Woman of the Week: Bonnie Glass

by Karolina Weglarz

Shopping for a winter coat can be a hassle. At least, it used to be for Bonnie Glass. The colour choices are dull: blacks, grays, or winter-white, which she figured was too expensive to dry-clean anyway. Instead, she opted for her sewing machine, and designed a collaged jacket that soon had strangers stopping and asking where they could get one like it too.

For the past few months, Glass and her team have been working hard to bring to life the fifth annual Just For Us Wearable Art Show. Finding a permanent home in the atrium and galleria of the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, the free art show brings together a unique brand of local and Canadian artists, mostly women, with the intention of showing support and building a sense of community among the artists working in the field of wearable art. Among the forty artists included, for the first time this year, there is even a male artist exhibiting his work at the show.

Artists are invited based on criteria of how passionate they are about their art and on whether their personality reflects a friendly, welcoming atmosphere.  Glass admits to rejecting artists based on their attitudes in the past.

The daughter of Dutch-immigrant parents, Glass never had any formal sewing lessons, but cites her late mother as her teacher: “She’d be bursting with pride if she’d see me now!” she says.

Frustrated with experiences of past art shows she’d been a part of, Glass recalls pulling one of her creations out of a One of Kind Christmas Show runway, because she felt the models did not reflect the type of woman that buys wearable art. This, along with the fact that there was no place for women who make and buy wearable art to gather, were catalysts that sparked the creation of Just for Us, where she even includes an 80-year-old model in one of her fashion shows.

“You’re not buying wearable art because it’s a name, you’re buying it because it expresses you. It takes people a few years to understand who they are and be truly comfortable in their own skin, and that’s who our customers are,” she says.

A disposal income is also necessary when shopping around for one of Glass’ coats, as they range in price from about $300 to $800. When asked about whether or not she’s sad to sell the pieces, she laughs and says, “It depends on the number of bills lined up on the table!”

Glass finds inspiration for her creations in a women’s personality. She doesn’t design for a particular client, but envisions the “female character” that would wear the piece and then evokes that personality into the fabrics she chooses for the particular coat. She doesn’t refer to herself as a “fabric snob” and uses a mix of fabrics, including cotton, silks, and many from the decorating industry.

“I’m an idiot, there’s no money in this! I’m not in love with the sewing aspect of it, but the design. I love the challenge of looking at a pile of scrap fabric and figuring out what I can do with it,” she says.

Glass wants to pass on this love for challenge in her teaching. She uses sewing classes not only as a financial vehicle, but as a way to inspire and teach people that beauty can be found in anything and doesn’t always have to look the same.

The Just for Us Wearable Art Show runs on September 23 and 24. For more information, check out the website: http://just-for-us.biz.