Gettin' It | Done

A messy table...
...means we're gettin' it done.

MC Collection Preview | THAW

MICHAEL CEPRESS
DESIGNER MENSWEAR
SPRING|SUMMER COLLECTION PREVIEW

Join us at this year's
THAW FASHION SHOW

<><><> MAY 7, 2009 <><><>
Pacific Industrial Center
2960 4th Avenue South

Cocktails, noshing and thaw shop – 6:00pm
Live auction and runway show – 8:00pm

THAW is Seattle's annual fashion show and fundraiser featuring independent designers.
Proceeds benefit the Huntington's Disease Society of America (HDSA) to fund social services and research.

ALSO SHOWING THAT EVENING:
Adam Arnold - Jill Lindsey - Karly Orr - Liza Rietz
Holly Stalder Kate Towers - Liise Wyatt

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AND VISIT OUR NEWLY UPDATED WEBSITE
WWW.MICHAELCEPRESS.COM

We're thrilled with its new look, and thank our friends at CrashShop for their help in making it all happen!

Kiss My Ascot

On Tailoring | Part 2

Maybe I should have said:

"Robots and technology are being too heavily relied upon for things that ONLY humans should adequately master and perform, thereby eliminating the potential for the beauty of the human touch to fully realize its potential."

...or...

"A fully automated garment manufacturer can produce a suit jacket in under 9 minutes. NINE MINUTES. When I sit down to design and build a suit jacket according to tradition's standards and proudly cherished rules, it can easily take the better part of 40 hours, if not longer. How the hell can I compete with that?"

The caveat being, of course: The automated machinery does not make the same coat MC makes.

On Tailoring | An online survey offers a small box to voice the current state of my mind, my business, my future, the tone of my thoughts.

WAS(n't)

A list of possible careers in the arts, written from my perspective as a child.
Formed between 1985 and 1999.

1| Matte-cutter at a local frame shop

2| Store clerk at Pope's Hobbyland

3| Part-time painter of grocery store advertisements on storefront glass (this would be a gig for 'on the side'...nights and weekends after my 40 hours at a real job.)

Each of these seemed to be perfectly viable, credible markers of great career success as an artist.

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Problematic Translations | Hind-sight is 20/20.

1| Making your own work isn't an option, so find a way to be happy framing other people's art.

2| Making your own work isn't an option full time, so find a job that can get you a discount on the supplies for your tedious little hobby.

3| This is going public...but only after work at a real job has happened.


Thankfully several people, at several different times, stepped in to show me that there were more hopeful and inspiring ways of thinking about this all.
MANY thanks to those several people.

MC and THAW

I am proud and delighted to have been invited to participate in this year's
THAW FASHION SHOW: a regional showcase of designers from the Pacific Northwest - an event that has been a thrill in the past and will surely be excellent once again.

I'm happy to be in such good company - finally showing with my Portland penpal Adam Arnold, and a lineup of designers and labels with nothing but good things to show and share.


This May 7th show will offer a preview of my full Spring/Summer collection; The full collection is anticipated to be shown one month later (details pending, but secured and announced VERY soon!) in Seattle.

Won't you come join us? Its for a great cause!

Fashion Week

As Seattle Fashion Week comes to a close, I'm glad to have been in the audience on Saturday night for the last round of features, and delighted to see such compliments from one of Seattle's fashion writers.

"I'm a smidge disappointed that some of Seattle’s top designers -- such as Suzabelle, Alula, Michael Cepress and Jill Lindsey -- won't be on hand for Fashion Week..." - Alison Brownrigg - NW Source

Hold tight, Alison. Two shows from MC are coming SOON!

REAL History | Detachable

By the turn of the century (1900, that is), it was fully understood that the male wardrobe needed - if not wholly required - an ample stock of sturdy, stylish, starched detachable collars of a variety of styles. With the prescribed format of men's clothing firmly in place, detachable collar and cuff styles offered a sophisticated yet practical bit of variety within the code of white shirt with brown, black or grey trousers+waistcoat+topcoat+gloves+hat. And at a time when laundering garments was hugely labor intensive and something that only happened semi-frequently, the notion of having removable collars and cuffs that could be cheaply purchased and quickly replaced was quite welcome; the body of the shirt being laundered as needed, while still guaranteeing a clean and polished appearance by way of these detachables.
And, to make the commodity even more accessible to the masses, the collars were offered in heavily starched fabric, disposable paper variations, and a hybrid product called "linene"- a laminated fabric/cardboard product.

I adore these collars. I collect these collars. I dream about these collars, and I reference these collars in my work all the time. They are such a steady font of inspiration and history; I want them around me all the time. I love having them as a part of my day to day life.

And as I work the idea of a detachable collar into my new collection, I was thrilled to find
Amazon Dry Goods. A mere 5 hours from my hometown in central Wisconsin, Davenport Iowa is the home to the original machines that patented and made the very collars I dream about. And get this....THEY STILL MAKE THEM THERE. ON THE SAME DAMN MACHINES THAT MADE THEM IN 1862.

Woah.

When I learned of Amazon Dry Goods, I simultaneously announced a pilgrimage to the factory to honor and cherish these beautiful relics from our past that proudly live on. I want to see the machines that make them. I want to meet the craftspeople that produce each collar. It would all mean so much to me.

Some people head toward Mecca. Some people follow The (Grateful) Dead. I make my destination the original home of the Reversible Collar Company.

Thank you George K. Snow.

MC Goes Detachable

From the Amazon Dry Goods Website:

In 1862 George K. Snow invented machinery to improve the manufacturing of paper collars. Detachable collars were at this time the height of fashion. Soon to follow was the founding of the Reversible Collar Company as a byproduct of Snow's invention. The old cardboard collars went out of style around the Civil War so Snow invented a new machine to laminate cardboard and cloth in continuous rolls a process previously done by hand. This was the birth of the "linene" collar line. The Reversible Collar Company created this industry.

Our Company is in a third generation of continuous production. It began in 1862 as the Reversible Collar Company of Cambridge Massachusetts, then, while still in Massachusetts, becoming the Gibson Lee Collar Company. The company is now located in Davenport, Iowa as Amazon Drygoods Collars and Cuffs. We own the original Reversible Collar Company's cast iron presses and continue to manufacture most of our collars on those very same presses as they did in the 1860's. Each collar is crafted one at a time to the historically original standards and 100% cotton laminated linene material. If you are in our town please stop in to see our unique piece of history punching out your collars in our work shop. The only other collar press we know still to exist is on display in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. We are sure you will find exactly what you are looking for in our selection of both formal and traditional collars. We also stock a wide selection of collar buttons and accessories to complete the look you are searching for.

Face Lift | MC ONLINE

After several months of preening and polishing, my friends at CrashShop have done a beautiful job in giving our website a face lift.

Introducing the new look of MC ONLINE!

The newest collection is up for you to see in its entirety - press links are in place - and hopefully this a place you'll come to visit frequently for updates, delights, surprises and intrigues of all sorts.

Thank you CrashShop! Thank you friendly readers. Enjoy!

I know. I know. It has been ages and I have been a very bad blogger. Thanks for bearing with me and visiting the site frequently, only to find the same old post about a store special that happened a month ago. From this day forward, the pace of this blog will change. Expect to hear from me more!

For the time being, here's a little list of things I hope to share more about:

-MC Spring/Summer Collection Preview happening May 7th at the THAW Fashion Show
-MC Spring/Summer Collection Showcase - the full shebang - June 2009
-Collar discoveries that have changed my life and warranted a pilgrimage east
-MC Profiles: Meet the many sweet faces of Michael Cepress Designer Menswear; the designer, technicians, interns, marketing machine, pattern makers and master stitchers!

For now,
MC