Jennifer Butler is the owner and fashion designer behind Jennifer Butler Made to Measure on the Post Road in Fairfield. We've never met in person, but I've been admiring her and her designs for children (examples from her new Spring line shown above), women and men ever since I attended her Fall fashion show in September. She kindly agreed to an email interview, so read on to hear all she has to say about fashion, food and Fairfield County. Don't miss her upcoming Spring fashion show this Thursday, February 28th at the Fairfield Theater Company. Click here for tickets.
Q:Tell us about a typical day for you.
A. My cat wakes me slightly before dawn by touching my face, then screaming if i don't get up and feed him. That's how i drag myself to the gym everyday-fear my cat will wake my children before dawn, but it works. I come home, pack lunches, get Olivia (age 7) on the bus, my husband drops Hazel (age 3) at pre-school, or 2 days a week she comes in with me for a few hours, then her sitter picks her up. I'm open until 6pm, cutting, fitting, designing, managing things, wondering what i was thinking opening the store-just kidding- i love it. Then they both get dropped off to me. I squeeze another hour or so in, (I found they are much mellower if they come to me, than if I'm coming home 'late', at 7:30, and they're wired and waiting) and we head home and do dinner and bedtime. I'm a bit of a night owl, so I hang with my husband or catch up on work, email all the people i never see because I work all the time.
Q. In your down time, what do you do with your kids?
A.The bummer of being me is I work 6 days a week, so we don't have a lot of downtime. Sundays are it. When the days are longer and there's no school, we hit the beach or playgrounds. My husband works Saturdays, too, but at night, so the girls and i tend to walk down the street and rent a movie at Media Wave (a video store at 1596 Post Road, Fairfield) where everyone is nice and knows what you're talking about and we have a chick night. We often go to other friends' houses and visit, or have friends over. We're also library hounds, but our favorite place to go is the Downtown Cabaret Children's Theater in Bridgeport. We love it. We're pick-per-show ticket holders, so we go to all of them, but play it by ear on the date in case I have to work or there's a birthday to attend. We also see Dan Zanes whenever he's in the tristate area.
Q: What's your favorite restaurant in Fairfield County for family dinners?
A: We pretty much never eat out. I cook for them most nights. It's our family time
Q: What's your favorite restaurant for civilized dinners (date night)?
A: What is this 'date night' you speak of? Seriously, we almost never go out to dinner. We usually go out for music, when someone we like is touring. One of the reasons I'd like to raise money for the Fairfield Theater Company is because I have this fantasy I will not have to drive to Manhattan or New Haven for the rest of my life to see a decent band, and I can use that $30 per night in driving/sitting towards college. But we did go to Sarabande in Fairfield for Valentines Day, since the romantic lighting made me look less like Eddie Munster, (re: night owl backlash)and the food is great, but that's only because I couldn't get tickets for the Gutter Twins at the Bowery Ballroom.
Q: What's your favorite thing about living and working in Fairfield County?
A: I love the proximity to New York without the hassle. There is an edge of sophistication without the attitude. People here 'get' what I do, but they also don't live and breathe it. I love that I can run the trails behind my house if i can't make it to the gym, but I'm not in the middle of nowhere. I can go to the beach after work in 2 minutes. I can send my kids to school and not worry all the time. I have made some of my closest friends here, male and female, and they are all very far from suburban cliches.
Q: Where do you shop for your kids every day clothes? or do they wear your fabulous creations every day?
A: With the exception of a few Old Navy hand me down stragglers on Hazel, they only wear my clothes, or they're out of the family. Seriously, they're about to turn 8 and 4, so I'm taking advantage of the fact they don't want the latest Abercrombie tiny prostitute outfit. I'm sure that will all change someday, but I'm hoping they run with the individuality thing and create their own clothes. Check back in a few years and see if I'm in an asylum.
Q: What's your favorite Spring trend in kids' fashion?
A: This year, I really, really love what I've done. Lots of white, tomato red and black accents - like if the white stripes were actually still married, and had kids. And lots of greens, blues, and yellow. Clear, clean and fresh. I know everyone is not going to spent $38 on a kid's skirt, so my stuff better be amazing. I love making kids clothes. I have to be cut off at showtime "No Jen, we don't need another girl in a dress" "but it's soooo cute!!" All my summer everyday stuff goes in the wash, so it doesn't seem precious to me. Honestly, you know they're going to get ice cream on it or fall down in it. I try to make stuff to hide the food stains or handle color safe bleach. Good design should be a part of everyday life.
Q: Do your kids influence your designs?
A: Always. Olivia loves yellow. I would never have used it if not for her. She just came up with the idea of snap off organza sleeves on a dress so it could have short sleeves and long sleeves. She also combined a chartreuse knit cardigan with red trim for her, pink for her sister, and blue green color blocked skirts. She amazes me. Hazel is obsessed with changing her clothes. As soon as she comes in she says "Can I try something on?" If I say "Not now", it's like i told her there's no Santa. And she's into 'straps' which means anything sleeveless, even in winter. If you come into the store, it is highly possible to find her in a flower girl dress in the middle of the day.
Q: What's your favorite Spring trend for women?
A: Dresses and waistlines. I wore a lot of dresses last summer, and a few dresses this winter, and I loved how easy it was to get going. Fixed waistlines are tricky on some people, so more work for me, but i love how pulled together it looks, and powerful. Like a sheath with a jacket for work, or a fluid dress for a less strict environment. I'm also doing a lot of strong blues, and lots of greens, and some red, and orange of course, and a lot of white.
Q: Fill in the blank. You should visit Jennifer Butler Made to Measure because .... I offer a different view point, but gear it to the individual. It may look like a page in W, but it comes from a working mother. What you wear affects how you feel. If you put on a great fitting, gorgeous dress, you're going to feel great. If you have a cool skirt to throw on with a tank that you could wear to the playground with your kids at sunset, or wear to dinner in the city, run into your ex-boyfriend and not feel 'what happened to hot me?' I think a lot of women have too much on their plate. If I can make them a few great things to get them through their very busy days, I've done my job.
Q:Tell us about a typical day for you.
A. My cat wakes me slightly before dawn by touching my face, then screaming if i don't get up and feed him. That's how i drag myself to the gym everyday-fear my cat will wake my children before dawn, but it works. I come home, pack lunches, get Olivia (age 7) on the bus, my husband drops Hazel (age 3) at pre-school, or 2 days a week she comes in with me for a few hours, then her sitter picks her up. I'm open until 6pm, cutting, fitting, designing, managing things, wondering what i was thinking opening the store-just kidding- i love it. Then they both get dropped off to me. I squeeze another hour or so in, (I found they are much mellower if they come to me, than if I'm coming home 'late', at 7:30, and they're wired and waiting) and we head home and do dinner and bedtime. I'm a bit of a night owl, so I hang with my husband or catch up on work, email all the people i never see because I work all the time.
Q. In your down time, what do you do with your kids?
A.The bummer of being me is I work 6 days a week, so we don't have a lot of downtime. Sundays are it. When the days are longer and there's no school, we hit the beach or playgrounds. My husband works Saturdays, too, but at night, so the girls and i tend to walk down the street and rent a movie at Media Wave (a video store at 1596 Post Road, Fairfield) where everyone is nice and knows what you're talking about and we have a chick night. We often go to other friends' houses and visit, or have friends over. We're also library hounds, but our favorite place to go is the Downtown Cabaret Children's Theater in Bridgeport. We love it. We're pick-per-show ticket holders, so we go to all of them, but play it by ear on the date in case I have to work or there's a birthday to attend. We also see Dan Zanes whenever he's in the tristate area.
Q: What's your favorite restaurant in Fairfield County for family dinners?
A: We pretty much never eat out. I cook for them most nights. It's our family time
Q: What's your favorite restaurant for civilized dinners (date night)?
A: What is this 'date night' you speak of? Seriously, we almost never go out to dinner. We usually go out for music, when someone we like is touring. One of the reasons I'd like to raise money for the Fairfield Theater Company is because I have this fantasy I will not have to drive to Manhattan or New Haven for the rest of my life to see a decent band, and I can use that $30 per night in driving/sitting towards college. But we did go to Sarabande in Fairfield for Valentines Day, since the romantic lighting made me look less like Eddie Munster, (re: night owl backlash)and the food is great, but that's only because I couldn't get tickets for the Gutter Twins at the Bowery Ballroom.
Q: What's your favorite thing about living and working in Fairfield County?
A: I love the proximity to New York without the hassle. There is an edge of sophistication without the attitude. People here 'get' what I do, but they also don't live and breathe it. I love that I can run the trails behind my house if i can't make it to the gym, but I'm not in the middle of nowhere. I can go to the beach after work in 2 minutes. I can send my kids to school and not worry all the time. I have made some of my closest friends here, male and female, and they are all very far from suburban cliches.
Q: Where do you shop for your kids every day clothes? or do they wear your fabulous creations every day?
A: With the exception of a few Old Navy hand me down stragglers on Hazel, they only wear my clothes, or they're out of the family. Seriously, they're about to turn 8 and 4, so I'm taking advantage of the fact they don't want the latest Abercrombie tiny prostitute outfit. I'm sure that will all change someday, but I'm hoping they run with the individuality thing and create their own clothes. Check back in a few years and see if I'm in an asylum.
Q: What's your favorite Spring trend in kids' fashion?
A: This year, I really, really love what I've done. Lots of white, tomato red and black accents - like if the white stripes were actually still married, and had kids. And lots of greens, blues, and yellow. Clear, clean and fresh. I know everyone is not going to spent $38 on a kid's skirt, so my stuff better be amazing. I love making kids clothes. I have to be cut off at showtime "No Jen, we don't need another girl in a dress" "but it's soooo cute!!" All my summer everyday stuff goes in the wash, so it doesn't seem precious to me. Honestly, you know they're going to get ice cream on it or fall down in it. I try to make stuff to hide the food stains or handle color safe bleach. Good design should be a part of everyday life.
Q: Do your kids influence your designs?
A: Always. Olivia loves yellow. I would never have used it if not for her. She just came up with the idea of snap off organza sleeves on a dress so it could have short sleeves and long sleeves. She also combined a chartreuse knit cardigan with red trim for her, pink for her sister, and blue green color blocked skirts. She amazes me. Hazel is obsessed with changing her clothes. As soon as she comes in she says "Can I try something on?" If I say "Not now", it's like i told her there's no Santa. And she's into 'straps' which means anything sleeveless, even in winter. If you come into the store, it is highly possible to find her in a flower girl dress in the middle of the day.
Q: What's your favorite Spring trend for women?
A: Dresses and waistlines. I wore a lot of dresses last summer, and a few dresses this winter, and I loved how easy it was to get going. Fixed waistlines are tricky on some people, so more work for me, but i love how pulled together it looks, and powerful. Like a sheath with a jacket for work, or a fluid dress for a less strict environment. I'm also doing a lot of strong blues, and lots of greens, and some red, and orange of course, and a lot of white.
Q: Fill in the blank. You should visit Jennifer Butler Made to Measure because .... I offer a different view point, but gear it to the individual. It may look like a page in W, but it comes from a working mother. What you wear affects how you feel. If you put on a great fitting, gorgeous dress, you're going to feel great. If you have a cool skirt to throw on with a tank that you could wear to the playground with your kids at sunset, or wear to dinner in the city, run into your ex-boyfriend and not feel 'what happened to hot me?' I think a lot of women have too much on their plate. If I can make them a few great things to get them through their very busy days, I've done my job.
1 comment:
I've been buying from Jen for years, and as you can tell from this interview, she's not only a talented designer, she's also a hoot. I wore a pair of wool slacks she fitted me for two years ago and they were as perfect today as they were back then. I love her sales too - I use them to pick up pieces that really make an outfit. I can't wait to wear the amazing jacket I got a few weeks ago to her fashion show. I've already found ample opportunity to show it off. See you at the show!
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