Poetry: Spa State Park

KIDS’ CORNER

Camp Rocks

Saratoga Springs is known for many things—horse racing, performing arts, history…the list goes on. But fashion design? Not so much. Sure, we have Staci Snider, Saratoga’s resident high-end design guru, but beyond her Congress Street shop, not much clothing actually gets made here in the Spa City.

In a few years’ time, that could all change, thanks to the efforts of Arlene Kay, owner of Buffalo-based company Fashion Lab NY, which teaches children, teens and adults the art, science and business of fashion. Last year, Kay hosted two week-long fashion camps for children ages 8-12 at Saratoga Paint & Sip Studio, and plans to return to Saratoga for two more camps this summer. “The campers get to be designers for a week,” says Kay, whose son lives in Saratoga. “We teach them how designers get inspiration, how to create mood boards, fashion illustration, how to design a collection, and then ultimately they learn to sew.” At the end of the week, campers model bags, hair accessories and a pair of shorts or a skirt—all of which they’ve created themselves—in a fashion show put on for family and friends.

“The camp not only teaches kids sewing and the path to becoming a fashion designer, but it teaches them such great skills,” Kay says. “Sewing is math, sewing is reading, sewing is patience, coordination.” And so a decade or two down the line, when these campers come of age, what will Saratoga be known for? Horse racing, performing arts, history…and maybe, just maybe, its cuttingedge, home-grown fashion scene.

lab work Campers

at 2021’s Saratoga Fashion Lab camp. Visit fashionlabny.com for more info on 2022 camp dates and rates.

witt the times John Witt’s home

boasts two upstairs bedrooms en suite, with features including a cozy window nook and (below) a soaking tub and heated flooring.

–NATALIE MOORE

ON TREND

The Suite Life

photography by RANDALL PERRY

One home design trend that’s sweeping the area is making sure that we all have a little more privacy. This movement, toward making every bedroom a “suite,” is being spearheaded locally by John Witt, president of Witt Construction.

“The biggest trend right now is making every bedroom with an en suite bathroom,” Witt says. “If a home has three bedrooms, all have a bath.”

Witt’s own home, which was displayed last fall in the Saratoga Showcase of Homes, has a junior suite near his master upstairs (in effect creating two master suites) for visitors to stay in, and a suite downstairs that offers guests even more privacy, “The lower-level guest suite,” he says, “is for guests that like their space.”

Some couples are taking this “two master suites” trend one step further and spreading out into two separate hisand-hers bedrooms. One recent home Witt built on an 85-acre lot in Wilton exhibits this beautifully. “He snores, and she wanted a bigger closet,” Witt says. The result? Two master bedrooms with a sprawling master bath in between— and a happy, well-rested couple who never fight about closet space. –ABBY TEGNELIA