Dress as Colorfully as a Tropical Fish

Debbie Seaman of New Canaan fell in love with the tropical fish she saw on a visit to Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

She also fell in love with an Australian. Later, after living in Australia, she moved to New Canaan with her husband from Down Under, and she brought along her love of tropical fish.

"I adore bright colors," she says. She recalls thinking during her visit to the Barrier Reef, "I want to wear these fish."

So she does (well, the fish colors and patterns printed on cotton), and other women can, too, thanks to the clothing business Seaman started, Barrier Reef Designs, which she runs from her Marvin Ridge home.

You can see her dresses, tunics bags, Capri pants and other items with tropical patterns on her website, and on Saturday, during New Canaan's Village Fair and Sidewalk Sale, you'll be able to see them from her table and rack set up on Forest Street, downtown, near the Forest Street Deli.

Seaman, who previously worked for a decade as a freelancer for People magazine and lived in Sidney, Australia and in Paris, has been a town resident since 1997.

Her husband, Warren Lancaster, works at Silver Hill Hospital, and they have two children, Cameron and Lachlan Lancaster, who went through New Canaan schools.

The Smithsonian gift catalogue has featured some of her products, Seaman said. Two of her favorite designs are of the five striped wrasse (lime green and turquoise) and the juvenile emperor angel fish (navy blue and white swirls).