Elizabeth Erwin gives the Southern Belle, a city attitude.
Elizabeth Frances Erwin is a third-year fashion student from Cedartown, GA. For the Apparel I course she took in fall 2018, her goal was to redefine the Southern belle stereotype with print matching and eye-catching silhouettes. Erwin wanted to stay true to her roots, reflect where she’s from and be inspired by her loved ones, especially her grandmother Vera Odom, who was an important detail when deciding what to create.
The Connector: What got you interested in fashion?
Erwin: When I was six years old, I would go over to my grandmother’s house and she would be sewing curtains and prom dresses for the town. Whenever I would go over she would be sewing and I would think, “Wow, that’s so cool!” She also had a big room with fabric that I would walk in and it would feel like shopping. I would pull these fabrics out and start to think what I can see out of it. Later, at ten years old, I learned to cut patterns and lay them down, and at thirteen, I started making pillow cases and dresses.
The Connector: What do you draw inspiration from?
Erwin: I am taking from my past and my childhood home which is the thing closest to me. I’m from a small town and got to the conclusion that you don’t really appreciate your surroundings until you compare yourself to others. I started to think about how I’ve never been out of the country and everyone else speaks different, if not multiple languages and are from places I have never heard of. I was trying to escape the Southern Belle but having the exposure to such a diverse student body, I was able to recreate that image with pride. My goal was to prove that the Southern belle can live in the city.
The Connector: What is the inspiration behind your garment?
Erwin: With my grandmother’s lung cancer diagnosis in the Spring of 2018, I started to visit her on weekends. In one of my visits to her house in the fall, we were looking at her old pictures and noticed the clothing she was wearing. In one of her images, she was wearing a green polka dot dress she made and I decided to make that print the base of my dress, the top part and the most important element in it. For the prints, I took ideas from Rudi Gernrich and the way in which he mixes them. He plays with the scaling of these so if the two polka dot print patterns were the same size, they wouldn’t go together. This helped me learn when I was matching. The whole dress was inspired from those pictures and all the fabric from the dress was given by her.
The Connector: Can we see your personality reflected in your designs?
Erwin: Yeah, it shows a lot because my dress has wrinkle free material which reflects how I’m always on the go. I wanted to create something that anyone could wear after a long day with comfortable shoes like sneakers. Also, the mixed prints are a strong aspect of who I am because I consider myself to be playful and serious but I still get the job done. One of the other important element would be the use of double-sided fabric so that when my customer wears the garment out on the windy streets, it shows both sides. It also ties to my ideal of being the same on the inside and adding a sense of high quality to the garment.
The Connector: What’s your favorite sewing technique used in the dress?
Erwin: The French seam, that’s when you put the two right sides of the fabric together and hides the seam, it’s something that is never done. Also, the rolled hem is my favorite because when you hold the bottom of the dress with both hands and point it upward, it creates a rose.
The Connector: How do you avoid repeating what has been done?
Erwin: I just think about my style and day in time but I keep in mind those iconic designers and the reason behind their creations. But I mainly design something I would enjoy the most. I can take the dress out anywhere, because it’s wrinkle free and that says a lot. I don’t use a lot of jewelry or makeup, so I wanted to express that on this garment when it looks like it carries a lot yet it has an essence of simplicity.
The Connector: What’s your favorite part of the whole process?
Erwin: Trying it on while I’m creating it! I can be anywhere and just being able to throw it on top of what I’m wearing to see it come to life each time. Also, choosing what prints I’m going to work with and deciding the design is a fun thing.
Photo by Becca Atrim. 
Photo by Becca Atrim.
