Sartorial
Y T U A B E
and the
By SALLIE W. BOYLES
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Photography by J O N A H A L L E N
ary Ellen DiMauro was only ten years old when the instrument of her life’s calling, a gift from her grandmother, appeared in a box beneath the Christmas tree: it was a sewing machine. “It lit a creative fire for me,” she says. She recalls how working with squares of fabric and their varied textures presented endless possibilities to her. “The feeling of making something with my own two hands and giving it to someone was pure joy for me.” She made “little purses” and eagerly gifted them to her family and friends. The lucky recipients responded with gratitude and praise, and from the encouragement of those around her, she boldly entered the world of commerce. “I would go door-to-door in the neighborhood and sell the purses I made,” she says. By the time she was fifteen, DiMauro, with her mother’s help, had a booth at the local market and craft fairs. “I just put myself out there,” she reveals. “I started 76 | JUNE 2019
thriving off the customer interactions, talking with people, hearing their stories, and seeing them get excited over what I created.” Her next step—majoring in fashion merchandising at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia—allowed DiMauro to “learn through doing the process.” While taking classes in studio art and retail entrepreneurship, she found a home for her designs in shops around Athens, a college town that has embraced local artists. Although she was selling accessories like tote bags and headbands, DiMauro had long been making clothing. “I grew up shopping at thrift stores,” she says. “I’d take down a garment to see how it was made—reverse engineering—and add ruffles or lace.
