We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tabitha Andelin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tabitha, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Sooner absolutely. When I was in school, I was so focused on achievements that I paid almost no attention to social media. I realize now, if I had just started making my creative clothes and selling them on social media, I could have ridden the wave of designers that used those platforms. I, unfortunately, was focused on getting good grades or internships, which I thought would make money. Don’t get me wrong, I have a successful career, but it’s not my own brand and it’s not creative. I think the younger generations understand that you can literally do whatever you want at any time. You don’t need a path. You can just “do”. They seem to be more free and don’t have the hang ups I had about creating a sense of security. I think that is where you find creativity anyways and I hope to do more of that in my life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So, I am a fashion designer and the goal for me is very simple – “make clothing that makes people feel love, hope, and happiness.” Achieving that goal is the complicated part. I can break it down into 3 main categories: design from your heart, hone the craft of fit, and make sustainable choices in materials. Not only do the designs have to aesthetically evoke those feelings, but also the fit of the garments have to feel so good on the body that it speaks to you emotionally and excites you, and the last main part is the actual process and materials used have to support those intentions. The way I do that is by using dead stock fabrics or pre-used fabrics donated to me. This is all good for the environment because I don’t add to the overproduction of textiles or trims. That is just the outline of the 3 main ways I try to make clothing that can make people feel love, hope, and happiness. Sustainability was the 3rd main thing but the first two were designs and fit. Right now I am really passionate about gender-neutral clothing. I think a lot of designs in the gender-neutral world try and take masculinity and femininity out and then make the fit oversized to encompass body shape variation. I think they are really taking the word “neutral” to heart by removing as much as possible to now give us something so so so dull.
As a member of the LGBT community, we are looking for gender fluid clothing, not gender neutral clothing. That’s a huge difference. How do I make a dress and size it for everyone? A petite and curvy person, a petite and muscular person and tall plus man, a tall plus woman, a tall plus non-binary person. Who is to say they all want to wear the same style of dress?
You might be thinking this is a target market issue, and yes, I think that is a part of it but if I make my design message universal I hope to see that reflected in the people that come to my website or pop-ups to shop universal. I want to have clothing for every single person that my clothing speaks to and draws in. So, here I am today – Tabitha Andelin makes clothing that strives to give hope, happiness and love to the world. A simple concept that will probably take a lifetime to figure out.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think I’ll answer the question and explain why art is important just because some people don’t understand art or fashion. They probably aren’t the ones drawn to this article, but I want to explain it anyway just in case; What some people who don’t necessarily put value in the creative don’t understand is how much power there is in it. It’s sad that paintings or sculptures don’t evoke emotions or thoughts in some people. It’s a language and an experience that those people will miss out on. Take your favorite place in nature – the beach, mountains, a forest, the canyons, a lake, the snow – any thing that has an emotion tied to it. That concept of seeing something and having it evoke emotion is at the base of art. Now, humans also make art to express something. Has someone ever done a good deed for you and made you feel loved or done something mean and made you feel bad? In art, those feelings ultimately turn into actions. The art is what comes out of those actions. When people look at the art, we are basically looking at the aftermath of all the actions the artist did while trying to express what they want to “say”. We as the observer can assume the emotions and find the message. With all languages and communication, especially if you are assuming something or translating something, it’s not perfect. So, the language of art isn’t perfect either. The whole purpose of art is to say things that may be hard to say, preserve a feeling that’s hard to capture, or evoke feeling you want to evoke. It’s just a language. I understand that it may be hard for the people who don’t understand art, but there are a lot of people who can teach them the “language” if they want to learn.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Remember when I mentioned I try to make clothing that can make people feel love, hope and happiness. Well, when that actually does happen, it is the most rewarding feeling because I know that without a doubt, I brought that into the world and I am doing something that truly matters, even if it seems small or unimportant. The human connection that artists feel when someone else feels the same way about their work is incredibly rewarding as well because that means whatever was expressed through the art is a shared experience, feeling, and perspective. Both share that experience on an intimate level determined by the level of vulnerability that the artist has when making the work. Some people, when they feel the deeper connection, consider the art to be “better.” Taking that risk as an artist and finding that connection is one of the most rewarding, beautiful things.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tabithaandelin.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tabithaandelin/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tabithaandelinclothing/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabitha-andelin-82758784/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj_9Q2C8o4HzzjJ6M2zwiOg

Image Credits
photographer: Jason Tam stylist: Antonella Magnasco makeup and hair: Tina model: Christina Bowe