An Article about Cat
By Brianne Leith
For the Annapolis Sound
A Sweet Fashion-nation
“Art saved my life.”
Cat Reinheimer sits across the table from me on one of the hottest days this summer. At this exact table I had seen her years ago with her fashion sketches and colored pencils sprawled over the surface, her serious gait of concentration could not conceal the joy emanating off of her. Seeing her love come to fruition and sitting at that same table, now interviewing her for her accomplishments is a heartwarming honor.
Cat looks at me. As she smiles, her large dimples are exposed and her eyes become slits underneath her glasses. “It’s hard to talk about art in this way…When it’s art it is just something that you do, not something that you analyze while you are doing it.”
“I design, because it is a form of art.”
“It is my artistic contribution to women.”
“It is a creative outlet. Don’t over think, just let it happen. It organically just happens…I either start with a sketch or sometimes I start with a great fabric and let it speak to me.” Cat chuckles bending forward slightly in her chair. “It does not always happen the way you want it to. I have started with dresses that I end up chopping into skirts, and then they are fantastic.”
When Cat speaks of her own fashion label positivity flows out of her. She is a ray of light. She is all smiles and glee. But this joy sprung from a trying period of her life.
“I always liked clothes and drew clothes and mixed and matched outfits, but I never thought of it as a career. Then I had my back injury. I was bedridden for months. Everything I had worked towards in college became useless. So, I had time to think about who I was, and what I wanted to do with my life. The answer was simple; Nursing and/or design clothes…and Art saved my life. Being creative gave me a reason to get out of bed.”
Cat bought books about sewing and started sketching all of her ideas. She bought a sewing machine and found an old dress form at Goodwill. She began experimenting with fabrics, ideas and a myriad of different styles. And with that all “Cat Reinheimer Collection” began.
“One day I brought my sketches into Vivo! and they were excited to carry some of my clothes. I went home and started sewing immediately.”
Cat’s clothing line ranges from upcycled, redesigned or original pieces made from scratch. Cat’s blue eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “My clothes are a direct reflection of who I am. Strong but girly. They are vintage inspired, but not literally vintage. I use only quality fabric like cotton,silks,organic cotton and bamboo. I design what I want to wear myself…what women want to wear. Things that when you wear them you feel more confident. When you have a great outfit…you just walk taller.”
In everything that Cat makes women have never walked taller, nor have ever looked cuter. Cat’s clothes are a woman’s love and a girl’s dream.
“I get inspiration from the people and things around me.” The “Emma” dress was inspired by an iron gate that Cat saw while she was walking around downtown. “It was Fall and the leaves were falling with scattered colors and shapes.” Cat cut about 500 diverging sized circles out of her 1997 prom dress’ chiffon overlay and layered them sporadically to emphasize the symbolism of the leaves. I, myself sold this dress to an 18-20 year old, while I was working at Vivo!. As the light-haired girl barely let me take the dress from her to put it in a bag, I asked if she was planning on wearing it to someplace special. She looked at me serenely and said, “I’m going to wear it everyday.”
This feeling of possessive needing of Cat’s collection also landed her a gig as an opening designer in Baltimore Fashion Week. (www.baltimoresfashionweek.com) Cat Reinheimer will be showing her clothes on Saturday August 20th 2011and will be live streamed on the internet. She was chosen from hundreds of applicants worldwide. Our own Cat Reinheimer will be representing Annapolis flawlessly.
Cat repositions herself and tilts her head slightly to the right for emphasis. “For my Baltimore Fashion Week line, I decided to go with a loosely based 1950’s look. It is a modern take on “VJ Day, The Kiss” by Alfred Eisenstaedt. It is a picture of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square. I am inspired by what fashion was at that time…and it evolved from there. It is soft and hard, feminine and masculine, and Ready To Wear.”
Though Cat plans to build up her line and eventually wants to mass produce it, right now everything is done by her own hand. And what a caring and wonderful hand to be in. Her line will be seen by people all over the world during Baltimore Fashion Week and on her online portfolio www.fashionbycat.carbonmade.com. Be a part of the upcoming fashion trend.
Cute. Sweet. Strong.
For the Annapolis Sound
A Sweet Fashion-nation
“Art saved my life.”
Cat Reinheimer sits across the table from me on one of the hottest days this summer. At this exact table I had seen her years ago with her fashion sketches and colored pencils sprawled over the surface, her serious gait of concentration could not conceal the joy emanating off of her. Seeing her love come to fruition and sitting at that same table, now interviewing her for her accomplishments is a heartwarming honor.
Cat looks at me. As she smiles, her large dimples are exposed and her eyes become slits underneath her glasses. “It’s hard to talk about art in this way…When it’s art it is just something that you do, not something that you analyze while you are doing it.”
“I design, because it is a form of art.”
“It is my artistic contribution to women.”
“It is a creative outlet. Don’t over think, just let it happen. It organically just happens…I either start with a sketch or sometimes I start with a great fabric and let it speak to me.” Cat chuckles bending forward slightly in her chair. “It does not always happen the way you want it to. I have started with dresses that I end up chopping into skirts, and then they are fantastic.”
When Cat speaks of her own fashion label positivity flows out of her. She is a ray of light. She is all smiles and glee. But this joy sprung from a trying period of her life.
“I always liked clothes and drew clothes and mixed and matched outfits, but I never thought of it as a career. Then I had my back injury. I was bedridden for months. Everything I had worked towards in college became useless. So, I had time to think about who I was, and what I wanted to do with my life. The answer was simple; Nursing and/or design clothes…and Art saved my life. Being creative gave me a reason to get out of bed.”
Cat bought books about sewing and started sketching all of her ideas. She bought a sewing machine and found an old dress form at Goodwill. She began experimenting with fabrics, ideas and a myriad of different styles. And with that all “Cat Reinheimer Collection” began.
“One day I brought my sketches into Vivo! and they were excited to carry some of my clothes. I went home and started sewing immediately.”
Cat’s clothing line ranges from upcycled, redesigned or original pieces made from scratch. Cat’s blue eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “My clothes are a direct reflection of who I am. Strong but girly. They are vintage inspired, but not literally vintage. I use only quality fabric like cotton,silks,organic cotton and bamboo. I design what I want to wear myself…what women want to wear. Things that when you wear them you feel more confident. When you have a great outfit…you just walk taller.”
In everything that Cat makes women have never walked taller, nor have ever looked cuter. Cat’s clothes are a woman’s love and a girl’s dream.
“I get inspiration from the people and things around me.” The “Emma” dress was inspired by an iron gate that Cat saw while she was walking around downtown. “It was Fall and the leaves were falling with scattered colors and shapes.” Cat cut about 500 diverging sized circles out of her 1997 prom dress’ chiffon overlay and layered them sporadically to emphasize the symbolism of the leaves. I, myself sold this dress to an 18-20 year old, while I was working at Vivo!. As the light-haired girl barely let me take the dress from her to put it in a bag, I asked if she was planning on wearing it to someplace special. She looked at me serenely and said, “I’m going to wear it everyday.”
This feeling of possessive needing of Cat’s collection also landed her a gig as an opening designer in Baltimore Fashion Week. (www.baltimoresfashionweek.com) Cat Reinheimer will be showing her clothes on Saturday August 20th 2011and will be live streamed on the internet. She was chosen from hundreds of applicants worldwide. Our own Cat Reinheimer will be representing Annapolis flawlessly.
Cat repositions herself and tilts her head slightly to the right for emphasis. “For my Baltimore Fashion Week line, I decided to go with a loosely based 1950’s look. It is a modern take on “VJ Day, The Kiss” by Alfred Eisenstaedt. It is a picture of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square. I am inspired by what fashion was at that time…and it evolved from there. It is soft and hard, feminine and masculine, and Ready To Wear.”
Though Cat plans to build up her line and eventually wants to mass produce it, right now everything is done by her own hand. And what a caring and wonderful hand to be in. Her line will be seen by people all over the world during Baltimore Fashion Week and on her online portfolio www.fashionbycat.carbonmade.com. Be a part of the upcoming fashion trend.
Cute. Sweet. Strong.
