Memphis Designer Creates Comfortable Chic for All
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Sunday, June 8, 2014 Great Plains surprise Fargo, North Dakota, is filled with high design and sophisticated art. 3M MMAKING THE MOST OF YOUR LIFE BARBARA BRADLEY SENSE OF STYLE Memphis designer creates comfortable chic for all Under the category “chic for everybody,” put Memphis de- signer Marva Ballard, who cre- ates simple, smart dresses and other wardrobe essentials worn by professional women here and in other cities, no matter their age or size. Lately, Ballard has begun reaching new customers with innovative marketing, periodi- cally turning her studio on the ground floor of the building at 44 N. Second into a kind of mini- boutique showcasing several lo- cal designers. She is also taking her designs to East Memphis through a pop-up shop. South Main has Trolley Night, she said, “but there’s not much going on up here. So, hopefully, (on that fourth Friday of each month), they’ll take the trolley and come down and see what we have,” she said. Fourth Friday Open Studio will o!er fashions, accessories, art and home décor items by Ballard and at least four other designers, she said, including Pat Jones-Brown, president of the Memphis Chapter of the American Sewing Guild, Ruby Dandridge, who makes purses and hats of recycled fur, and Dana Kimbrough, who over- came a series of strokes as a young woman to go on and cre- ate a fashion collection as well as a T-shirt business. There also will be colorful handmade glass jewelry from Lemon Drop Glass by Brenda Liles, who lives in Northern Alabama. Every second Friday and Saturday Ballard is staging a CLAY PATRICK MCBRIDE pop-up shop at J Nails and Co. Memphis-born Rosanne Cash has rediscovered her Delta roots in a music project that found her retracing her Southern heri- Spa and Salon at 5101 Sanderlin, tage. She also joined in a project to restore her father Johnny Cash’s childhood home and farming colony in Dyess, Arkansas. where women may purchase garments off-the-rack or be fitted and have them made-to- ■ Rosanne Cash By Bob Mehr measure. [email protected] Designing under the name discovers her roots on 901-529-2517 M.G. Ballard, Ballard is known especially for her Dangerous the critically acclaimed Curves Collection, pieces usu- concept album ‘The or Rosanne Cash, the experience of ally purchased custom-made. The garments are made with a River & The Thread’ making her new album The River & stretch stitch (which means the The Thread — a song cycle about seams move with you instead the American South — would result of popping apart) in a soft, knit F fabric that is machine washable, in a profound moment of self-discovery. season-less in weight, timeless The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter in style and stocked in 15 colors. and daughter of American music icon Dresses o!er a choice of neck- Johnny Cash had been born a Southerner, line, hemline, sleeve length and in silhouettes more or less in Memphis, but left for the West Coast closefitting. Measurements are when she was still in diapers. taken at the stomach as well as “For years, I thought that being born in the hips and bust. Frankly, it’s great to have a Memphis was kind of a footnote in my life, smart, comfortable dress in a THE because I didn’t live there that long: ‘Oh, good fabric and without a hem that’s just where I was born,’” says Cash, that rises to here or a neckline that plunges to there. 59. “But in the process of going back so A knee-length, cap sleeved many times and writing these songs and sheath, a popular style, typi- exploring the South and the Delta, it just cally costs $145. You can turn it hit me: This isn’t just where I was born, into a suit with a long matching cardigan, also $145. Ballard of- this is where I come from, this fers periodic sales through her WAY is what I’m connected to. These e-mail list accessed at mg@mg- are where my people were. ballarddesigns.com. “It’s almost a cliché because See BALLARD, 6M so many people in middle age find themselves wanting to know the answers to certain questions: ‘Who are my ances- HOME tors?’ ... ‘What am I connected to, and how powerful is geography in my makeup?’ And, as it turns out, it’s pretty powerful.” Cash is finally poised for a proper home- coming: on Friday, she’ll be spending the day with students at Rhodes College’s Regional Studies program; she’ll also be giving a public talk at the Cooper Walker Place, the former home of the Galloway United Methodist Church, where Johnny See CASH, 5M BARBARA BRADLEY/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL A popular sheath dress, usually ordered made-to-measure, flatters a woman of any size. 6M » Sunday, June 8, 2014 » THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL DEAN FOSDICK/ASSOCIATED PRESS This Cooper’s hawk was an uninvited visitor to a Langley, Wash., residence shortly after some songbirds re- sponded to birdcall playback from a smartphone. 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The >L>>] >` }À>`Õ>Ìi`vÀ v ð iÀiVi ÕÀiÃv-Ì>À practice, called playback, Ì i 1ÛiÀÃÌÞ v i« à ÜÌ ÌÞ]À>Ã>Ã] >`Ì i >ÌiÀ° is e!ective for attracting >`i}Àii >Vi° i ÜÀà >`Àð7> ° À>ÜvÀ` v >à >v>Vi >>ÞÃÌ vÀ i« Ã] /iiÃÃii° elusive species, but also iÌ `ÃÌëÌ>° / iVÕ«i can harm nesting birds if Ãà ,Ü} à >ÓääÓ ÜÜi` Õi Ó£ÃÌ >Ì Ì i }À>`Õ>Ìi v >ÀiÃÌ } overused. iÃ`>i >ðvÌiÀ > -V >ÀiÃÌ° - i “It’s kind of a balancing iÞ *ÕÌ> >> ÀiViÛi` > >V iÀ v -ViVi act,” said Je!rey Gordon, V>,i«ÕLV Ì i `i}ÀiiÌiÀÀ iÃ} ÓääÈ president of the American VÕ«i Ü ÀiÃ`i i« ð vÀ ÃÃÃë« -Ì>Ìi Birding Association in Col- 1ÛiÀÃÌÞ°7 i>ÌÃÃÃë« orado Springs, Colorado. -Ì>Ìi]à i Ü>Ã>iLiÀ v “If you’re bringing a >««> iÌ> -ÀÀÌÞ°- i à VÕÀÀiÌÞ i«Þi` >à > common bird into view for 7À«>Vi ÃÕÌ>Ì vÀ a group of kids or showing i« à ÕÃiÃà ÌiÀÀà people how habitat is re- i« ð ally good for birds, then a À° À>ÜvÀ` à >Óää£ case can be made that it’s a }À>`Õ>Ìi v iÀ>ÌÜ} good tool for making birds -V iÀ>ÌÜ° i visible. Caution is most }À>`Õ>Ìi` Õ >Õ`iÀiViÛ} > warranted when you have BARBARA BRADLEY/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL >V iÀ v VVÕÌ>VÞ`i}Àii ÓääÈ vÀ Ì i 1ÛiÀÃÌÞ v a rare species or a species Marva Ballard, at her downtown design studio, works with a washable, comfortable knit fabric ÃÃÃë«] >`ÓääÇ ÀiViÛi` when a lot of people want that comes in many colors. >>ÃÌiÀà v />Ý>Ì >à vÀ to see it at the same loca- Ì i 1ÛiÀÃÌÞ v ÃÃÃë«° tion.” BALLARD of the country as well. She now has two iÃV i 7 iÃV ] i Ü>Ã> The prevalence of these from 1M representatives who fit women and o!er iLiÀ v -}> Õ À>ÌiÀÌÞ° small, inexpensive tools the collection on Long Island as well as a i à VÕÀÀiÌÞ >>}} à ÕÃÌVi iÌÀi«ÀiiÕÀ> i`i>ÛÀÃ Ì i is increasing at a rate that new one in Columbus, Ohio. “We’re find- Õi iÃV i >` concerns many recreational One of her new pieces is a handker- ing Long Island is actually a good market >VVÕÌ}ÃiÀÛVià >` }ÃÌVà 7> 6>ÕÃÌVi] Ü Li `ÕÃÌÀià iÀ>ÌÜ° birders, said Michael Web- chief-hemmed baby-doll top for $125 for us,” said Ballard. >ÀÀi` -Õ`>Þ]Õi £x] / iVÕ«i Ü iÝV >}i ster, a professor and direc- that’s as long as a short dress and per- And, why not? The line is so basic and Óä£ { ]>Ì i}i ÛÜà ÕÞ £]Óä£{] >Ì -Ì° tor of Cornell University’s fect for popping over all those skinny targets a major underserved customer: *ÀiÃLÞÌiÀ> ÕÀV "ÝvÀ`] iÀ޽à >Ì V ÕÀV Macaulay Library archive, jeans and leggings we’re not sure why the baby boomer. “She wants fashion, Ãð / iLÀ`i Ã Ì i `>Õ} ÌiÀ v >ÀiÃÌ° iÃV i v >à Ûi >` vÌiÀ Ì i Üi``} >` > a repository for more than we bought. On a recent visit to Ballard’s comfort and style but she doesn’t want Ì i >Ìi `Ü>À` iÃV i] >`Ì i iÞ ÌÀ« Ì Ì i Ü 200,000 birdcall recordings studio, a public relations consultant and to look like her daughter,” said Ballard.