha greets Mrs. Megabucks at the door and leads her client to her office. Thimbleina appears moments later with a refreshing beverage for Mrs. Megabucks to enjoy. For the next thirty minutes, Mrs. Megabucks goes over what she wants her gown to look like while Stitcha quickly sketches out sample draft designs, poses questions, and offers suggestions.
After Mrs. Megabucks and Stitcha agree on what the dress will look like and what fabric it will be made out of, Stitcha steps back into a fitting alcove with her client and takes a variety of measurements. Twenty minutes later, she gives Mrs. Megabucks an estimated date of completion and price for the dress. Mrs. Megabucks responds with a regal nod of agreement, and swans back to her Bentley.
At 10:30AM, Stitcha's next client, Mrs. High-and-Mighty, strolls in with seven vintage Chanel dresses that she wants altered. Stitcha meets with her in a fitting alcove for an hour and promises to have the dresses ready for Mrs. High-and-Mighty's trip to Paris in two weeks' time.
At 11:30AM, Stitcha sends Thimbleina to a nearby restaurant to pick up the shop's lunch order. While Thimbleina and the three seamstresses break for lunch, Stitcha goes into her office, eats, and makes calls to a few select clients. These are the ladies who have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars at Stitcha's shop, and who she therefore communicates with personally about their orders—between bites of course.
For a couple of hours after lunch, Stitcha and her seamstresses sew away while Thimbleina keeps the books up front. At 2:00PM, Stitcha's afternoon appointments begin. For the next five hours, high school girls accompanied by their mothers come into the shop in what could only be described as gaggles.
Stitcha sits down with each one of them, goes over the Prom-dress design process, and then works to produce a sketch that satisfies each girl's taste and desires. Measurements are taken, schedules and costs are discussed, and tears are wiped from many an eye.
By 7:00PM, Stitcha is completely exhausted, but she's received thousands of dollars in orders today. As she locks the front door of the shop, she reflects that once upon a time she wasn't so different from the high school girls she worked with this evening.
Stitcha waves goodbye to Thimbleina as the business manager tidies up the front desk and leaves for the night. The seamstresses leave an hour later; they're anxious to enjoy a relatively early evening off, given that they'll be working long into the night in the weeks ahead.
Many people have asked Stitcha over the years why she didn't go to work for one of the famous design houses. While she knows that she's a talented designer, Stitcha enjoys having the freedom to come up with designs in cooperation with her clients: her artistic vision is her own, and her customers generally trust her enough to take her advice.
She's also discovered over the years that she enjoys the business aspects of fashion design almost as much she does creating clothes.
By 8:30PM, Stitcha is eating dinner and watching an old movie in her pleasant townhouse. She goes to bed early; she has another long day tomorrow, and a long day after that, and a long day after that, but she wouldn't trade in the life she has for anything.