About The Modiste

femme and white presenting person with purple hair wearing navy blue stays, black blouse, and black belt.

Hi! My name is Keri and I am the creator behind this fabulous brand!

The quick read is that I am a bubbly creative that is passionate about inclusivity in fashion which is why I started this business. I wanted a shopping space where folx felt size and gender affirmation in the pieces I offered.

Here is the long version. Starting as a wee tot, I was playing with my mom's fabrics and sewing machines. I learned so much from her and ended up making my first big project in middle school: a jester costume!

 

From there, it never stopped. We made clothes, accessories, and especially ren faire costumes! It wasn't a far throw for me to lean into the rennie life when it was presented to me.

I have always struggled with clothes, particularly fitting into the mainstream sizing and especially in costuming. I have curves, none of them are average, and I range from Large to 3XL depending on the brand. It is frustrating and not pleasant, which is why I tend to either make my own costumes or buy knowing I will be altering everything.

Two femme and white presenting people. On left, person has purple hair with floral bodice, black shirt and yellow pin. On right, person has green bodice, cream shirt.

Two summers ago, I volunteered as a bartending wench for the Washington Ren Faire. I met many others who experienced the same size experiences no matter where they were on the range. I found it even worse for those not on the mainstream sizes as they rarely, if ever, found their sizes.

So, I worked on bodice patterns until I found one that I could expand to scale sizes that fit our whole team at that time (XXS-4XL).

In doing so, I found such joy in providing this opportunity for my new clients to get custom fitted bodices in stunning fabrics.

I then went further and made the bodices reversible so that each one purchased was really two! It made these a better investment. Lots of mockups, testing on all sizes and body types later, and the business was started: The Dark Modiste.

I love being able to work at my sewing table almost every day. I love designing new patterns and learning what is going to work best and fit with the brand. Mostly, I love seeing the joy on the face of someone who tries on a bodice and sees themselves in the mirror. That moment of gender affirmation. That moment of loving their body. That moment of joy. That is why I do this.

Femme and white presenting person smiling on left hugging a black and white australian shepherd dog on right.