Dear Reader,

Barbara Beccio’s life stitched towards a clear direction in clothing design. Living her life may have seemed more like the seams of a zig-zag sewing machine, yet her course manifested from childhood. As a young girl, she began to create and design what would become a lifelong international career. As Barbara and I started our interviews, she provided me with twelve pages of the schools where she taught, theaters where she worked and dolls and clothing pieces she created, including her connection to Princess Diana dolls. In today’s blog, I was only able to highlight some of her inspiring story. Join me in getting to know this fascinating woman. Reader, when did you understand the course of your life?

Barbara grew up in Connecticut with an Italian heritage that comes from both her parents.  Her grandmother on her mother’s side made all the clothing for her nine children; she died when Barbara was four. Barbara was too young to have sewn with her grandmother, but she carries a childhood memory.  Her grandma wore her long hair in a braid that she wrapped around her head. As a young tyke, Barbara would unbraid her grandmother’s hair and brush it. “I like to say that by osmosis, I learned her talent for making clothing,” Barbara said.

Another childhood memory that influenced Barbara was a time when she was being ignored by the other children in the neighborhood. She was a very young girl and the other kids “weren’t playing with me and it made me very sad,” she said.  As Barbara stood outside alone, a neighbor lady saw what was happening and invited Barbara into her home to see her dolls. “She had all these porcelain dolls with international costumes. They were amazing. That’s when I got the bug,” Barbara said. Did you have a childhood experience, Reader, that prompted your future choices?

Barbara began making clothing for her younger sister’s dolls, as well as her own Shirley Temple, Barbie, Skipper and Ken dolls. For material, she would cut apart her own clothing. Overall, Barbara’s mom did encourage her daughter’s creative interests. However, when Barbara was seven-years-old, she remembers making jackets for her dolls. For one, she used suede and the other was patent leather. Barbara wanted fur for the collars. She said, “I cut up my slippers to get the fur. My mom was not happy with me.”

Around this time, Barbara’s mom started working at a clothing factory. She would bring home scraps of beautiful materials such as assorted wools and suede. She also taught Barbara to crochet and knit. With that new skill, Barbara made sweater sets for her Barbie and Ken dolls. She even designed a cardigan for Ken that had overlapping pieces so that it looked like a sweater under the cardigan. On her way home from school, Barbara would walk by a store that sold lots of yarn. “One day, they had variegated yarn. I was so excited. That started a whole new thing for me,” she said.

Barbara was mostly self-taught in those years. When she was in fourth grade, she saved her birthday and Christmas money and paid for a sewing class at the Singer Sewing Center in her town. “That gave me a good foundation,” she said. All throughout her school years, she would take sewing classes offered by the school. She was also making her own clothing.

After high school, her parents, who were traditional Italians, thought Barbara would take the conventional path of marriage, but Barbara knew she wanted to study fashion design. “I told my parents that I wanted to go away for school.” Barbara enrolled in the Pratt Institute in New York City to study fashion design. As part of her curriculum, the students attended fashion designer shows. However, Barbara was put off by the attitude of the people in the industry. It caused her to reconsider her future. She decided to change her major to art and leave New York. The next year, she registered at the Hartford Art School in Connecticut.

With school grants, scholarships, work programs and part-time work, Barbara could afford her classes. When not studying, she waitressed, and she also worked at the Hartford Stage Company. Barbara would help design and make the costumes for the theater. Shortly after starting, they liked her work so much that she was able to quit her waitressing job and work solely for the stage company. She created much of the beading and embroidery designs on the costumes. She was most comfortable using her own equipment. However, she was required her to use an industrial sewing machine. Diligently, she came in early in the mornings to practice and learn. “I have the ability to be about to figure out the answer to a problem”, she said. That skill served her well in making the exquisite costumes for the characters on stage. This work ignited her desire to become a costume designer. Barbara completed her B.S. in Home Economics and Family Studies with her Major of Design and Resource Management – Fashion.

Barbara created her portfolio, and after interviewing with several schools, including Yale, she settled on New York University – Tisch School of the Arts. She moved back to New York City. To help cover her school costs, she began working at the costume houses that created the wardrobes for movies, Broadway plays, and New York City’s operas and ballets. During this time, she worked as a stitcher which included special costume embellishments such as beading, painting, quilting, applique and embroidery. “They got to know that whatever job was needed, I could do it,” she said.

During these years, she lived in a room in a brownstone in Brooklyn. It was 1982, and her rent was $150 and included utilities, a shared bathroom, and the landlord did most of the cooking. It worked out well on her limited budget. By 1985, she completed her Master’s degree in Costume and Lighting Design for Theatre at New York University – Tisch School of the Arts.

After graduation she continued to design theater costumes. She extended her work to also include The Julliard School and Temple University’s theater and opera departments. As well, for the next three summers, Barbara traveled to Switzerland, high in the mountains at the Leysin American School. There, she designed costumes for its theater department. She also taught the students such things as costume construction.

By 1991, she moved to Washington Heights in New York City, A few years later, she was exhausted with the long hours of theater work, so she slightly changed her course. Instead of large costumes for performers, she began designing doll clothing for Effanbee Doll Company. During this time, she designed a line of Victorian Dolls for which she won an “Excellence” award. As well, she was the designer on staff for Madame Alexander Doll Company. There, she worked on a line of dolls sold on QVC, the television shopping network.

Recognizing her delight in this new path, in 1998, Barbara started creating doll clothing for Ashton-Drake Galleries. As an independent contractor, Barbara created a line of dolls that garnered more fame. She did a limited-edition series of dresses that Princess Diana wore throughout her visits to other countries. For example, Barbara recreated the prototype of a dress that Diana had worn in Spain. The skirt was made of taffeta. Taffeta works well on a dress for a full-grown woman, but when you try and recreate the dress on a small scale for a 13-inch or 21-inch doll, the same materials do not always translate well. In the case of taffeta, on the doll it was too poufy and did not have an elegant effect. Barbara researched different options and settled on a silk chiffon. On the small-scaled dress of the doll, it worked perfectly.

During her years with Ashton-Drake Galleries, Barbara had moved twice. Her first move was to Massachusetts in 1999, and then California in 2001. She also worked with the San Francisco Opera as a milliner (hat-maker). 

Then, we all experienced September 11, 2001. Many New York businesses shut down because of the terrorist attack on our country.  Barbara completed some dolls for a few months but then she said, “after 9/11, the market was showing signs of the impact.” For Barbara, this meant that she did not have work coming out of New York for her expertise.

 

Barbara took a position as the visiting art teacher for middle school students in the San Francisco area. In 2003, she taught part-time at the Art Institute of California – San Francisco and a year later, became the school’s academic director of the fashion design and marketing department. In 2006, a full-time position opened at the institute, and she went back to teaching. As well, in 2007, Barbara traveled to Milan, Italy’s Art Institute. There she co-taught a three-month course on fashion design and marketing. In 2009, Barbara began teaching classes at Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics in Berkley. She was also teaching one-on-one private lessons in her studio.

As well, Barbara made one-of-a-kind garments for clients. One such woman had polio as a child and she did not have spine support. She asked Barbara to create corsets that would help support her upper body.

The second client, Sara Ann Kronrot, was a 7-year-old. Sara Ann was born with cerebral palsy, used a wheelchair and was just like every other little girl who wanted to dress like her friends. All her friends were wearing fluffy skirts. It was difficult for Sara Ann to wear clothing with poof. If she sat on bunched-up fabric it could crease in her skin which creates pressure sores. As well, it was difficult maneuvering for her parents to deal with poofy material when trying to sit Sara Ann in her wheelchair. Melissa Perry, Sara Ann’s mom said, “Sara Ann was so tired of ugly stretch pants. She wanted to look pretty, but back then we didn’t have any answers for wheelchair garments”. The family asked Barbara for help.

Barbara created a skirt that could be velcroed on Sara Ann after she was sitting in her wheelchair. It did not have a back which alleviated the wad of fabric under her bottom. The family was very pleased. “Sara Ann had lost all hope because as she grew larger, we could no longer get pretty skirts or dresses on her. But because of big-hearted Barbara, Sara Ann went from ‘ a no skirt wearing big girl’ to a kid with hope,” Melissa said. Barbara made several skirts for Sara Ann. A favorite was one she made from left-over material from her theater fashion design days. Barbara made a beautiful purple skirt with metallic, sequins and black netting. Sara Ann loved this skirt! “Barbara Beccio changed my daughter’s world completely,” Melissa said. “With the new “easy-to-put-on” skirts, she could be beautiful just like other girls her age. The bright skirts completely transformed the way she felt about herself!”

As an aside, Melissa told of Barbara and Sara Ann’s special connection. Every year, during the next eight years of Sara Ann’s life, Barbara would send her a surprise box. “Barbara liked to do things that would spark the imagination! So, while we never knew exactly what to expect, we knew anything in a box from Barbara was going to be happy,” Melissa said. “And that love in her surprises was the most important thing of all!”

As Barbara thought about these two clients, she recognized that there was a need in the greater community to offer clothing that was adaptable to people with disabilities. It changed the course of her career. Have you ever changed course in your life, Reader?

 

It was 2015, and Barbara took the first steps towards creating a line of adaptive clothing. She began by creating her patterns and choosing all her fabric samples. However, her planning was interrupted when Barbara experienced a devastating event. Someone pulled in front of her and demolished her car. Barbara received knee and back injuries in the accident. As well, her hands were burned from the airbag chemicals.  She could not sew; Barbara had to heal. Her dreams for the new clothing line had to be put on hold.  Has a difficult event interrupted your plans? How did you manage it?

Six months later, Barbara started planning again. While the patterns that Barbara had created were ready, the fabrics she had picked were discontinued. Barbara had to research new options. During this time, Barbara was still teaching at the Stonemountain and Daughter store. However, she received notification that the company was no longer going to hold classes. Once again, Barbara had to put her adaptive clothing line plans on hold. To have an income, she decided to teach classes in her home studio. This meant clearing out space, purchasing supplies and sewing machines, scheduling and teaching students.

Finally, a year later, Barbara once again aimed for her goal of a new clothing line. In February 2018, she launched e’ Ispirante which is Italian for “is inspiring”. Barbara introduced the world to her adaptive garments when she set up a booth at the Los Angeles Abilities Expo. This is a large gathering, typically held in a conference center, where hundreds of venders bring their services and products. The wares available relate to ways for improving the lives of people with disabilities. Businesses and customers attend to view, try and purchase the goods. Barbara sold some of the girls’ clothing and generated a lot of interest.

In May of that year, she attended the New York Metro Abilities Expo. She displayed and sold girls skirts and attendees were also requesting her to do a line of women’s clothing. Barbara responded and created women’s full skirts that did not have excess material in the back. She also created some fitted skirts.

At the next year’s Los Angeles Abilities Expo, more of her clothing sold. Then later that year, she traveled back to the 2019 New York Metro Expo. Barbara’s adaptive clothing business and designs multiplied. After the show, whatever inventory was left, Barbara sold to Zappos, a popular online clothing retailer. It is a company that caters to people with special body features. As an example, Zappos is one of the only companies that will sell one shoe to a person who had a foot amputation. Most companies will require you to buy and pay for both shoes.

In March of 2020 Barbara sold a second round of clothing to Zappos. This included the Georgina skirt for women which is a full skirt with a flat back. She also sold the Julienne which is a fitted skirt that is designed to wear when sitting in a wheelchair. Her customers also requested that she include large pockets in her skirts to hide medical equipment or other important items. Barbara was able to design large secure pockets in both styles.

In 2020, when the pandemic hit, “we had to all shelter-in-place,” Barbara said. It affected the opportunity for models to come to her studio, so she became her own model. However, to address community needs, Barbara initially put aside her own work for several months. She worked full-time making masks for numerous medical facilities. Requests from hospital nurses and others in the medical field increased. Barbara, and with her guidance, 30 volunteers, created more than 1000 masks. Then nurses requested caps, so Barbara and her team made more than 300 caps for the medical teams. Reader, what role did you have during the pandemic to help meet the needs in your community?

About five months into the pandemic, she continued to make masks and caps as needed. She also started designing clothing again. Another problem that came into play was the limited supplies coming from fabric companies. It was difficult to plan a whole line of skirts so Barbara started creating one-of-a-kind pieces. She also created patterns to use in the future when the fabric industry was fully operational again.

I asked Barbara what inspires her when creating her designs. She said it is many things such as walking down the street noticing sights, photos of nature, and architecture. She also has a huge home library; she loves looking in books to spark her inspirations. She said she loves the research process. “I start sketching shapes, then I look at fabrics.” Through one of our Zoom interviews, I watched Barbara drape, pin and begin to design a piece of clothing. “You can play with the material as something interesting happens with the fabric,” she said. Throughout the designing process, she is still making final decisions on fabric, color and style. What inspires you, Reader?

I haven’t begun to list all the stages. Creating patterns, labeling the work and working with the manufacturer are just a few of the many details Barbara’s garment work requires. When the manufacturer completes the clothing, Barbara inspects one more time before they are bagged and tagged. Finally, her products are sent to the fashion retail company, Zappos. As well, the online retailers, I’MPERFECTION IN FASHION and PattiandRicky.com places photos of some of her garments online for customer purchase.

As someone who grew up with a sewing grandma, I found Barbara’s processes fascinating. I had never realized all that was involved in starting from an idea and getting to the end result of me choosing and paying for my garments. Now, I have a new appreciation of those items hanging in my closet. They are not just classic or functional pieces that I use to cover my body. They are someone’s art work, their dream and their livelihood. Barbara’s path took many twists and turns. Yet, clearly from such a young age, her fingers and designs had a destiny.

Last month, we were introduced to Georgia Bertin who had a dream to dance the tango. Many enjoyed her story. Hazel said, “That’s quite an intriguing story about a woman who definitely dances to her own tune and seems to enjoy life to the fullest. Thanks for sending this delightful blog.” Myriam said the “blog was very interesting.” Betsy said, “Always a delight to receive the blog and an interesting piece. You meet so many remarkable people and you touch so many lives as well.” Jane said, “What an interesting life!!! Georgia continues to live life to its’ fullest! I say keep dancing! And we know that her Tango dress is only temporarily waiting to be worn again” Susana said, “I read your blog about Georgia’s passion for dancing tango, and plan to go to Uruguay. I loved it. As one of your readers said, you sure have a gift to touch our heart strings.”

 

Until next month, may peace be at your side,

Debbie Noel

We have several ways to interact with Debbie!

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Debbie Noel
C/o Longmont Senior Center
910 Longs Peak Avenue
Longmont, Colorado 80501

 

Barbara’s website and social media:

• Website – barbarabecciodesideratum.com
• Instagram – @e_ispirante_adaptiveclothing
• Facebook – Desideratum Design – è Ispirante Adaptive Clothing – Sewing Classes

Barbara’s items can also be found on:

• I’MPERFECTION IN FASHION https://imperfection.shop
• Patti and Ricky https://www.pattiandricky.com/
• Zappos https://www.zappos.com/

Melissa Perry, mom of Sara Ann Kronrot told me that Sara Ann passed in 2019 due to multiple internal injuries due to a severe seizure. Sara Ann’s website is http://friendsofsara.com/

In 2020, Barbara participated in the Trill Lee X L.Rucus X TheChemist – I Cant Breathe (Official Video) – YouTube. She is on the left. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s6NJs2SfgU4

Model Julienne Dallara’s social media info: www.abilities.com/Julienne Twitter: @JulienneExpo Instagram: @JulienneExpo https://www.facebook.com/JulienneExpo/