FLY GIRL CHRONICLES: GIRLS HEALTH SUMMIT- STYLE ME FLY DIY FASHION WORKSHOP

I was invited to facilitate a DIY fashion workshop for young girls at a wonderful event called the Girls Health Summit girlshealthsummit.com at Cleveland State University.  The event consisted of topics on everything from hair, skin, and beauty to healthy food and lifestyles and social media concerns.  I was asked to participate by Ali McClain, who heads up another great organization for girls called the Summer of Sisterhood, summer of sisterhood a (free!) arts based programs for girls on the west side of Cleveland. Last year I spoke to them about customizing clothes for their end of the summer performance and had so much fun talking them and giving them tips. The day of the performance (which was the bomb by the way, the girls wrote and played their own music, choreographed dances and skits- it was so cool!) some of them ran up to me and showed me the their very creative outfits lol.

 Anyway, Ali connected me to Steph Wahome, the organizer of the GHS event and they asked me to do something hands on with the girls. I jumped at the chance! Listen- I'm done having kids and my little boy is into the exact opposite of fashion (what's the opposite of fashion to a nine year old boy you ask? Dirt and dinosaurs!) so yeah, I can't wait until my goddaughter CoCo is of age to become my protege...

I had three different sessions with girls aged 10-17 and I didn't really know how to prepare. At first I was determined to get tee shirts for everybody, but time, money and- well mostly just money stopped those plans so I went back to the drawing board. I knew I wanted the girls to start with something similar and then walk away with a customized look that was totally their own to stress the importance of individuality and that it is okay and encouraged to be different.

I also wanted the girls to know that you can recreate anything you want without spending much money- just shop your closet and recycle items! So I went in that direction and decided to tell the girls to bring something from home that they didn't mind cutting up or painting over. Then I thought but oh no! What if they don't have a garment they want to mess up, or what if they forget to bring something? In comes my genius mother, my voice of reason who suggests that I just have them all decorate bags. I swear I love my mom, she has been supporting me from day one and always manages to iron out my half thought out schemes and dreams lol.

We went to Pat Catans and nearly bought the place out spending over $400 on supplies and although I asked them for a donation/sponsorship the best they could offer me was a $10 off coupon...( -_-) but it's cool. When I win my MTV person of the year award in the next 10 years, I probably won't mention them by name. Real talk.

So I spent the next two nights before the workshop trying out the different materials, making sure the glitter, feathers, and rhinestones would work with the bags and fabric swatches (a huge bag donated to me from Design Lab Inc. designers D.Hayes and Anton Z, aka two fashion angels in disguise) and then packing and repacking all the bags I knew I would have to carry.

Oh, this is one of many staged pics in the aisles lol.

My theme song of the day of course was none other than "Bag Lady" by Erykah Badu! 

Mixed media tote bag using fabric, felt, feathers, googly eyes, fabric marker, sharpie pens and paint. (For all my English nerds this is very "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"... Oh, its just me? Ok lol)

Another sample using glitter, rhinestones, stamps, stencils, fabric and sponge brushes.

I don't drive at all, so it was just me and all my bags travelling via transit to Cleveland State University where the summit was being held.  Of course I looked like a homeless bag lady lol (albeit a very fashionable one with a cute Betsy Johnson suitcase and Playboy duffel bags and overnighters) but hey, you gotta get it how you live!

I got there late and sweaty (yes I perspire in the winter-whatever), but super excited and immediately started to set up. I didn't have time to make everything pretty but I got it all out and nervously waited for my first group of girls to arrive. They were so cute and waited patiently for me to get all the boring stuff out the way (my name, background, a short speech on being different and a few DIY tips) and then went HAM on all the materials and supplies!

The first group only had like 15 minutes due to a scheduling conflict and you would have thought we were in the final minutes of a Project Runway challenge. I. AM. SERIOUS. There was glitter, glue, feathers and rhinestones flying everywhere as the girls got into their bags.  They interacted with me and each other while working on their designs. Some needed help getting started but most of them already knew exactly what they wanted and could not be bothered lol.

I had three different sessions and they all pretty much went the same way... me asking the girls questions about school, style and their life and I attempted to duck and dodge very direct personal questions from the mouths of babes.. "why don't you have any daughters?" Uhhh... "Do you have a boyfriend?" Well no- but..I have friends? Do you live by yourself? "Yes!" "But do you get lonely?" "Uhm-do you need more glue?"

 Lol I love the honesty of kids, they wanted to know everything about my lifestyle and couldn't understand why I refused to tell it all... By the end of the day I had worked with about 50 girls and I was drained but so pleased and surprised with the designs and creativity of these girls. They literally made something out of nothing and if that ain't inspiration- I don't know what is!

Magazine tear sheets I had in case the girls needed "inspiration". DID. NOT. NEED.

Nice and laid out, ready for the attack!

Me attempting to explain individualism and a few DIY tips.

The first group of girls choosing their supplies...

Our classroom was small and with close to 20 girls in each session it was a tight squeeze but they made it work!

I attempted to be organized but gave up that idea quickly and just let them go for it...

Hard at work creating masterpieces!

I did not get her name but special thanks to the lady that took photos for me!

I loved how they utilized all the materials available and how each bag showed their personalities.

Clean, classic, and girly! The dots reminded me of Kate Spade!

Loved that she also used the googly eyes!

Animal prints and rhinestones used in different ways...

The girls were so happy with their bags! I was too!

"Fashion is my game" and "Fashion is my life" Yaaasss!!

I hate to choose, but this was my favorite one! 

The girl on the right was the only one who wanted to paint her own garment, but I loved how all three got their Jackson Pollock on.  Minus the frustration of course lol.


I had the best time ever and would love to get into mentoring young girls.  I realized how much I love working with that age range and I am seriously considering doing these DIY fashion workshops more often, but I want to incorporate more talks of self esteem, self awareness and other things. Fashion and style is cool but it can all be so empty and vain without the proper context. Yes, of course I want everybody to be super fly, but that can't be it!  If I can get young girls to listen to me ramble on about loving yourself and not caring what other people think and more positive things while creating one of a kind pieces that makes my speeches a little more tangible then I'm all for it! But somebody needs to sponsor me cause I can't go broke on glitter and sequins lol...