Continuing with the series of interviews that I started conducting last years with different indie designers, it is time to introduce everyone to Katie, the creator of the wonderful Dutch brand Summer Tales Boutique, one of my favourites since they launched their first design in 2015. from the Dutch Masters collection, with a spectacular dress in which 'De Nachtwacht' was displayed, one of my most admire paintings by the master Rembrandt.
Summer Tales Boutique shop and studio are located in Houten, a charming little town in the Netherlands where Katie was born and raised. Although she lives nowadays in Zeist with her fiancé and their adorable dog Odie, she goes there frequently to work and design fabulous ideas for her next collections, which normally are heavily influenced by art and history, creating limited releases of their collections and also a vast assortment of matching accessories and garments that are available year-round. As Katie likes to say, they create for elegant and outspoken souls!
We talked with Katie about her daily routines within Summer Tales Boutique, how she came with the idea of the brand and even about sustainability and consumption habits. Let the rays of sunshine warm your heart and join us in the Summer Tales...
♥ You're a well experienced Lolita, but how and when did the interest in Lolita fashion arise in you? Which previous references did ou had before?
Alternative fashion is something that has been part of me for a long time now. I was always dabbling in different (clothing) substyles in my teen years, but nothing felt truly me. Regular fashion was boring, goth was too dark for my taste, and so on.
It was during high school that I was knee-deep into manga and anime and it didn’t take long before I came across Lolita fashion. It really sparked my interest, a clothing style that I felt really resonated with me. A lot of initial inspiration came from the Japanese brands and what they were bringing out as well as the styling in the GLB’s for reference. At that time it was super difficult to obtain items, but at age 17 I travelled to Japan with my mum as a graduation gift. That’s where I really fell in love with the style, seeing the shops, the brands, people on the streets wearing it.
♥ At what point does the idea of creating your own brand come up?
It was a bit before my trip to Japan when I was 17. At that time I already wanted to wear Lolita fashion, so I was looking up different places on where to buy it. It was super difficult to get anything and expensive as well, certainly at that age. It was then that I tried making a few accessories. My mum is very experienced at the sewing machine, she used to make porcelain dolls by hand and matching outfits, so we had the tools at home. When I finished a bunch of accessories it was my mum, who is also a businesswoman at heart, asked me why I didn’t try and sell them? And soon I participated as a vendor at a local event.
After my trip to Japan and getting my very first Lolita items, I also stumbled upon a bit of a problem. Me being quite a tall Dutch woman, which we are by average, didn’t quite fit all the dresses that well. It was then that I also wanted to create garments that are also accessible by people of different sizes.
In the following years, I combined studying (in a totally different direction than fashion, Animal Husbandry, to be honest, I wanted to start my own stable with breeding and selling sport horses) and running this small shop/hobby on the side. After graduation I made the choice to really step up my game with the shop, I rebranded to Summer Tales Boutique, got registered as a business and continued my journey.
♥ Your designs are made with great delicacy and skill, in a very professional way ... Where did you learn to pattern and design? Did you receive any kind of training for it?
Most of my initial knowledge of sewing is taught by my mum, I could borrow her sewing machine at first and try out different things. Initially, I only made hair accessories and wrist cuffs (although, totally different than how I make them now) and gradually tried my hand at skirts, capes and aprons until trying to make dresses. To tell you a little secret, I still have my first handmade skirt in my closet, too wonky to ever see the light of day, but I can’t let go of it either.
Improving my sewing and patterns skills was a matter of doing it a lot, making mistakes and hours and hours of puzzling and trying and puzzling and trying. What has helped me a lot was when I started collecting more and more Lolita dresses in my own wardrobe, I could examine them and see how they are made. It was my goal to have the same quality garments of Japanese brands, so I started investing in a proper sewing machine and overlock machine.
Often people ask me if I have studied fashion design. Looking back in time I sometimes wish I could take a different path and enrol in a fashion design school. But, didn’t this particular path take me here?
♥ I totally agree and, to be honest, your designs don't have anything to envy Japanese brands, since the finish is exquisite and the ideas that you use are always very interesting. Where does the inspiration to create your pieces come from? Is there an influence that is present in all your designs and is it the base of your creative pyramid?
Yes totally! The biggest influence on my designs come from art, history and historical garments. That is a bit of the basis of where I create, especially when it comes down to our Dutch Masters Collection. When I see a painting that hits a certain snare with me, the cogs inside my head start turning on how to translate this piece to a garment. I just really like the idea of taking a piece, that is often only on display in a museum, and translate it into a garment so it can enter the wide world. It’s like taking the art outside of their four walls and into the open.
What is also a big influence is seeing my friends, our local community and the online community being creative with their coordinates. I also niched down on the style I like to create, down to classic, gothic and a hint of old-school Lolita.
Not too sound selfish, but when I make a design I will always ask myself: ‘Is this something I would personally like to wear?’. In the past, I would sometimes answer ‘No’ to this question because it belonged to a substyle I didn’t enjoy wearing as much. But in the end, I didn’t enjoy making those items as much as those who I did want to wear. That way I can pour more love and passion into the project and stay motivated along the way.
♥ When it comes to daily work in Summer Tales Boutique, what's your routine?
Well, any day should start with a nice cup of black filter coffee in my opinion!I have a trusty bullet journal that comes with me to the studio and that holds my tasks and to-dos. At the beginning of the week, I always like to sit down, do a braindump and then filter out my priorities. What are the tasks I really need to accomplish at the end of the week? If I’m unsure about my priorities I like to look back at the goals I’ve set to help me decide.
Then I make a rough schedule for each day in a way that I can tick those boxes off if the task is done! This may sound really structured, but it gives me a lot of rest in my head if I don’t constantly have to think about all the tasks that need to be done. And to be honest, it’s a process of making mistakes and learning from them. I have a tendency to plan my days a bit too tight and not always being honest to myself in how much time certain tasks take. This results in overworking and setting promises I can’t stick too. It’s a work in progress!
When I’m in the sewing studio I like to batch work my sewing as much as possible. This saves time when working on multiple items and gives me the opportunity to really focus on one task. One of my favourite tasks when making items is the gathering of fabric or lace. I love pinning down the material and gathering it.
The mornings are usually where I plan the more difficult tasks and I like to do more mundane tasks in the afternoon.
♥ Ok, let's get a little bit technical... How is the process of creating an STB piece, from the initial sketch to the final result?
When we create a new collection the thought process starts early on. This is already happening when we’re still working on a previous collection. When we want to add a new chapter to our Dutch Masters Collection I like to visit museums and research with books.
When we’ve decided on a new piece I start designing the fabric on my laptop. Translating a painting to a dress is just as much a mathematical thing as a designing process since you need to have the dimensions right and imagine how the end result will look.
Once I've done this, I take my sketchbook and a regular mechanical pencil and start sketching out the different cuts for the collection. I usually design two dress cuts and one skirt cut for a collection. We’re a small sewing studio so we have to take into account that for every design cut we also need to make initial samples. ‘Killing your darlings’ also happens in this stage, since you usually end up with more design ideas then you can execute. We choose which ones we like best in regards to the print. Then we can calculate our fabric usage and send the order to our printing company, which is also located in The Netherlands.
Usually, printing takes between 4-6 weeks, which gives us a bit of time to already draft the patterns and do a few smaller projects in between. After the fabric arrives we make it into sample pieces we can use to make the product photography. Normally, these pieces will also come along to us to events to showcase in fashion shows.
Then it’s time to open up the pre-order! After collecting the orders, that’s where the real grinding begins. For our last collection ‘De Nachtwacht’ we sold out our spots really quickly and then we knew how much pieces we needed to produce. We can order the right amount of fabric and get to work. Production usually takes between 2-4 months and after that, we send out these babies to their new homes!
♥ That is an interesting process when it comes to the Dutch Master's collection, but have you considered to draw by yourself for a print? What about a collaboration with an artist, would you like to do that?
To be honest this is an idea I've been playing with for a bit! For most of my high school days, you could find me drawing, secretly in the back of the class or more upfront with art projects. For the last couple of years, I haven't drawn as much anymore, since sewing is a creative outlet for me as well. However, I really enjoy it to wind down when I’m at home.
When it comes down to designing for Summer Tales I really enjoy drawing designs for new accessories and garments. I also have collected quite a few print ideas in these sketchbooks but I often feel insecure about making them a reality. I’m mostly impulsive from nature, so when I have a design I want to execute it and won’t think too long about all the obstacles. Unless it comes down to designing a print, then I’m an unrealistic perfectionist. So that is holding me back a bit, but it is a goal of mine to also add my own hand-drawn prints to our collection. For instance, a few years back we had the ‘Summer Tales Library’ collection, made with a printed fabric with books we could buy from our wholesaler. I would love, with my background as a librarian, to make design a book print featuring interesting book spines and covers.
I would also love a collaboration with an artist, that’s a great way to support the strong points of each other! And for the final thoughts on this subject, there are such amazing (indie) brands out there making their own iconic prints so they are very inspiring to me. They really motivate me to pursue more with my own artwork. So thank you Lady Sloth, Violet Fane and Peppermint Fox (to name a few).
♥ When it comes to the materials that you use, how do you make the selection? Is there any kind of material that is a big “NO” for you?
So in our studio, we have two main sections of materials, fabric and lace. For fabrics, I really, really prefer if I can touch it before buying. The material used for making a piece of fabric and also the way it has been woven/processed can say a lot about the fabric, but not all.
When we started out we usually needed 1 or 2 meters of a fabric which I got at a local market or shop. In the meantime, we’ve grown to use rolls of fabric instead of loose meters. We source our fabrics at different wholesale suppliers situated in the Netherlands and my first rules are about the quality, durability and the feel of the fabric, so I ask myself the questions: is the quality good? Is it nice to the touch? Does it feel like a durable fabric? Is it suited for the garment I have in mind? For example, for a pair of bloomers, you ideally want a breathable and soft fabric, where for a jumper skirt you might need something that is a bit stiffer so you can tailor it neatly for the bodice and it keeps the shape of the skirt well. This is also a process of testing and learning about different fabrics and your personal preference comes to it as well.
A big no for me is when a fabric will easily wear out or get damaged easily so the durability of the garment will be really short. I don’t have a strong preference for either natural or synthetic fibres, since they both have their pro’s and con’s, especially when looking at ethical and environmental business practises.
When it comes to the lace we use in our items, we source these from a local wholesaler and directly from Japan and China. Unfortunately, the type of high-quality lace we use cannot always be sourced locally, but we have a hard 'no' when it comes to very synthetic and/or elastic lace, we prefer working with viscose, cotton and tulle embroidered lace. I always order a few meters to test a new type of lace first, before ordering a whole batch.
@Sixfeetof_frills & @Josinemaaike
♥ One of the things I like the most about supporting indie brands like yours is the care and care that you can put into choosing materials, always looking for more generous options with the environment. I believe STB is a sustainable brand, but could you talk about it a little bit more? What would you like to be able to do to make it even more sustainable?
A year or two ago I was really split in the way I wanted Summer Tales Boutique to continue. I was getting more and more aware of all the atrocities in the fashion industry and got myself more educated about fast fashion. At the same time, our own collection was getting more traction and I stood before a choice: Will I keep making the items in the house or look for production outside our studio? The more I found out about fashion factories, child labour, environmental hazards, the less I was keen on the second option. It just didn’t feel right. From that moment on I decided to keep production in our own studio, that was the first step to a more sustainable brand.
We have always made collections in small amounts with very little waste of materials. Just the thought of throwing away garments like fast fashion companies do when they can’t sell it just breaks my heart!
At this point, I’m focusing more on getting our materials from more sustainable sources. We have a local printing company that prints with the most environmentally friendly inks that are available at the moment. Now it’s time to look into replacing our ‘standard’ fabrics with organic (cotton/bamboo/linen) or recycled fabric (poly/chiffon/crepe).
I do consider Summer Tales a brand that is conscious about the choices we make and I do my best to take another step towards a more sustainable brand with each release!
♥ And as a designer and a consumer, what do you think the fashion industry and consumers should do for a more sustainable future?
Oh gosh, I have so many thoughts about the current fashion industry. It’s like an iceberg, we can only see the tip of it and there is so much hidden underneath the surface.
Firstly, let me say that any effort that you can make is a big win! Never feel like you need to do it perfectly before starting out because there simply is no perfect way. If you're interested in this subject, take some time to watch documentaries and read into this subject. ‘The True Cost’ was a real eye-opener for me. It was then that I stopped shopping at fast-fashion chains and switched to second hand and vintage clothing for my everyday wardrobe.
With Lolita fashion, I find it so great that it’s already very common to sell secondhand items and that people take such great care of their items. When I want to add something to my own wardrobe I see if I can wear items in different ways and with different outfits. I have always liked it to style a certain dress in different ways, but being more into sustainability makes it a huge benefit if an item can be used in various outfits.
But….let I also say that this can’t only be shoved down to consumers. Companies really need to change their game too. It does require pressure from the masses, but we need to keep asking difficult questions. For example, just before international women’s day, the storefront of the H&M is filled with shirts with text like ‘you go girl’, ‘girls support girls’ and more. Often the people working in your local H&M just get minimum wage and often the women (and underage girls) producing your power women shirts on the other side of the world hardly get paid at all. Can you see where I’m going?
That is why I love small businesses since they usually are a lot more sustainable by nature. Often it’s already made in house or locally since big factories are not the best fit. They are capable of shifting fast with their business practises and are independent of stakeholders.
A gentle reminder, take the step that is suited for your lifestyle and have fun along the way too!
♥ When it comes to your own designs, can you tell us which one has been your favourite creation or project so far? And the most complicated?
At this point I’m super proud of The Anatomy Lesson, it’s a collection where a lot of things came together. It was the first time doing a custom print but also premiering it at a fashion show in Tokyo made it extra special! Then we had a really successful pre-order, which made my goals even bigger for the shop. Really this collection has a very special place in my heart already.
After getting more confidence in custom prints I really went all out with ‘De Nachwacht’ collection. This was initially our first instalment to the Dutch Master collection around 5 years ago. It’s so awesome to see the progress we’ve made in the meantime, that makes me really proud. With this collection, we’ve also experimented with different fabric options, both I’ve never used before, Bamboo and U-Circular (a fabric made from recycled PET bottles).
At this point, I’m also getting so creative and energized from our Nostalgia collection. Sketching up all sorts of dresses, skirts and accessories I wish I could have access too when I just started out with Lolita fashion. But honestly, working with Royal Stewart tartan for weeks on end may sound like a nightmare, but I get so happy just working with this fabric.
And I really enjoy making accessories as well, working with all kinds of different lace on our headdresses and arranging the flowers and ribbons too. Even to the very precise work of making resin jewellery. As long as I can work with my hands I’m happy.
♥ Where is Summer Tales Boutique going now? What's the future of the brand?
To be honest, Corona did shake things up a bit this year but has also opened doors in new directions. We’ve had to postpone our big yearly event but were looking into hosting more small meets in our shop and even doing a virtual tea party.
In March we have a re-release planned for our Nostalgia collection since they are very popular and we want to make as many people happy as we possibly can. Since we’re a small sewing studio, amping up our production is a challenge, but a fun one!
At the same time, we’re sketching out the design ideas for the rest of this year and looking into which fabrics and lace we’re going to combine together. Expect linen pieces for the summer and velvet for next winter. During the year we’ll also have a few limited-edition releases, our recent Heart Headdresses in tartan being one of those.
And gosh, how I hope we’ll be able to meet up again and come together on events in the future!
♥ Last but not least, I always like to ask this question for the baby entrepreneurs out there: what advice could you give to any designer who wants to start their own brand?
Without sounding too cliche, just start doing it! ;)
Of course it’s good to do some research and see where you want to start out with your brand. Do you want to aim at a certain style? Or do you want to focus on a certain item? Start making a few sample pieces and ask your Lolita wearing friends to test them out and have feedback for you. Once you feel more confident about your product try selling it online. You can easily open your own Etsy shop for example and nowadays you can even shop through Instagram!
Having your own business is in no way ‘easy’, so brace yourself a bit for that. It’s hard work, that’s not always getting paid in the beginning. The myth of ‘I wants to make my own schedule as an entrepreneur’ is a catchy phrase but doesn’t really work that way. When you have your own company you can essentially always work, since there is always something to do or improve. So let the reasons for starting your own brand be the right one and not about a 4-hour workweek or making a ton of money.
Try and figure out where your own strengths are and what lifts you up. For your weak spots try and hire someone or collaborate together. This will make it easier to struggle through the harder times when you have setbacks or a difficult period.
Thank you so much, Katie, for this magnificent lesson about your amazing brand. From the bottom of my heart, I can say that it's been a pleasure doing this interview and I cannot wait to see you again really soon (if Miss Rona let us finally out!).
Photocredits to @LivLotte & Summer Tales Boutique
All photos where used under the permission of Summer Tales Boutique
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