Lori Lyon 
of 

by Lisa A. Lawrence

Madeleine Rose Couture is named after Lori Lyon's five-year-old daughter.  Lori, born in Garden Grove, California, was the first-born in her family and has a brother who is three years younger. "I had a pretty average middle-class American life," Lori recalls, "Dad worked.  Mom stayed home and cooked, cleaned and sewed.  She used to sew us mother/daughter dresses and clothes for my Barbies.  We moved to San Marcos in North County of  San Diego when I was seven.  My father built the house I grew up in.  Now I live in Long Beach, California with my husband, my daughter, our two cats Wayne Alexander and Tiger, and our beta fish Bettina. (I know they are all male, but Maddie insists it's a girl fish)." 

"When I turned seven," Lori continues, "I expressed interest in sewing. My mom started to teach me to sew and that was it! I started sewing Barbie® doll clothes.  By the time I was in third grade, I was making my first granny dress to wear to school.  One Christmas I received a Tiffany Taylor® doll, (I still have her!), one of the first larger (19")  fashion dolls.   I  started designing and sewing clothes for her.  I used to watch the Sonny and Cher show and I would copy all of Cher's elaborate costumes. (Don't know what happened to those)."

"I graduated San Marcos High school in 1982. (Oh, no- -am I aging myself?)  I also attended one or two classes at  Palomar Junior College during my junior and senior years, then enrolled full-time after graduation.  My major? Fashion of course!  After about 3 years and not getting anywhere (well, I did win two awards in a fashion design contest), I found out about the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.  I applied and was accepted. So I moved up to Orange County to attend FIDM's South Coast Campus in the fall of 1985"  Lori adds, "I have been working retail sales since I was sixteen and have pretty much done it all concerning retail: management, merchandising, and visual display.  While I was attending FIDM, I worked at Charlotte Russe clothing store doing visual display.  It was like playing with dolls only, life size!"
 

Lori began collecting dolls in the Spring of 1998, starting with vintage reproduction Barbies.  "The wedding vintage repro Barbie redhead was my first collectible," Lori recalls. "A Red Flame brunette bubble-cut Barbie followed.  I had always looked at the collectibles but never bought any, and then when I started collecting there were some dolls that I wished I would have bought.  So my husband said, 'Oh, you can still get those!  Just type some words into an eBay® search!'  The rest is history.  He's probably sorry he turned me onto eBay, but I have made some money (as well as spent a lot!)  I have about forty to fifty dolls; half of them are Barbies, including Silkstones® and one Fashion Royalty®.  The rest are Tylers® and Sydneys® with four Genes® added to the mix."

"I've been designing for dolls for about three and a half years," Lori continues. "After seeing other artists selling on eBay, I started there in July of 2003.  I started thinking 'I can do that' and I started selling with a couple of Silkstone Barbie ensembles.  They sold, but not for much.  I did, however, receive some good responses from them.  Then I started seeing Tyler Wentworth around.  McCall's® had patterns and I became curious about her.  I already had a couple of Genes and was starting to sew for them, but I wanted a Tyler. So I bought a basic Signature Tyler and a RTW Glamour Tyler.  I really didn't care too much for the basic (I think it is the first Tyler made) because her hands were too big.  But I fell in love with the Glamour Tyler and the whole concept of Tyler and the House of Wentworth.  I noticed there weren't as many OOAKs offered on eBay for Tyler as there was for Barbie, so I decided to try sewing for Tyler.  My first ensemble sold for $99.  At that time, I couldn't believe it - - here was something collectors wanted!  Tyler is so much easier to sew for than Barbie.  Since then, I have continued sewing and selling for Tyler on eBay.  I have  recently built my own website, http://www.mrcouture.com/Index.html, where I also offer a few gowns for purchase."

Lori recently teamed up with  Denis Bastien of Affordable Designs®.  "I have been designing some patterns for his website." Lori states. "So far they have done quite well.  It is an exciting project and Denis is great to work with!" She also did a collaboration with Lyn Raftis. After Lori was chosen (one of twelve proposals) to participate in the Wish Upon A Star...With Brenda Starr Design Contest and Auction sponsored by Jones Publishing and Effanbee®, Lori received a Brenda Starr® doll to work with. She remembers, "Brenda looked like Cinderella but something was missing." I contacted Lyn to see if she would be able to enhance Brenda in time. We only had two weeks to get the doll done and back to Jones. Lyn was able to enhance her and added that sparkle to Brenda's eyes that helped transform her into Cinderella. I also contacted Chris and Bret of CJDollsetc. to see if they could create a pair of 'glass slippers'. They graciously donated a few pairs to choose from. Brenda Starr as Cinderella was on display at the 2004 Doll and Teddy Bear Expo East and received the Judges Choice Award.

Although Lori has started getting requests for commissions, she hasn't taken any yet.  "I may select a few to do this fall," she says. "I have had requests for a Victorian riding habit I sold on eBay.  I would do another riding habit again but would change it slightly to keep them OOAKs."

     Lori currently works 20-30 hours per week in retail, but has been trying to cut her hours in order to do more designing. While she currently only has time to work on her designs for 10-20 hours per week, she hopes to eventually spend all her time on her doll clothes design business.  While she intends her business to stay small and personal, she's not completely averse to the idea of consulting with an already established company!  (Tonner - are you listening?)

Asked about what inspires her, Lori replies, "I get inspiration from Haute Couture of the past, and old movies of the 50's and 60's. I love retro fashion.  It was so classy back then.  I also have been reading about fashion history (the 18th and 19th centuries) and am inspired by the historical fashion as well.  I keep a small sketch book in my purse so I can quickly jot down any ideas I may get.  For any historical design, especially the 18th-century gowns, I research quite a bit.  I always like to change the style a bit to make it modern, but I also like to keep certain details as authentic as possible."  Most of the time, Lori is inspired by the fabrics that she finds.  Occasionally, though, she'll have a design in mind and have to go out looking for the perfect fabric.

For the most part, Lori seems to be able to makes outfits fairly quick.  "The length of time for an outfit to be finished depends on the amount of time I have to do it." Lori notes. "Rouge took me one week since I was on a schedule to get it done for charity.  Sometimes I can get a gown done in one to two days, depending on the complexity and if I have a substantial block of time to work on it."

"When I am ready to do a new ensemble," Lori continues, "I'll refer to my sketchbook of designs (croquis) and one of the designs will stand out, shouting to be made!  (I am usually thinking ahead, so I know the next gown I will be making before I am finished with the last one.)  Most of the time, I already have fabric. (I am a fabric junkie - I buy it all the time.) Then, depending on the design, I either start draping on the Tyler form or will be able to adjust an existing flat pattern. From there I make a sloper and a sample to get the fit correct. I am starting to make slopers of all my designs so that I can use them in the future.  Once the fit is established, I make the tissue or final pattern and the prototype.  I am always playing things out in my head, so by the time it comes to sewing, I have already thought out  the construction."

Lori is also inspired by movies and actors.  "One o f my favorite movies is Pillow Talk," Lori states. "In it, Doris Day wears some of the chicest suits.  How to Marry a Millionaire is another favorite of mine that has some great fashion.  And of course, Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Audrey Hepburn was a classic beauty with style and grace, while Cary Grant was debonair, charming, and good looking."

Asked which part of the design process Lori likes most, she responds, "The part I love best is having a design on paper that all of a sudden you are creating and bringing it to life.  To have it actually become a garment that fits and flows:  a piece of miniature haute couture!"  While Lori spends a great deal of detailed time and effort on getting her patterns to fit perfectly,  she doesn't really enjoy doing so!  But, given the chance to just draw the designs and have someone else do the fit, patterning and sewing, Lori declines this option, noting that she loves the whole creative process and doesn't want to let go of any of it.

Lori always draws an outfit first so that she has something to refer to while going through the fit process.  "Usually these are just quick sketches in my sketchbook," Lori observes. "I've taken art most of my school years. Although I haven't practiced it for the last seventeen years, I am now trying to do some fashion drawing again.  Even after all these years, some things never completely leave you."

Lori finds that the Internet is a great source for materials but also notes that she's lucky that she lives in Southern California, where the Los Angeles garment district is close by.  While she currently uses Tonner® and Kingstate® shoes to accessorize her outfits, she has also purchased custom-made shoes on eBay.  Eventually, Lori would like to starting making her own doll shoes.  Lori recently had Madeleine Rose Couture garment labels made which will be sewn into all her future garments.  While she doesn't do story cards for her outfits, she does write out a small story for each of her OOAKs. 

Lori also takes great care in her packaging.  "I want my OOAKs to be collectible in or out of the box," Lori says, "so I have them on cardboard with cut-out shapes onto which the garments fit, similar to Gene packaging. That is placed in a box with tissue that wraps over it,with an organza ribbon tied on top and a small silk rose.  I place a customer satisfaction card on top of the tissue and then the lid of the box goes on.  On the top of the box, I have a fashion sketch of the design done in marker and the whole box is wrapped in tissue that will go into a shipper box.  Limited Edition gowns are wrapped in tissue with a band of vellum that says Madeleine Rose Couture wrapped around them.  Then they are placed in a plastic bag and in an appropriately-sized shipper box."

To advertise her outfits, Lori has a "first to know" mailing list.  Once those who have signed up on her list have been notified, she posts her outfits on the doll message boards, including Prego®.  Additionally, she has regular contact with many of her regular customers.

While Lori has not yet attended a doll convention, she does plan on going to the October Gene's Hollywood Memories® convention at the Biltmore in Los Angeles, since it is local for her.  Unfortunately for potential buyers, at this convention, she's just attending to get a feel for what conventions are like and doesn't plan to sell her outfits there.

Along with sewing and collecting, Lori's hobbies include scrapbooking with Creative Memories® and interior design.  Within the next few years, Lori hopes to be very well-known as a miniature couture designer.  By the time she retires, she hopes to be "lounging in luxury."

Maddie Rose & Lori