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Comic books–you buy them, read them and collect them. However, who said anything about wearing them?
With homecoming festivities finally here and with this year’s theme being Minerland, Ashley Hamric, sophomore mathematics major, is not just collecting, but she has started her own personal design line of comic book dresses. She thinks her dresses are perfect for this week’s Disney-themed activities.
Hamric first started sewing this past May and over the course of five months, she has sold more than 40 comic book dresses.
“At first this was just a hobby, I would make a dress every night for myself–making me have the 30 that I have right now,” Hamric said. “But then I saw some comic dresses online that I liked and that’s when I got the idea of making them, so that way I wouldn’t have to pay for them at a high price.”
Never having sewn before, Hamric decided to give it a shot, and little by little, she transformed this hobby and her love of arts and crafts into a fashionable business.
“Although my first time sewing a dress was rather difficult and the outcome was terrible, I got the hang of it pretty fast and got really good at it after watching tutorials on YouTube,” Hamric said. “After some time, more people started asking me where I had bought my dresses and after I told them that they were handmade, I got a lot of compliments and they wanted to buy them from me.”
After this success, Hamric decided to sell them online through a website called Etsy––an e-commerce website that offers people the opportunity to sell homemade or vintage items, as well as art and craft supplies––and within her first official month of selling, Hamric got a total of 20 orders.
“This account helped me keep track of all the orders, making it much easier for me,” Hamric said. “It was really cool to see that lots of people were looking at my account and were interested in buying these dresses from me. I got five purchases on my first week.”
Hamric said that it usually takes her about six hours to finalize a dress, but purchasers usually expect their package to be delivered in approximately five to seven business days.
“I’m very nit-picky, I strive to have every dress as precise as possible,” Hamric said. “Customers have the chance to send me their exact measurements, so that way the dress fits them like a glove.”
Although Hamric’s major is very different from being a fashion designer, she said that her major has come in handy when she’s in the process of cutting the skirt.
“I use a lot of math during this process,” Hamric said. “To make the skirt, I fold it in four sections, then I get the waist measurements and divide it by the circumference––2π, giving me the radius. I cut, and this gives me the final measurement of the waist.”
Hamric said that while Marvel characters continues to be her top sellers, she has a variety of themed dresses to choose from such as “Star Trek”, “Star Wars”, Minnie and Micky Mouse, Batman, Pi, Wonder Woman, and she recently added “Dragon Ball Z” to the bunch. Hamric is looking into also targeting men in the future and also to adding accessories such as hair bows.
“I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from some guys and they always ask me if I also make any clothes for men. Unfortunately I don’t, but I would love to start on making ties and bow ties,” Hamric said. “However, this would probably be down the line, when I have more free time.”
Thomas Rodriguez, sophomore forensic science major, said that he would be interested in wearing bowties made by her girlfriend.
“Although I usually don’t dress up, I would consider wearing them to a special occasion, and what’s better than to not pay for them right?” Rodriguez said.
Hamric decided to sell her dresses online, not only for fun, but also considered this an opportunity to pay for college.
“It helps me a lot, I use the extra money to buy materials for my classes,” Hamric said. “I’m also saving up to buy a car, since right now my boyfriend is the one who takes me to and from UTEP and drives me to the fabric store. He is the one who helps me deliver my packages––he’s awesome.”
Although it may seem like Hamric might not have time for school or even her personal relationship, Hernandez says that she’s very good at managing her time.
“She is very organized in how she spends her time,” Rodriguez said. “Ashley usually finishes making the dresses really late at night, so I keep her company while she finishes up. So we do spend time together, no matter how many orders she might get during a week.”
Hamric said her fashion style is vintage, which she brings to her dresses such as the high-waisted skirt, halter, v-cut and the sweetheart neckline.
“I personally think that these techniques flatter a girl’s body a lot better,” Hamric said. “Through my dresses I want to tell girls that they can sport their geeky side apart from buying regular logo shirts. Girls like to be more fashion forward, so having a dress with your favorite comic is a great way to express your feminine side, while still showing your fan side.”
According to Jennifer Jimenez, freshman pre-pharmacy major and customer, said that although she just purchased her first dress, she will definitely be ordering a Batman dress next.
“I love her idea on making comic dresses. Not very often do you see girls wearing comic book-designed dresses,” Jimenez said. “I’m very happy with my purchase, the dress fits perfectly. It was beautiful and I felt like a doll for the night.”
Fashionably Geeky, Hamric’s Etsy account name, targets all women who are looking to sport their guilty pleasure for comics in a more fashionable manner.
“I would love to have my own boutique in the future,” Hamric said. “My parents have been very supportive of me continuing to do this along with school and I just couldn’t be happier about this.”
Hamric will continue selling dresses online at etsy.com/fashionablygeeky247 for $60 and locally for $40. For more information, contact her at 215-2101 or email at [email protected].
Andrea Acosta may be reached at [email protected].
Tried.. • May 9, 2015 at 7:18 AM
I tried to buy her dresses from Etsy, but she is not gonna deliver. At first she told me she had someone working for her who was supposed to ship my dresses and other peoples dresses too, but didn´t for personal reasons. I told her it´s ok if she does the other dresses before mine, and she was happy and promised to send mine asap. I ordered 3 more dresses, before getting the first :/ now i have been waiting for my first dress a year, and almost as long for the others. She has told me she forgot me, lost her job, lost my shipping, will pay me back, doesn´t have money, doesn´t have time to sew, told me they are done, they will be done, shipped in a week, a month, tomorrow…… she is a scam. I´m very dissapointed, i would have LOVED to wear her dresses but got robbed instead. She is banned from Etsy but i found her selling elsewhere… Can´t recommend and i´m gonna sue.