About

Gina Dress
Every garment I make has some element of handwork.

Welcome to Good Clothing Company! It’s a wonderfully happy venture, a culmination of so much creativity and peace in my life. I’ve also been sewing all my life both personally and professionally, coming from many generations of fine seamstresses. It matters to me how clothes are made, the care and attention that goes into the construction, the quality of the materials used. I love the process – selecting the fabrics and notions, conceiving the designs, constructing the garments. Everything I make has some element of hand work, it’s my favourite part, when I feel my most connected to what I do.

Labels
Because I work in small runs, I needed small batches of labels. Easiest way was to learn how to make them myself. Turns out I love even doing that 🙂

To me, good clothes are the ones you love to wear, that you feel good in them, that you do good things when you wear them. That’s where the name comes from. I realized that every time I talked about what I wanted to create, to do, in the way I wanted to do it, the word ‘good’ came up. It even felt good to say the word good. So it stuck.

At this point, I work from my home studio in Kelowna, BC Canada that doubles as a writing room (I also co-write with Andrea Taylor the Poppy Cove Mysteries under the shared pen name of Barbara Jean Coast). Other than one day working towards a studio showcase that clientele could visit, I am happy to be working quietly, privately, in small garment runs. In the past, people have politely assumed that it’s all about mass production, getting a factory to make the creations, go wholesale, name and stuff everywhere. To me, there was always a little cringe that for years I could not quite put my finger on. The thought of glutting the market with too many clothes, mass production, clear-offs, over runs, never mind the thought of being involved in creating horrible working conditions for others for a fast buck completely paralyzed me, killed any sort of joy or purpose in creating. For me, going big was going home.

My Home Studio
My Home Studio – a warm and happy place to create

When I create my designs, I think about what people do in their lives, how they create memories, things that happen out of the blue that become huge turning points. What do they wear on that day that they decide to take a chance on life, meet someone who turns their world into something beautiful, the date they say yes, the day out just kicking around that they discover a purpose, their calling, a job interview that sets them on a fulfilling path. Or just a day that is so much fun they carry it with them all of their lives with a heartfelt smile. Simply to make beautiful clothes that help show a person how beautiful they already are.

Preliminary Sketches
Notes, swatches, sketches — planning and dreaming while I waited for my first batch of fabrics to arrive
Heather Shkuratoff
Heather Shkuratoff Owner/Designer of Good Clothing Company

Thanks for stopping by. My wish is that you find something that pleases you and in turn it becomes a favourite garment for you too, as you have your own life adventures. Please visit my Etsy site Goodclothingco to see more. Wishing you goodness, Heather