Who is Tiffany?

Here is an interview with myself....

What do I do?

I would say I am an entrepreneur foremost. I had been forced into business research and management as a means to be an artist and fashion designer and to keep being able to create.
Now I enjoy wearing all the hats and have started thinking of the business aspect as art too.
I design clothing for my label Lady Like of vintage inspired clothing and sell on Etsy.
I paint and do fashion illustrations. I am a trained hairstylist too. I work out of my apartment now. I sing and write lyrics for me and my boyfriend's band. I also write poetry and and dabble in burlesque.
Lately I am also spending a lot of time working on this blog and enjoying it, I want to keep doing extreme makeover photo shoot parties like the one we did with Tessa and writing about people.
I like to do a lot of things, learn new things and come up with ideas.

What inspires you to do what you do?

People around me. I ask questions all the time to people. Also people walking down the street, their outfits and music culture. I devour fashion magazines, fashion history books, fashion photography books, how to books, business blogs and fashion blogs, home decor magazines and sites and doodle squished together outfits and ideas all over pieces of paper, front and back to save paper.
People making things happen; I have gotten a lot more inspired by others since starting this blog and opening up a dialogue about what gets them going... I have realized there are so many more people than I thought out there paving their own way and inventing their own lives and molding it into whatever they want it to be, doing whatever it is they love to do, their tenacity and passion and their lessons... that inspires me.

How did you get started?

My grandmother had a sewing room and made her own clothing. She has a very lady like style and a lot of vintage patterns and fabrics, I loved to hang out in her sewing room.
I was a vintage fiend out of necessity as a teen when you could get a garbage bag full of clothes for a few dollars. I always drew outfits I wished I had and day dreamed about what I wanted. I always drew and wrote poetry and escaped into music and my own world. Later my parents did the "go to university or else" tactic. I chose hair school because it was the most creative career I could get educated in and still remain in my home town. I used to doodle designs in my hair chair waiting for customers. Some roommates were in Montreal for the summer and came back raving it was the place for me and convinced me and brought me the forms to apply for fashion school. I did. I moved all by my lonesome. I didn't even know how to take the metro! I went to fashion school did design, did the industry stints, went back and did courses in fashion marketing and sales representation and started partaking in grant programs to start building my business and developing the necessary skill sets, to take command of my life and path. I also worked for the fabulous Nicole Picard of Fairyesque as a design/production assistant and learned a lot through her and her team. She is still my mentor and I am still picking her brain.

What is your current vice or obsession?

My current obsessions are blogging, excel documenting retail business research and marketing strategies, decorating and tweeking things in my apartment, walking around town, thrift shopping and balcony gardening. My current vice is a cold cold beer and a grassy spot under a tree in the park people /dog watching.

What advice would you give to others who are trying to make their ideas or dreams a reality?

I liked Gregory Peter Ryan's advice a lot. It hit home for me. I have spent a lot of time dilly dallying in planning phases to acquire funding and skills saying soon as I get (....) I will go bigger and he is absolutely right, Just do it, Just do it NOW, whatever you can do now towards your ultimate goals however small, just do it now. Embrace the lessons. The mistakes may happen and there will be walls but it is your life and the freedom that comes from going after what you love is the best part! Having a mentor has been a huge help for me and a group of people to spring board ideas off of. I recommend any kind of job experience, or interning or anything that gets you around inspiring people and exposed to lots of lessons.

What else would you recommend for inspiration?

I included a big list of blogs and resources on this blog, I started it as a visual for me to link to all the things I like to read that have helped me, I want to share what I ahve learned with everyone.

NOTE:

If you are in the Montreal area and want to be our next extreme make over model send me a message at tiffanyelton@gmail.com