I've got the vintage look all sewn up

Published on Saturday 27 June 2009 11:11

DELICATE strips of ageing fabric, swatches of vintage silk, tiny scraps of embroidery – perhaps the only piece of fabric left from a Roaring Twenties dress – Joyce Paton simply needed to have them all.

She didn't know why, but there was something about the bits of ripped material or scraps of detail from old outfits, that the teenage Joyce couldn't resist.

"I'd buy them, but I never knew why," smiles Joyce. "People thought I was mad, but now all that rummaging about has come into its own, hasn't it?"

Those pretty bits and bobs would later find their way on to her striking range of accessories and hats – helping to make her what she is today, namely the Scottish Fashion Awards Accessories Designer of the Year.

She is still reeling from the moment at last week's gathering of Scotland's fashion elite when she, a one-time librarian who taught herself to sew, found herself rubbing shoulders with the likes of fashion king Graeme Black, punk stylist Pam Hogg and supermodel Kirsty Hume.

For back when she was a teenager at Newbattle High School in Mayfield near Dalkeith, a high-flying career in the fashion industry was never on the cards.

"To be honest I was probably better at woodwork than art," she grins. "I didn't know what I wanted to do so I drifted along, left school and then it was all about getting some kind of job. I knew I loved all these bits of fabric, but didn't have a clue what to do with them. Now I pull them all out when I'm looking for something to add to a piece."

Joyce has perfected the art of spotting the potential in someone else's "ragbag" and today she juggles being a 36-year-old mum of two with her couture business, based far from the heart of the fashion scene, in South Queensferry.

There, in a little shop up a quiet lane in East Terrace, she displays her delicate flowery fascinators, dramatic plumes of feathers, vintage-style cloche hats in dramatic modern colours and glamorous bows on smart trilby hats. In contrast are curvaceous mannequins displaying her other speciality – beautifully handcrafted corsets adorned with delicate details.

Just a few years ago she was a library assistant, but a move to Heriot-Watt University's library opened up a new world of fashion and fabric.

"Suddenly I had access to the books for Galashiels," she explains, referring to the University's School of Textiles and Design based in the Borders. Joyce had been taught how to knit by her mum, and her grandmother – an accomplished seamstress – had passed on her skills and the use of her old sewing machine. Motivated by the books and her burgeoning collection of fabrics, Joyce started to create.

"It wasn't overnight, there was a lot of very hard work," she explains. "I'd never really believed I could do this seriously and then it's kept growing and growing.

"I taught myself up to a certain level than learned couture by going on a few intensive courses. With millinery, I suppose I had a natural ability, I just seemed to new how to put things together."

Her work caught the eye of some select boutique owners, but as Joyce's confidence grew, she took the gamble of branching out into her own business.

These days, she employs a design assistant to help her meet demand and only sells her pieces from her South Queensferry shop, handy for her Dalmeny home which she shares with daughters Rosie, 11, and five-year-old Abby.

Surprisingly, perhaps, the girls couldn't be less interested in the stunning designs their mum creates which so impressed the Scottish Fashion Awards judges.

"They are more into horse- riding," says Joyce. "The only time they show the slightest interest in what I do is when there's a school play coming up and they want something from me!"

Joyce was at the Stirling Castle awards ceremony last week, completely unaware that she – self-taught and with her box of vintage scraps – was about to be named a winner. "I was shocked. It was not at all what I was thinking was going to happen. Next thing I was up on the stage, concentrating on not falling over and trying to think of something to say."

"Yes," she adds with a grin, "it was quite something."

For more details go to www.joycepaton.com