My Style Journey
I was raised by a beautiful Italian mother who had an impeccable sense of style. She would never leave the house without putting herself together. I was raised to always ‘present’ myself with beauty and class when in public, even if it was just running a quick errand.
My mother was a dynamic woman who tightly controlled our home – a true Italian matriarch. The one area that she allowed me free reign was in choosing what clothes to wear. Considering she was a talented dress maker and ran a successful business out of our house, I am surprised that it was in this area that she didn’t exert her typical strong influence.
In middle school we had home ed and one of the modules was sewing. Up to that point in time my mom always made my clothes. This was the turning point of me taking up the mantel, but I was not an easy student. I was head strong and had such a bad temper that very quickly my mom kicked me out of her sewing area. The rebel I was said, ‘Fine! I will teach myself!’ I would sew my little heart out in the evenings when she wasn’t around and then in the morning I would present my creation, accept the critique and make the necessary corrections in the evening when I could be alone again. I worked best figuring things out on my own and when I reached the limit of what I could figure out, I would be open to learning. Still am that way.
My father was a gentle soul who had many pursuits. One was designing beautiful custom homes. He had an innate sense of style, balance and design. In primary school he taught perspective drawing at a time when most kids were proud to accomplish a simple stick figure. I became known as ‘Elisa the artist’ thanks to him teaching me basic designs skills early on.
In high school I had an amazing art teacher who had us do a wearable art assignment. I fell in love with putting art on clothing and knew that is what I wanted to do when I grew up. In college I studied fine arts since developing as an artist was more important to me than being a fashion designer. My father also taught me basic entrepreneurial principles and with the combo of skills from both parents, I started Elisa Design’s. I went on to develop that business for over 18 years. It was a journey of success and self-empowerment. I learned that I could take care of myself.
The biggest joy during the years of Elisa Designs was watching women transform by wearing my creations. I realized early on the power of expression through adornment. Fast forward to today, I understand why that is so. As I developed the mystic within, the understanding of power through self-expression has grown.
Through the Rebel Crone I offer my services to help other women clear out the clutter of old self-concepts and age appropriateness, so that they can fully step into their new identity as crones. This includes adorning their new selves to best reflect the woman that they truly are.