My Mom the Rock Star

3 years ago, one year shy of turning 60, my Mom went back to school.

Yikes.

She's a brave woman...the thought of going back to school nearly sends me into convulsions, but she did it. Not only did she go back, but she went straight into a college program with 19 other students, most of them somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20 years old.

Egads!

But she did it. And this past weekend, the students showed their final collections at a fashion show at Museum London. Mom of course rocked it! We were disappointed after the show when she didn't win any awards, but found out today that she came in 2nd place overall, with less than 1% separating her from the winner! (Would have been nice of them to mention that on the night!)

Here's a little taste: Mom's bio from the program, and 4 out of the 5 pieces from her collection, which are STUNNING.Josie Jansen was an elementary teacher by profession but chose to leave that to raise her family. Her passion for sewing with fine fabrics was developed by a need to sew for herself in the days before stores carried ready-to-wear clothes for tall women. She is thrilled to be fulfilling a long standing goal of complementing outstanding sewing skills with the new found knowledge of fashion design. After losing her husband to cancer, she decided to fulfill that goal, with little background in art.

It’s been an amazing journey. While at times feeling conflict between schoolwork and keeping up with five young grandchildren, she is very happy with her ‘back to school’ experience and would like to thank the program’s professors for their patience and mentoring of this mature student.

New Again is a collection of special occasion outerwear coats for spring/summer 2011. A trend toward “taking products and ideas from the past and adding a contemporary filter” has inspired this collection. The classic coat style has been given a modern twist with decorative fullness, ruching, gathering, pleats, or tucks. Fabricated in fine fabrics of silk, wool and blends, there is edginess in the contrast of textures. The styling follows the trend of blurring the line between coats and dresses, for a target customer aged 45to 60.

Photos by Lee Mann Productions

(Cheer up, ladies! You're wearing some beautiful coats! Can I get you some shampoo? Maybe a sandwich? How about some makeup remover...will that help?)

(I don't get models.)

I digress.

What I'm trying to say here is: Congrats Ma, you rock!

If you happen to pick up the September edition of Flare Magazine, keep an eye out for the "Unbound" Magazine. It has a piece from all the designers in the class in it, and will be distributed nation wide.

My Mom, she's famous!

Edited to add: Flare Magazine calls my Mom "one to watch for!" in an article today on the Flare Blog - check it out!