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Designer is at home in past and present

Designer is at home in past and present

From designing a black and jewel-toned tropical print for the late funk vocalist Rick James' "Wonderful" album cover, to creating a corseted gown worn by a Mary Todd Lincoln re-enactor, Kathy Dowd's love affair with textiles and historic clothing is sincere and lifelong.

"I was weened on the sound of a sewing machine," said the 45-year-old historic clothing designer and costumer. Her mother, Evelyn, a seamstress, placed the infant Kathy's crib in her sewing room, and the sound of the machine lulled her to sleep. Mrs. Dowd did the same thing in her own sewing studio when raising her three children, Maggie, 11, John, 9, and Joseph, 6.

Mrs. Dowd, costume shop manager and resident costume designer at Owens Community College, grew up in Lancaster, N.Y., near Buffalo, where she said her mother, who worked in various fabric stores, taught adult education courses and today teaches machine quilting.

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"Home was never boring when I was a child. I always sewed from when I was 12 years old through high school. I made most of my outfits in high school and never went for what was trendy. And in college, it was always something I did in my spare time," said Mrs. Dowd, who is married to Michael Dowd, a professor and chairman of economics at the University of Toledo.

Mrs. Dowd, also a costume coordinator for the Toledo Opera, where she has worked on some 150 shows in 15 years, said that while her passion has long been textiles and period clothing, it took her awhile to realize it.

"I went to Buffalo State College for a [bachelor of fine arts], and then I got this epiphany in my junior year and changed my major to clothing and textiles. It was a natural path for me. I was in the right church and in the wrong pew in school. I changed my major after asking myself, 'What do I do that makes me happy?' " said Mrs. Dowd, a member of the Costume Society of America and the Victorian Rose Tea Society.

That answer was simple: historic clothing.

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After graduating, she worked in numerous textile-related jobs, but time spent volunteering and later working at the Theodore Roosevelt National Historic Theater in Buffalo piqued her interest in historic clothing.

"I fell in love with historic clothing. There were some items that were beyond repair, but they were so incredibly beautiful. I still have some of those pieces from the 1870s to 1880s. I pull them out just to look at them," she said.

Mrs. Dowd also worked as a designer and stitcher for an activewear company. One of its clients was a catalog firm owned by the late funk singer Rick James.

"I designed Rick James' outfit on his "Wonderful" album cover and he's wearing a shirt I made on his "Looseys Rap" album cover. On the "Wonderful" album he was wearing a black and jewel-toned tropical print outfit which collaborated with a hat and cowboy boots. I think he was trying to emulate Prince. He was a real gentleman," said Mrs. Dowd, who humorously recalls the late vocalist requesting that his pants be tighter. She gently declined, adding that if they were "any tighter they would split on stage.''

She also worked as a soft-goods designer for Fisher-Price Toys before moving to Toledo in 1989 as a newlywed. She worked as an assistant in the costume shop at the University of Toledo before obtaining a master's degree in 1993 through the apparel and textiles department at Bowling Green State University.

A highlight of her career, she said, was being selected for the reproduction design of some 10 outfits, from authentic clothing worn by Mary Todd Lincoln to Sojourner Truth, for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill.

"I was able to create 10 women's garments from 1840 through the Civil War period. I worked with a designer for one year and a half and designed the garments from an original rendering to a flat image to a three-dimensional piece. It was such a good learning experience," said Mrs. Dowd, who often gets to wear historical garments through membership in the Stormy Petrels of Maumee Bay, a local affiliate of the Sherlock Holmes Society.

Renay Conlin, general and artistic director of the Toledo Opera, said Mrs. Dowd has the perfect personality to work closely with guest artists. "When we put on an opera, typically we have seven to eight principal singers, 36 in the chorus, four to six [superintendents], and sometimes a children's chorus. We choose the costumes that are in keeping with a particular period and they arrive three weeks before the production.

"We've sent measurements in advance, but each person in the cast has to try on costumes, which always have to be altered again. That's where Kathy comes in. It's a huge job meeting with every person, making sure garments really fit perfectly . . . then there are all kinds of costume details where the director will say add a ribbon there or a fray here," Ms. Conlin said.

Mrs. Dowd's close friend and self-described "twin separated at birth," Kaye Pope, costume shop manager for the University of Toledo's department of theater and film, said her friend's deep passion is for the Victorian era.

"She gets bored with doing contemporary clothing. Honestly, she definitely is a throwback and should have been born in the Victorian era," said Ms. Pope, who also works as a costume coordinator for the Toledo Opera and is a business partner with Mrs. Dowd. The two, along with Jessica Hartle, operate the Web site www.vintageconfections.

On the site, Ms. Hartle offers Victorian underpinning designs at Sweet Nothings. Ms. Pope specializes in Edwardian fashions in the Nimble Thimble. Mrs. Dowd operates Heritage Rose, offering Victorian reproduction garments for ladies; Saint Preserva, a collection of porcelain angels, saints, and religious figures; Ladies of Fashion, offering 18-inch porcelain dolls in historic clothing, and Two of a Kind Treasures, with historically accurate outfits for little girls and their 18-inch girl dolls.

"My passion is bringing history to life in an authentic way. You owe it to the public, specifically for the children, to do it correctly. It creates a false impression when it isn't done accurately," said Mrs. Dowd. She adds that the rule in her household is that she cannot comment on the clothing when she and her family watch a period film together.

"The films have gotten better in the last 25 years, but it kills me anytime I see zippers up the back or Velcro when it wasn't even around. All historic designers feel this way," Mrs. Dowd said with a laugh.

Contact Rhonda B. Sewell at: rsewell@theblade.com or 419-724-6101.

First Published January 22, 2006, 4:11 p.m.

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