Joyeux Noël

Photo Courtesy Of Noël Alvarez

"I am Italian and Irish.  I was born near Christmas, on December 19th, so my mother decided on Noël (the dots are over the 'e'). I always hated my name, because people pronounced it wrong, or called me 'Nicole,' 'Holly' or even 'Carol' - seriously! I've since  embraced it and just correct people who mess it up. It is completely weird though, as I am Italian and Irish with a French first name and a Cuban last name! Now it is pretty cool because it is interesting and often the first thing people ask about.

I grew up in the Riverside Avenue projects right on the Mystic River. You can actually see my front door if you Google '49 Light Guard Drive Medford, MA'. Medford is just north of Boston. We were a tight knit group of friends all with our own baggage, I suppose. I do have mostly fond memories of my childhood probably because we were really like a big family. All our mothers were really mothers to us all. But as I grew older, I knew I wanted to escape the projects and live in a 'real'  house someday. I guess we like to remember the 'good times' and try to bury the bad times because it is just too exhausting to relive them.

I enlisted in the Massachusetts National Guard when I graduated high school at 17, in 1982. I did it for the free in-state tuition while I attended UMASS Amherst. I was enlisted for six years, whereby I attended monthly weekend 'drills' as well as two weeks of 'summer camp' each year. Fortunately, we were never deployed. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I went to Basic Training in South Carolina, then to 'Medic School' (AIT) in Texas. I met hundreds of awesome people from all over the country. When I returned to my Guard Unit in Boston, I would spend one weekend a month as a 'medic,' usually on the firing range. My partner and I would basically sit in the Army ambulance at the range and hope and pray that we would never have to transport anyone to the hospital, fortunately we never experienced a serious accident. I later transferred to an Infantry Unit in Chicopee, MA, close to school. But there I just did 'office work'. It was not as exciting as being with my Medical Battalion on Comm. Ave in Boston, but it was closer to Amherst.

I absolutely relate to it. During Basic Training and AIT in Texas, everyone is together, regardless of your branch (Reserves, National Guard, Regular Army...). So my heart is always with the Armed Forces. I don't keep in contact on a regular basis, but I have talked to a few people intermittently. I think that I could probably start digging via Facebook if I had the time. I actually first began taking classes at SFD shortly after I graduated from UMass Amherst in 1987. For some reason, I only attended a semester or two of night classes. I know that it didn't feel right doing it at that time and did not continue. After I got married and had my first son in 1993, (just weeks after my grandmother died), I was walking in my bedroom when I tripped over some papers sticking out from under my bed.  They were all of my old sketch books from the School of Fashion Design six years earlier. At that moment, I was convinced it was my grandmother trying to tell me to get my ass back to school. I enrolled again and graduated with my 'Junior Certificate' two years later, in 1995 (I think). I still have the photo of my late grandfather and me in my white graduation gown that we were required to design. Again, it was awesome. The people were great - especially the teachers! Dan Faucher was my favorite. He is the most talented person I have ever met. He is like the Jerry Seinfeld of designing. You would show him your sketch and he would suggest moving a seamer pairing two fabrics that you would have never considered. The classes at SFD were a very informal setting  -kind of like art class - you spend a lot of time sitting with your classmates sketching and doing your own thing and you tend to talk and get to know each other very well. I met people from Turkey, South America and China. I  miss them a lot.  I usually took the night classes, and we were a pretty odd bunch, odd in a good way.  A little older and saltier than the rest, probably all trying to find ourselves as we toiled in our 9-5 jobs.

I completed the 'Junior Certificate' which entailed about two years of fashion sketching, flat pattern design and construction, French Draping, Cocktail and Eveningwear. My favorite memories came from Draping class with Dan. At that point,everyone was somewhat advanced and most had a great sense of humor. We would drape our garments on the dress form and critique each other, wasting no time heckling one another in good fun. Really quite similar to the Project Runway workroom which brings back fond memories when I watch it. What inspires me?

What inspires me? I think about that a lot. It is the question I am most frightened of. Some people talk about the ripples of waves in the ocean or the contrast of shadows in the city or some other bull. Maybe I am not that clever to articulate some fantasy world setting that inspires me to sit and draw. I usually am parked on my $5 lawn chair in the backyard overseeing my kids beating the crap out of each other when I will just start sketching a collection of dresses in my notebook. The collection may have a theme of strong seam lines or a smattering of feminine ruffles balanced by a plunging back. Hmm...I still don't know what inspires the way I design. I just sketch what pops in my head and then fine-tune it. It is maddening at times.

Where does my positive outlook on life and strength come from? My husband would laugh at that comment. He thinks I am the negative one because I am always worrying about when and how everything will be DONE. As in striving blindly for the destination and not looking around during the journey. I am completely impatient and impulsive, (type A personality for sure) that I have learned to reel myself in and try to enjoy the present. My three boys are my priority. I just love watching them grow up and spending time with them. You do everything for the kids. They know how badly 'mama wants her dress shop' and they always draw pictures of me working in my shop for my Mother's Day card, birthday card, Easter card...etc!  I would consider myself a failure if I don't reach my goal of opening an atelier with my dress designs. I have worked too hard at everything but am terrified at failing because that would mean that I should have stuck with the plan to attend medical school 25 years ago. I guess my strength comes from the burning desire to know if this is my calling or not.

The name of the model in my last collection is Danielle Olsen. She's stunning and a natural. She brought my clothes to life. She reminds me of Linda Evangelista, a true chameleon. Brian James was my photographer and also provided Danielle's hair and makeup for the shoot. He is also an amazing talent at just 17. They were good sports to schlep down to Hyde Park and shoot in my bedroom. I want them to shoot my next collection, that is how confident I am in their skill. They knew exactly the look I wanted. We were all on the same page and they worked together perfectly. I was very lucky to have these two kids! I can't wait to get together with them again this fall.

The collection was shot in my bedroom. I had just finished painting it from Hot Fuchsia Pink to a cool, soothing Mediterranean Blue. More like a teal. I did not have a backdrop but luckily the neutral blue paint complimented Danielle's striking red hair. 

I want to re-make the dresses Esmaria, Danielle, Christine and Logan. I am a perfectionist and it bothers me that I had to use an unbeaded lace when the design called for a beaded lace, or charmeuse when the design called for chiffon. I also couldn't find just the right Guipure lace for Danielle. So I went with a crinkle pleat polyester. Looked great for the shoot but I would never put a bride in it! I use silk satin, charmeuse, chiffon and organza, and imported European laces. Double face silk satin is my favorite as you can get it to do most anything if you know what you're doing. I order fabric/material  from wholesalers on the West Coast, and I also scour NYC for laces and unique fabrics and  accoutrements.

The Vivienne dress was inspired by Angelina Jolie, well sort of. I was watching TV and heard that she gave birth to her twins Vivienne and Lyon. The moment I heard 'Vivienne,' I pictured a romantic off the shoulder wedding gown wrapped in silk taffeta and beaded lace appliques. I envisioned Angelina, with her perfect skin and long thick hair braided loosely to the side. I think I was more inspired by the name, in that it set off an image of the dress like word association. 

My creative process, don't know. I just sketch what I see in my mind and EDIT  like Tim Gunn says.  It is truly the most difficult part of designing.  I always end up with too many dresses and have learned how to weed out some for a nice balance of simple, structured, embellished, sexy.  Get rid of those that require fabric that would be difficult to source. 

I am admittedly parochial. While I love the idea of 'conquering the world,'  I get homesick and would be happy with my own little workspace in Boston, cranking out gorgeous wedding dresses, cocktail dresses and little girls dresses. I don't have visions of grandeur. I want to keep my own label and not owe anybody anything. I want to do what I want to do and don't do it if I don't want to. I think that maybe it's because I am getting older and my priority is not to take over the world and be a millionaire anymore, but to be happy and be able to pay my bills. Within the fashion industry, I would just like to be known as a Boston designer who creates beautiful dresses for bridal, cocktail and little girls."

As told to MBF by Noël Alvarez,

July 16, 2010