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Throughout my adult life, I have taken on various roles related to wardrobe problem-solving. Whether working as a freelance fashion designer, stylist, or costume designer, I use the foundational skills I learned while studying fashion design at Blanche Macdonald to create solutions for my clients. To guide my workflow, I categorize my clients based on the work I will be doing with them: creation, alteration, sourcing, or styling. My process always starts by identifying the client's problem or goal and working with them to make their vision come alive, using my technical and creative design skills. I have encountered many clothing problems and built upon my problem-solving skills.
When working with clients to create a new garment, I have adapted design thinking into my problem-solving process involving consultation, analysis, brainstorming, sample-making (prototyping), fitting (testing), and final delivery. The consultation step is an information-gathering session for me and a chance to communicate and manage expectations. I listen carefully, ask detailed questions, and record what was said. I learned to conduct the analysis and brainstorming steps as a collaboration together with the client during the consultation. Then, I independently analyze the design problem and draft a few sketches.
For example, a client commissioned a swimsuit to show off her side body tattoos. First, I sketched her body, and she helped place her tattoos. Then, I drew a few garment sketches while she explained the limitations of off-the-rack designs. She needed full breast support and wanted to avoid straps covering her tattoos. As she explained, I interpreted, drawing sketches. Because tattoos cover ¾ of her body, I could not work around them. Therefore, I suggested using clear bra straps and showed her a sample, which she accepted. I drafted a pattern, widening the shoulder straps and planning for boning to support the tension from clear straps.
I learned the hard way to make an action to-do list to plan the steps to execute my projects so I remember everything during the process, which helps estimate costs. I undercharged on many projects because I did not explicitly count the steps or consider the time and effort it took accurately. I needed to remember to consider the time-consuming steps: shopping at the fabric market, cutting out patterns and fabric, and troubleshooting issues with my sewing machine. Next, I meet with the client again to finalize the design details, material, and estimated costs and set a timeline for the first fitting. My tattoo client needed a 4-way stretch Lycra to ensure a quality, comfortable fit because only two-way stretch would snap the threads when she moved. Shopping for fabric, I chose a heavier-weight Lycra for better support. A thinner fabric would have been too stretchy and caused her breasts to droop, even if it was tight enough. To avoid that, I also bought a power mesh (used for bra making) to support her breasts but not squish or distort them. She fell in love with an aqua I already had a sample of.
Experience has taught me that achieving perfect results at the first fitting is unrealistic. Repeating the sample and fitting process is essential to refining the design and fit. Although I was taught to use mock fabric in nude for the sample because it was cheaper, I discovered that using the desired material was better because it behaved exactly as it would in the final design, gave me practice, helped the client imagine the final product, and was not much more expensive. I did two samples for my tattoo client before her final version, altering the pattern and testing different clear straps to improve fit and design. Repeating the process helped hone my skills and produce a high-quality result.
A project I worked on that exercised my problem-solving skills was creating Lycra costumes with embedded LED lights for a dozen dancers (4.1: True Spin Dance Video of LED Costumes). The most challenging aspect of the design problem was how the placement and integration of the electronic components went into each garment while allowing the dancers flexibility. Other technical elements were that the design had to be durable enough to withstand the usage of the dancers, and the components had to be removable to launder the garments. I worked through the solution by taping the cool lights onto a dancer to adjust the ideal placement when moving. Consulting with the dance leader, he taught me that the lights must be immobile, and I realized the wires had to be flexible enough to connect around moving joints. My design solution was to create a fabric tunnel to hold the lights in the limbs and body and route the wires to the battery pack above the tailbone. This decision was to keep the wires in place but still allow a small range of movement, which worked.
Repeating the sample and fitting process was paramount to my success. I found sewing Lycra difficult because it tends to move and shift during cutting and sewing. The stretchy nature of the fabric can cause puckering, warping, or distortion. To avoid these problems, I practiced using a gentle hand and pinning pieces together with long sharp pins, but the thread kept breaking. I discovered the key to making a Lycra garment durable but flexible was using stretchy thread, which a supplier introduced to me at the fabric market.
When fitting the dancers, I learned to make the wire a little longer than the dancer’s range of movement because the shorter wires kept disconnecting. I also noticed the battery pack pouch needed a closer fit, secured with Velcro, to avoid unnecessary shifting, which could also cause a disconnection. Once the design was finalized, I had the challenge of grading the pattern into 12 sizes. I used the same leggings design to save time and effort because the lower body was less visible. To create the pattern, I made a base size each for men and women, then graded sizes in different colors on top. I differentiated the tops into four styles (two colorways, one for each sex) to help distinguish the two teams. In the first pattern, I cut the pieces apart, traced them onto another piece of paper, added seam allowance, then cut them out again. I realized this was time and labor-intensive. To be faster, I learned to use a master pattern by placing a piece of paper on top to trace individual pieces off, then adding seam allowance so I only cut once. I retained my master pattern to adjust fit or make more copies or sizes.
A lesson I have learned over time when styling clients or doing a fitting was to compile and refine a stylist tool kit to help me solve clothing problems when working on set or out of my studio. During my days at The LAB, I carried a pouch with measuring tape and scissors to a fitting. Whenever a problem arose, I would wish I had brought something to help and added it to the pouch for next time, growing over time. School of Style sent me a welcome kit full of useful items. However, I eventually learned I did not need the gimmicky extras and edited these items to the essentials.
My current kit (4.2: Stylist Kit Diagram) reflects the insights I have gained from hours of experience solving wardrobe problems with different clients. To note a brief list of solutions, I realized that duct tape works better than a lint roller for pet hair (and takes up less space!), and pipe cleaners are multifunctional (organizing racks, safeguarding accessories in transit, reconfiguring bra straps). Toupee tape is the best for securing clothing to the skin (no nip slips!). After a few years, I balanced being prepared and carrying too much.
Lastly, I learned the importance of recognizing when I could not (or would not) solve a client’s clothing problem and the value of referring clients to other professionals when necessary. As a freelance fashion designer, I often received requests for alterations, which were more of a tailor's job and not cost-effective for me. Instead of refusing to help, I wanted to empower my clients to find their solutions. I wrote an article for a local magazine describing how to use a tailor in Taipei (4.3 "Behind The Seams" Centered Magazine May 2018 Article) with tips, tricks, and examples of what problems a tailor could solve. I referred clients to read it and linked to my favorite team of tailors, which I added to Google Maps. This solution was beneficial for both my clients and me. My clients got their clothing altered by a professional tailor specializing in alterations, resulting in better quality work and a cheaper solution. I got to focus on my preferred job of creating and collaborating on new designs instead of spending valuable time on alterations. Additionally, the article helped establish me as an expert in the Taipei fashion scene and someone who cares about fixing clothing problems.
These experiences taught me that problem-solving requires careful planning, observation, the humility to adapt and learn from mistakes, and determination to find a solution. Two things I tell myself about challenging problems are that every problem is an opportunity for a creative solution and that I can do hard things.
Evidence in Support of Problem-Solving and Decision-Making:
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