You may not think of fashion as being a STEM career, but the fact is Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are very much a part of every cut, stitch, and seam.
We caught up with Dr Tameka Ellington, Associate Professor at the highly regarded Kent State Fashion School, while preview shopping at the 50th Anniversary Designer Dress Days event benefitting the National Council of Jewish Women. (More on the sale below.)
Ellington notes that from concept to design to production to manufacturing - every step of a piece of clothing is woven with STEM.
"There's actually a lot of math," notes Ellington.
With a background in technical design and apparel manufacturing, her creative research is often inspired by African and African American fables and folklore where she uses batik, digital textile design, and leather tooling. Dr. Ellington's research interests include social-psychological aspects of dress for African Americans and other minorities, such as people with disabilities.
Aside from having a keen insight on the inner workings of the fashion world, she has an eye for design and unique perspective on not only what people are wearing, but how they are wearing it, and most importantly WHY they are wearing it.
This is the 50th year for the NCJW/Cleveland's Designer Dress Days sale which features new and gently used designer and high fashion clothing at VERY affordable prices.
The sale began Friday, October 12th, then picks up again Sunday through Tuesday (October 14-16) at the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood. (26001 S Woodland Road, between Richmond and Brainard Roads)
The sale is a major annual fundraiser to support NCJW/Cleveland. The organization provides community service projects, advocacy initiatives and educational programs to better the lives of women, children and families locally, regionally, national and internationally.
NCJW/Cleveland also operates a year-round retail operation called Thriftique Showroom at 5055 Richmond Road in Bedford Heights.
Girls In STEM| Growing Curiosity is a multi-year, multi-platform initiative of WKYC-TV to encourage and promote women and girls doing great things in STEM and STEM education. Segments air twice weekly and the collection can be found www.wkyc.com/GirlsInSTEM.