Blessed if you’re this well dressed

The wearable art of Solmaz Shams

There’s a common saying that clothes don’t make the man, or woman, but that they do make a first impression; and often a first impression is a lasting impression. But also, as Paloma Picasso said years ago in Vogue, “To look good and to dress up isn’t just a favor you are doing for yourself—it’s a favor you are doing for the people around you.”

Matching handbag and shawl by Solmaz Shams

Solmaz Shams is an Iranian-born Rancho Palos Verdes resident who in 1977 received her Bachelor of Arts degree in fashion and textile design from Farah (currently called Alzahra) University in Iran. She immediately began working as a designer for a company, managing and overseeing production. But the following year her husband, a professor well-versed in economics and computers, took a two-year work/study offer at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. However, in 1979, Solmaz says, “the Revolution happened, and we decided we wanted to stay and not go back.”

Solmaz Shams, modeling one of her shawls

Despite being relatively new to the country, Solmaz began assisting two Washington-area dress designers. “After working with them for a couple of years I decided to open my own studio.” That was in 1990, in Bethesda, and her fashion design and fashion consulting business created custom-made bridal gowns, evening gowns, and haute couture-style garments. It was a 9-5 business and Solmaz had three employees. She designed the outfits and did the cutting, and they took over from there.

…and here’s how it looks from the back

It’s spring, so here you go!

In those days, Solmaz says, she would work closely with her clients. She would visually size up the shape of the body, the complexion of the person, and then she would make sketches, to see what might go best with that person’s figure. But also, she’d inquire, what was the occasion where the dress or outfit would be worn? A festive event or a somber one? Sometimes, also, the client would have a color preference in mind and Solmaz worked around that. If she felt that the color didn’t complement them then she would suggest an alternative. She says that her customers trusted her opinion and went with whatever she recommended.

Fashionable designs by Solmaz Shams on view at the Palos Verdes Art Center

My response is that her clothing, much of it light jackets and shawls, impresses me for its color, yes, but a color I find subdued, softly glowing, low-intensity colors that I would associate more with Japan or Central and Western Europe. One of the biggest shocks of my life, returning from a stay in Japan, and landing in Honolulu on the flight home, was being horrified by the blinding colors of mainland tourists who’d come to vacation in Oahu. So I know bright, and I know subdued, and my allegiance has always been with the latter.

Another matching shawl and handbag by Solmaz Shams

Because her husband’s job often took him to places around the globe, Solmaz would sometimes travel with him or meet him at his destination, and in this way, traveling in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 2005, she chanced upon the art or technique of “felting,” which has been around for centuries, the Neolithic period if you really want to know, but seems to have remained largely in Central and East Asia.

There are three kinds of felting, needle felting, wet felting, and nuno felting, and Solmaz spends quite a bit of time explaining the differences to me. Essentially felt is a kind of textile, a non-woven fabric that is created by matting, condensing, and pressing fibers together. Felt-making, or felting, is even older than spinning and weaving. The Sumerians claim that the technique was invented by Urnamman of Lagash, while Christians attribute its invention to Saint Clement or Saint Christopher. However, if you’re discovering it for the first time, then you can simply lay any and all accolades at the feet of Solmaz Shams who had, recently and perhaps in the near future as well, given felting workshops at the PV Art Center.

Solmaz Shams in her studio. Photo by Bondo Wyszpolski

If rose is your color. Design by Solmaz Shams

Needless to say but let’s say it anyway, having mastered the art of felting and being able to incorporate it into her clothing designs was one more step that made her “wearable art” stand out.

It was in 2014, after Solmaz and her husband had relocated to California, that she began taking silk painting classes at the PV Art Center (The two or three wool paintings on view in her studio reveal yet another aspect of her talent). She mentioned to someone that she had worked as a clothing designer, and they replied that she might be able to put some of her work in the store that was attached to the galleries.

A vibrant green matching handbag and shawl by Solmaz Shams

Although she’s been indicating otherwise all along, I found myself picturing a line of clients at her door, and Solmaz consulting with each in turn about patterns, fabrics, and color.

“That used to be in the old days,” she reminds me. “I don’t take private calls that much; they’re mostly from the Art Center itself.”

But surely people contact you, to see what else you have?

“It does happen sometimes,” she replies.

And you design everything? The tops, the skirts, the coats, the scarves?

And now you’re ready for a night out! Another creation by Solmaz Shams

“I had it in mind to do hats; but I do handbags. I don’t do hats… yet.” She laughs. “It may happen.”

Her home studio/workshop is also a bit of a showroom, and, looking around, taking it all in, I’m dazzled by the variety and craftsmanship of the outfits that Solmaz has on display. What later comes to mind is what Elsa Schiaparelli once said, that “in designing, I consider both clothes and the body architecturally; structure and line are the all-important factors in the construction of fashions. And, of course, comfort too! Clothes must look as if they belong to the woman who wears them or they are not right.”

I think that Solmaz would agree. She has an eye and a feel for it. Those who wear her unique designs are going to look good, and they’re going to look right.

To learn more about fashion designer Solmaz Shams call (301) 537-5334 (yes, it’s 301) or email Solmaz.shams3@gmail.com. Her website is solmazdesigns.com, and her Instagram is Shams.solmaz. PEN

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