BIOGRAPHY

After recovering from a B.A. in Theatre from Florida State University and an M.F.A. in Costume Design from the University of Miami, Lisa Micheels designed, stitched, fixed, and managed costumes in eight states for a series of theater companies. For nearly a decade she found herself living out of a costume bag from the East Coast to the West, sometimes braving one-night stands in Appalachia, other times stitching 18th Century waistcoats in Ashland, Oregon. Altogether it was a schedule so hectic that it took months to find time to marry the lighting designer of her dreams. Figuring anything was better than the nomadic life she was leading, she moved to Boston only to do hard time at a bridal dress company where they called her "girl", followed by a stint at a resident college theater company, where she was eventually asked to leave because she did not play well with others. At last, she found satisfaction in teaching costume history, and textile classes at The School of Fashion Design, in Boston, where she continually bothers her international students with questions about traditional clothing. She started her own business, Very Eclectic Clothing, in November 1992. Since then, her clothing and accessories have been featured in Ornament, The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, and other publications. She has won three Niche Awards in 1999, 2001, and 2002. Very Eclectic Clothing is sold in galleries and boutiques throughout New England, and across the country.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I find other cultures and history so fascinating that sometimes I think I should have been an anthropologist. I'm especially drawn to those that have been exploited, such as the Mayans of Central America or the Ainu of Hokkaido, Japan, as traditional clothing represents one of their few remaining connections with the past. My work borrows from different cultures and time in fabric, line, and detail -- partly as a tribute to the people who created them and partly as a way to educate others about the rest of the world. Also, traditional designs just work well for me and there's nothing philosophical about it. I combine selected traditional signatures with my own hand-painted silks, linens, and velvets, to achieve a new effect. I'll embellish a Burmese vest design with Egyptian scarabs, for example, or piece Chinese brocades, Indian sari silks, and hand-painted tussah silk into a Manchurian coat. Pieced silk scarves are etched with Korean calligraphy. I learned in the theater that you don't "make" a costume, you "build" one because it's got to last through hundreds of performances and frequent dry cleanings. And now that's how I "build" each original work -- to last. Everything is colorfast with buttons and beads sewn down tight. In fact, most of my stuff will withstand a nuclear blast.

Lisa Micheels
Very Eclectic Clothing
781-593-5664
lisa@veryeclectic.com