Every item tells a story

Delicate details and intricate cuts; Lucy Greyling has been entrusted to craft masterpieces for more than 40 years.

Revered as one of the best designers in the province, women turn to Lucy to craft breath-taking wedding and ball gowns. As creativity feeds her soul, she stitches together spectacular ensembles for every occasion.

“My mother and two generations before her were seamstresses, so it was destined for me to go in the same direction,” she said.

She decided on a career in fashion while she was still in school. After matric, she was a student at the Ivan Kirsten Academy of Fashion in Johannesburg, followed by a course at Linda’s School of Haute Couture.

“After my course, I worked as an intern at Linda’s for about a year, where I gained more experience and confidence in the designing world.”

Lucy moved on to a clothing factory, where she worked as a fashion designer for the next three years. During that time, she met the love of her life, and married him. After Lucy’s first child was born, she decided to become a stay-at-home mom and pursue her career from the comfort of her own home.

Soon, brides from all over the country knocked on her door, requesting her to design and make the dresses for their big days.

“I just love working with people, and doing it in my own time meant I could make sure brides left with the perfect dress,” she said.

According to Lucy, the most difficult challenge she faced in her line of work is when a client refuses to follow her advice regarding a suitable design.

“You have to have that bond and trust with a client, so if you see the pattern is not going to complement the bride, she can trust you enough to alter it a little, but can still get the result she came in hoping to get.”

Lucy emphasised the importance of using the correct material when making dresses. She is passionate about designing and making evening dresses, using couture lace, french silk and shiny fabrics.

“I will never use someone else’s patterns. A bride will bring me a picture of what she wants, and I will then design the pattern and dress myself.”

Lucy’s greatest role model is international wedding dress designer, Maggie Sottero, and admitted she loved it when brides would bring her a Maggie design to recreate.

Lucy described her own style as casual, but smart, and said she could never resist a good pair of jeans, as you could wear them for any occasion if coupled with the right accessories.

An eye for antiques

When Lucy is not in her studio creating masterpieces, she collects antiques; her hobby for the past 30 years.

“My mother owned a doll museum, where she displayed more than 600 dolls in glass cabinets. She would receive people’s old, unwanted dolls, repair them and put them on display. Being amused by antiques has also been a part of who I am from a young age.”

The actual displaying of her antique collection only started a few years ago, when she inherited an old sewing machine from her mother-in-law.

“It was beautiful; I couldn’t just pack it in a cupboard, but had to display it,” she enthused.

Since then, Lucy has been collecting items older than 100 years, and displays the collection in a little room in her house. Although she treasures her antiques, the light of her life is her two children and her grandchildren.

Although Lucy has a wonderful life, filled with blessings, love and happiness, she said the advice she had always followed was just to be herself and never change. She also believed kindness and empathy could get one far in life.

“Stay true to yourself, be friendly, stay a child of the Lord and lastly, always accept people for who and what they are,” she concluded.