Jamie Von Stratton – XPOSED

Name: Jamie Stratton
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Currently resides in: Seattle, WA
Specializes in: fashion/clothing design
Support her projects:
J. Von Stratton designs
J. Von Stratton Blog
The Atomic Bombshells Burlesque

Glamorous sci-fi costumes.  Classic wedding gowns.  Vintage cocktail dresses.  Flashy burlesque attire.  These are just some of the products you can expect from J. Von Stratton designs.  The creative mastermind behind it all is local Seattle designer Jamie Stratton, a fashion designer and Atomic Bombshells burlesque performer.   Northwest Xposure has long been a fan of Stratton’s  high-glam designs, having seen her work modeled in The Stranger’s first-ever fashion show and her latest national feature on Coco Perez.  We were curious to find out the roots of Stratton’s successful label, J. Von Stratton Designs, and where she hopes to take it.   On a warm summer evening, we met up at her Capitol Hill apartment.  Greeting us in a dazzling blue sequined number complete with a feather boa, Stratton led us to her living room, which doubles as her office.  Complete with full length mirrors on the east wall and racks of bright outfits and accessories, it was the perfect setting that spoke loudly of Stratton’s colorful personality.

The Atomic Bombshells Burlesque photo by JiJi Lee

NWX:  How did you arrive in Seattle?

Stratton: I was originally born in Utah, but I’ve been around this city since I was 8, so I call myself a native.  I’ve stayed here mostly because of family, and having grown up here, I’m used to it.  If you live in a city like Seattle that’s so nice and lovely and has access to the rest of the world, you don’t really move unless something is drawing you to other places.

NWX: Have you ever considered moving elsewhere?

I’ve traveled quite a bit, and I’m really grateful for the amount of traveling I’ve done.  I did live in Sweden for a while when I was 20.  The only other place I’ve considered moving to is New York, because in terms of the fashion industry, that would be more of the place to go.  Plus, a ton of my friends are out there.

NWX: How did you get started as a clothing designer?

My mom bought me a sewing machine when I was in high school.  I’d been doing musical theater and school plays, and needed to figure out how to use a sewing machine to sew some costumes.  They were terrible costumes, by the way.  But, I was really excited about them at the time.  I started honing in my skills in terms of learning how to first operate a machine and then become more experimental.  I was really into artists like Bjork.  I always really like what she was wearing, and I realized pretty early on in my teen years that I was never going to be able to afford her outfits.  So I decided that I had to learn how to make it, and I became relentless to pursue this need to fulfill everything in my head.  And finally I made it, after 8 years of sewing incessantly every day.  I’m always really happy with my skill set, and then I’ll learn something new and be like, “oh my god, this is revolutionizing the way I think about this!”  So it’s pretty fascinating how you can continuously learn new techniques about the medium that you’re working in.  I think that goes for most art forms.

Von Stratton working with a client

NWX: Are you self taught in sewing?

Yes, I’m completely self taught.  I started out with basic designs for handbags, pillows, and just square shaped things.  And then I would buy patterns at Jo-Ann and I’d make them out of crazy fabrics.  I learned a lot by altering things from thrift stores.  It helped to see how something was actually made and then experiment with modifying it.  It was a huge gateway for figuring out other creative options.

NWX: How do you pick up on new sewing techniques today?

I have a costumer friend who also works in town, he worked with the opera for 11 years, and he will tell me something about a certain technique they use for say the interfacing that they put inside of a shoulder or collar, and I’ll be like, “oh that makes so much sense!  I’m going to try that!”  Sometimes I’ll read about something or see something new and get inspired.  I’m pretty lucky that if someone just tells me something once, I can figure it out on my own.  That’s how I learned how to drape patterns; someone just told me what to do and I did it.  I still don’t understand why my interns study draping for several weeks.  I’m like, “it’s so easy! I can show you how in 20 minutes.”  Haha, you’re going to publish that and then I’ll take a draping class and learn something completely new that will make everything easier!  I’m just kidding.  I’ll eat my words if I’m wrong.  I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong.

NWX: Is clothing design a full-time job for you?

Yes, I do this full-time and I’m a performer.  Luckily, they go hand in hand.  Can you tell I’m a performer?  No, I hired my gay best friend to style me today.  [laughs]  I definitely make most of my living off of costuming, and it’s just so fun and exhausting.  You have to be very disciplined with your time.  I make my own costumes for my burlesque performances.  I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone make me anything.  I’m not opposed to it, but I’d definitely have it be someone I had confidence in.

NWX: How long have you been self-employed as a costumer?

Since around 2005.  I haven’t had a “real job” since around then.  So yay me!

Designed by Jamie Von Stratton. Photo by Adam Sneller.

NWX: What’s been the most challenging piece you’ve worked on?

Oh goodness, I’m always working on something and think to myself, ‘oh I have to remember this for the next time I get asked this question,’ but then I forget.  I’ve recently started getting Comi-Con requests, which oddly enough no one has really asked for before.  But I got asked by a gal who works for a company down in San Diego to make her Comi-Con costume.  To top it off, her costume was for a video game character she was actually going to meet at Comi-Con, so it was added pressure.  I’d never met or seen this customer before, and she just sent me measurements.

That kind of thing is always fun and challenging, and I really like it even though it’s also a bit of a fingers crossed situation too, because it’s hard to do something so highly stylized over long distance like that.  But that was a fun project and I hope to do more with her and some other people she knows.  There’s something really fun about taking a picture of a CGI game character and working on an outfit that doesn’t necessarily work in the physical world with wire and fishing line, and whatever you need to make something float or hold up on its own.  It’s a fun challenge. We’ll see what the future holds in the Comi-Con world for me.

NWX: Are most of your clients local?

Yes.  I have a few people who find me from out of state, and they just write me and send along their measurements.

NWX: What kind of costumes do you generally design the most?

I do a lot of burlesque costumes.  It’s fun to make something and then figure out how to make it tear off even though it looks like it’s not supposed to.  You’re almost creating an entire being of an outfit, because it’s not just a pretty dress.  It’s a pretty dress that also has a headpiece or undergarments, or things that reflect the outer piece in a smaller and different way.  So it’s like you’re creating an entire organism of something, like its innards and its “outtards.”  [laughs]

Stratton's design on display at Worn Out. Photo by Suzi Pratt.

NWX: Where do you see your costuming business going?

I want someone to give me 100 grand so I can start a proper company and hire like 10 of me.  The thing is, good seamstresses who know what to do are expensive, and I wouldn’t expect any less.  It is very project-based that way I do it now.  I have to find the quickest, most efficient way to make something that’s going to look good, fit well, and be good quality.  I don’t necessarily have the time to sit and draft the pattern and test the samples.  Ideally, in a perfect world, I’d love to get hired by somebody to design like an entire tour wardrobe for some cool pop star like Pink or Katy Perry.  Pop star tour wardrobes are like the best dang thing ever.  Of course, that’s one of those things where you gotta live in New York or LA and maybe know somebody.  But other than that, I’m doing fine here.  I’ll just be the burlesque costumer of Seattle.  There’s a few of us, but in my head, I’m the only one.  [laughs]

NWX:  Do you use social media to promote your business?

Well, I don’t do the Twitter.  I have Twitter, but I’ve posted like two status updates ever.  I have Facebook, but even my parents are on Facebook.  I mostly just post about cool shoes that I find, like anything by Jeffrey Campbell.  [laughs] Most people find out about me through word of mouth, or they see photos of my costumes on Facebook and then contact me.  I think this is the day and age where you hear about something, and then check it out online before committing to it.  So I guess I use social media to promote myself, but inadvertently.

A rack full J. Von Stratton designs

NWX: Who are some fashion designers you’re inspired by?

Ooh, this is a good list.  I love, of course, Alexander McQueen, Manish Arora, a crazy designer from London who works out of India, Louise Golden, although I haven’t seen her in the last couple seasons.  Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, who’s cartoony-crazy and similar to Jeremy Scott in a lot of ways in that he takes an idea and really just blows it out of proportion.  Oh and Viktor and Rolf, the wild ones.  Those are some that I really appreciate a lot.  I mean, I just don’t think I’ve ever watched a full Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren runway show in my life.  I’m not discrediting what they’re doing, but I’m sitting here in a blue feather thing and sequins with a circle of hair on my head, so what the hell do I know?  I know that that’s their idea of great American sportswear, but to me American sportswear is a great snooze fest.  God, that’s going to be quoted now..that’s okay, I’ll eat it. [laughs]

NWX: Not many girls or young women are growing up with a great knowledge on sewing.  What are your thoughts on the future of this craft?

Well I don’t mind the current status of sewing because if no one else can do it,  that means more business for me.  [laughs] I’ve always thought that, even though it’s a bit rude. I think that in the throwaway culture that’s been happening since the 80s, where you can get everything you need for $20 at H&M or Forever 21, that people don’t need to sew anymore.  And yet at the same time,  a lot of those clothes fall apart after several uses.  So there might be a backlash and increased desire for things that are made well and last longer.  Hopefully that means people seek out custom designers and fine tailors, or learn how to do make or mend things themselves.  So I guess we’ll see.  It seems to me like a lot of people sew, just because everything is so DIY.  But maybe that’s just in my crowd; I don’t really know what the average middle America folks are up to these days. I get a lot of people wanting to be my intern, but they don’t know how to sew and want me to teach them how to ‘make cool stuff.’  I’m like, are you kidding? It’s taken me over 10 years to figure out this stuff, and I’m still learning.  So I always tell these people to get themselves a $100 sewing machine, and go on to YouTube and watch the How To videos and learn how to sew straight lines, darts, basic things, and then go from there.  You have to think three-dimensionally.  The body isn’t just front and back, there are sides.  There’s a lot of people who think they can just sit on a sewing machine with no skills and just figure out how to make something.