Frocky Jack Morgan designer launches lingerie and leather tote bags

Portland-based clothing designer Julia Barbee has been creating deconstructed, custom fashions made from recycled fabrics for her clothing label, Frocky Jack Morgan, since 2002. Never one to shy away from a creative impulse, Barbee is now exploring her own uncharted territory by launching a fall collection of supple, recycled leather totes and sheer women's lingerie.

Barbee has been committed to reusing fabrics and recycles materials such as vintage silks and satins for her wedding dresses and event wear. No stranger to vintage clothing stores, flea markets or estate sales throughout the greater Portland region, Barbee has wanted to work with leather jackets she's discovered. Though the jackets she uncovered were "too big for me or not feminine," Barbee says, she was drawn to the texture and color of the leathers. In July she purchased an industrial sewing machine and starting work on her designs.

Now Barbee's launching the results of her work: a collection of oversized tote bags ($175) made from reworked strips from the jackets. Since her carry-all totes are so spacious, she's often able to reuse most of the original jacket in one bag and is pleased when she can use the original pockets as part of the tote design.

And since the leather has already proven to age well, Barbee is excited to create something her clients can invest in and carry every day. "It's fun to work with something thick and imagine in bigger ways," Barbee says of working with leather.

In a seemingly huge contrast, over the past year Barbee has also been dreaming up pieces of delicate modern women's lingerie that are loosely inspired by '20s and '30s tap pants. Working closely with a seamstress who designs for ballerinas, Barbee has been mapping out sexy, feminine undergarments. She liked the thought of designing something "lovely" that still had a utilitarian streak and finally decided on sheer ladies underwear ($35).

Thinking of maintaining a sexy silhouette, Barbee designed each pair with side tie-closures so they would sit softly on a woman's hips instead of clinging where they shouldn't. The ties are made of bias-cut vintage tape. Each boy-short style undergarment is made of bias-cut remnants of sheer, viscous rayon and silk in subtly sexy crèmes and browns. Barbee is taking a class in natural dyes and looks forward to working with ingredients like onions and carrots to cook up some fresh fabric colors in the future.

You can contact Barbee online through Frocky Jack Morgan (http://www.frockyjackmorgan.com/) or you can collect a large tote or boy short at Ballard's Velouria.

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