Ellie Gibbler Artist Creates Novel Dresses

When Julie Showalter recently hosted a “Meet the Artist” event at her Ellie Gibbler store in Darien, she intended to bring fans of the artsy accessories together with their creators to showcase local talent.

And inadvertently Showalter met a new artist herself.

Local artist Carrie Ann Schumacher attended the event with family, and when friendly business owner and designer Showalter struck up a conversation, she learned about Schumacher’s intriguing dress designs that use pages from romance novels instead of fabric.

After viewing the photos of the dresses, Showalter said, “Oh my gosh, I want this in my store.”

Schumacher’s three exclusive creations are part of the stunning and colorful displays at Ellie Gibbler.

The pieces were originally conceived by Schumacher for entry into the Revamped Fashion and Art Show held in May at the Bridgeport Art Center.

The wearable, lined strapless dress named “Desiree and the Boy That Broke Her Heart” features tier after tier of doily-style cutout romance novel pages embellished with hole punches that give the illusion of generous layers of soft vintage lace.

The dress, or “sculpture,” took the better part of two weeks to assemble ,and as Schumacher explains, “was dedicated to my friend Desi—it’s innocent, sweet and flirty.”

The art show coordinator asked for another piece, and in four days, Schumacher had whipped up “Never the Prom Queen” from large sequined-style “fabric” constructed from blue, green and yellow magazine pages.

Where artists get their creative inspiration is sometimes hard to explain.

In Schumacher’s case, it began with an initial thought after a patron donated romance novels to the , where she’s employed this summer.

“I thought of the impractical aspects of romance novels, of being female and of high fashion,” said Schumacher, who first learned how to work with the adhesive and materials while creating the four models of her sculpture, “The Harlequin” which is intricately fabricated.

Schumacher is also a 3-D Design teaching assistant at Northern Illinois University and expects to graduate next year with a master's degree in fine arts.

Showalter said that customers respond to the dresses with awe.

“I hear comments like ‘how extraordinary’ or ‘such talent’ all the time,” she explained. “It’s fun to have them here.”

Each sculpture ranges in price from $2,000 to $2,500 and can be viewed during Ellie Gibbler’s store hours Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.