Paige Sayour Pursues Her Passion for Fashion

Not many high schoolers would have the guts, creativity, or talent to find an old second-hand dress and pursue a vision to redesign it into a stunning and unique prom dress. But Paige Sayour is not like most high schoolers. She does have all the characteristics listed above and is not afraid to show them off. While most know Sayour to be a stellar student at South Kingstown High School, not as many know that she is talented enough to turn a $10 dress from Savers into a beautiful prom gown.

Sayour sets an outstanding example for her peers as an officer of the National Honor Society, captain of the field hockey team, and member of Varsity Athletes Against Substance Abuse. Yet, as impressive as they are, these accolades are not even the most remarkable thing about Sayour. What sets her apart from the rest is her passion for fashion.

As we sat over acai bowls in our little town of Wakefield on a warm spring afternoon, Sayour told me all about her involvement with fashion. As she talked about her experiences, accomplishments, and hopes for the future, her love for her craft was clear. Hearing her talk so enthusiastically and passionately about fashion was a clear indication that her hobby fills her with joy and brings her alive, and it was evident from the excitement in her eyes that Sayour is one of the lucky few in this world who has found early on what she is truly meant to do.

“My grandma would always get mad at me,” she says, “because I wouldn’t let her buy me any clothes until I had tried them on and approved them. And I would never let my mom pick out my outfits, it always had to be me.”

The fashionista started sewing in kindergarten when her teacher taught all of the students how to hand sew. She thoroughly enjoyed those projects, and had always been creative and liked doing things with her hands.

Sayour’s mom said that for as long as she can remember, “Paige has exhibited the ability to repurpose old and discarded items of clothing to create something.”

When Sayour first began doing her own work at home, she would duct tape fabric together to make clothing for her dolls. Eventually, she began to sew clothes for them. Yet despite this early interest in clothing and its construction, Sayour told me that her real delight was in photography. From an early age, the artist loved using her camera to photograph all sorts of things, and she often had photoshoots with her friends.

“I was dead set on being a photographer,” she said, “and it wasn’t until I discovered fashion photography that my interests began to shift.”

Gradually, the underlying passion for fashion that had always been there began to flourish. For her science fair project in her freshman year, Sayour decided to sew a dress using sustainable materials such as organic cotton and bamboo buttons. After witnessing Sayour’s excitement about her project, her parents gave her sewing lessons from a local seamstress. According to Sayour, this helped her to make her first dress from scratch, but the real turning point was the following Christmas when she was given her very first sewing machine.

“It was very standard, nothing crazy,” she said, “but I could not have been more delighted.” This small but magical machine was life-changing. “Once I could fix, alter, and create any clothing I liked,” she said, “it opened the door to an unlimited world of creativity and freedom.”

This is what helped Sayour to escape what she called the “generic middle-school style” that she fell into at Curtis Corner. Once in high school, she discovered thrifting, the practice of shopping for gently used clothing at a discounted price. Buying second-hand clothes, she said, allowed her to stop copying the fashion trends of others and come into her own unique style. Now, the trend-setter said she hasn’t been into a retail store to buy clothing in almost two years.

According to her best friend Kacie Curran, Sayour “has a real eye for thrifting,” and even if something looks strange on the rack, “Paige always sees the potential in it and is able to make it her own and pull it off no problem.”

Sayour’s recently discovered interest in thrifting in addition to her rapidly developing sewing skills was the perfect storm, and over the years, it allowed the fashionista to continue developing her style. It is the perfect mix of classic and chic, but most importantly, it is unique. Sayour does not adhere to fashion norms but uses fashion to express herself, and it is an impressive statement. One perfect example of the statements that Sayour makes will be her prom dress. She had one of her visions while thrifting and purchased the dress, made in 1995, from Savers for $10. She is now altering it herself to modernize it slightly and add her own touch and will be wearing it to her senior prom once she is done. Sayour said she did not purchase the dress from the well-known thrift store in an attempt to save money, but instead because she truly loves what she does.

“I always appreciated how Paige takes current and popular clothing trends and spins them her own way,” Curran said.

But this creativity that Sayour so often displays is not only popular among her close friends. Others can’t help but be drawn to her distinctiveness, and the creator has earned herself many admirers. Sayour has taken advantage of this admiration by creating an Instagram account named clothesfrompes (clothes from Paige Elizabeth Sayour) where she sells her previously used clothing. Many people, including myself, have loved shopping from Sayour’s second-hand closet, while she has gotten to practice sustainability as well as make a little money along the way.

“The fact that Paige’s clothing account is doing so well,” Curran said, “is a tribute to her style and really shows how much people really look to her for fashion and style inspiration.”

Although the clothes often are bought moments after she posts them and selling her pre-used clothing has been enormously popular, Sayour has found even more success with selling clothing that she made herself.

She admits that she is somewhat of a fabric hoarder, and over quarantine, she was looking for a way to upcycle her scraps, so she started making clothing. Instead of using templates that one would buy in a store, the designer copied the patterns of her current clothing by translating the shape of the fabric and then sewed together a variety of fabrics to create patchwork tank tops. Along with purses that she hand-knit, these items were sold almost instantly.

Classmate and fellow clothing designer Sofia Grossi said that to see someone else her age “taking what they love and making it into something real was very inspiring.” She also commented that Sayour’s “work is very different from what most kids our age could even imagine doing, so the fact that she puts so much time and effort into it is awesome.”

Sayour was not always so sure about selling her own clothing though. “At first I grappled over whether I should monetize my hobbies or not,” she said, “but in the end, I decided that I love my craft regardless and I might as well get something out of it.”

In addition, Sayour’s mom said that “her creativity has only continued to evolve as she enters into young adulthood,” and that she fully supports whatever direction Sayour wants to take. With the reassurance that Sayour is able to separate her hobby from work and continue to love what she does, her fans are definitely celebrating her decision to share her talents.

Eager for the chance to merge her academics with her craft, the creator decided to focus her Senior Project on a somewhat foreign area of clothing design: weaving. Her mentor lent her a large floor loom that she used to weave her own fabrics, which came out to be a total of six yards in addition to two wall tapestries. She now plans on turning this fabric into a pillowcase or a skirt. Sayour admitted that she loved how the project allowed her to express herself.

“It was crazy and overwhelming to have the power and freedom to create whatever I wanted,” Sayour said. At this point in our conversation, her eyes visibly lit up as she told me all about the endless possibilities she had with her loom, and it was truly moving to see someone speak so passionately about their work.

She said that the whole process took her over 24 hours and that the time and energy she put into her work made her think hard about just how much effort goes into creating our fabric before it can be turned into clothing.

“It was humbling as well as emotional,” she said, “to think about how women have been doing this tedious process for hundreds of years.” She further explored the role of women with her research paper, which was focused on the evolutionary role of women in society and how it is intertwined with textiles. “Overall, I feel my work has helped me to connect with my femininity,” Sayour said.

In her research, however, it troubled her to find that the fashion industry is dominated by men despite it being a women’s craft. She knows that the fashion industry can be a harsh place with the dominating male presence, but she says that the recognition and validation that she has already earned have given her confidence and determination. And perhaps, Sayour has already started to solve the issue of male dominance by getting a job herself in the fashion business working for a local seamstress.

She started working for this local seamstress a year and a half ago and said she loves it. When she started, she said her boss would make her practice sewing buttons for hours on end, and although she says the work was boring, Sayour admits it was necessary. She gradually began working up to certain alterations, but her boss never gave her anything for free.

“When I first started using the sewing machine,” Sayour said, “my boss would make me do hem after hem after hem, and when she thought that I could do better, she made me undo the hem and do it again.” She knows that this tough love was important for her development though. Now, her skills have improved so much that her boss trusts her to do alterations on prom gowns, which can be difficult and even risky given the expense.

“Paige is an extremely talented and driven young girl,” Sayour’s boss said, “and to see her growth through hard work has made me extremely happy.”

The seamstress loves Sayour so much that, although the two have no relation, she has voiced her interest in turning the shop over to her. Overall, Sayour said that her experiences at her job have given her confidence in her abilities that she never felt before, and she knows that this will surely allow her to continue advancing in skill.

Next year, the talented youth is attending The New School in New York City where she was accepted into the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. She will also attend the Parsons School of Design, one of the top design schools in the country. Sayour said she is starting in Arts and Context, which will allow her to access classes from both schools while merging liberal arts with design and visual arts.

“Although I don’t know yet exactly what I will focus on,” she said, “I am interested in fashion communication, strategic design, and management (which relates fashion to business and marketing), as well as women’s studies.”

The New School is known for the freedom it gives its students as well as the creativity it encourages, and Sayour says that she is beyond excited for the chance to explore all of her options.

In terms of her future, Sayour, like the rest of us, doesn’t know what she wants to do yet. She knows that she doesn’t want to be a designer because of the demanding lifestyle, but the fashion industry is huge and she is considering styling, marketing, or possibly curation or art history. She also knows that even if her career doesn’t directly involve fashion, she will always have it as a hobby. Plus, her experiences have taught her so much already.

“I am usually really hard on myself,” she said, “but sewing has helped to ground me and allowed me to become patient with myself when I make mistakes.”

As our interview came to an end, Sayour gave some advice. “I would encourage everyone, men, women, whoever you are, to learn how to sew, because it is a really good skill to have. I started with mending my clothes but when I began to customize things, everything changed. Being able to fix and alter your clothing is so empowering because you don’t have to depend on anyone else but you can make your clothing your own and feel good about it.”

Hopefully, Sayour can use her popularity to help others find an interest in fashion. If not an interest specifically in fashion though, the icon will undoubtedly encourage others to embrace their hobbies and follow their own paths. She has already inspired so many of her peers with her creativity, uniqueness, and talent. Make sure to keep your eye out for Paige Sayour, as she is truly an outstanding person and will certainly rise above and beyond on whatever path she chooses.