A custom jewelry designer makes all her own clothes
“I love that idea of being a craftsman, sort of sitting at a bench and practising my craft.”
BEFORE JUMPING FEET FIRST into a career of crafting fine jewelry, Kathryn Dieroff had a good long think about what she wanted to do with her life.
It was nearly 20 years ago and she was fresh off an undergrad degree in cultural studies from Trent University with no job prospects in sight. So at her father’s urging, this native Hamiltonian spent a day at a vocational workshop answering questions, taking aptitude tests and giving a lot of thought to the jobs she’d loved most in her life.
“My favourite job that I’d had, I had been working for my parents, they were making small furniture — little shelves, tables and chairs for kids,” says Dieroff, 42, who enrolled in the Jewellery Arts program at George Brown College soon after that day and hasn’t looked back.
“I was working in the basement and I would listen to the radio and you could see the snow falling out the window and I’d sit and cut out hearts all day in the jigsaw. And I loved it. And I love that idea of being a craftsman, sort of sitting at a bench and practising my craft.”
After two years of school and a third apprenticing under a master goldsmith, Dieroff went out on her own, creating custom heirloom pieces for brides, grooms, families — anyone in the market for unique handcrafted jewelry.
Working mostly with gold and diamonds, Dieroff describes her creations as “classic” and “simple,” like the gold button studs she wears here with a matching gold bangle.
But when it comes to her wardrobe style, Dieroff, who also makes all of her own clothes including the millennial pink corduroy A-line dress and denim bolero jacket she wears here, takes a quirkier turn. She is on a quest to discover her ultimate funky style, she says. And in the process she’s done a fair bit of experimenting. This time last year she sported a red bob with blunt bangs. Before that, her mane flowed long and silver. There was also a bleached blond Marilyn Monroe ’do and before that, beachy waves.
“There was a woman at my church growing up and she only wore black and white,” says Dieroff, who donned a pair of turquoise John Fluevog lace-up heels to complete her outfit. “And she had white hair and she had one black stripe in the front. And I just thought she was fantastic. And I love that idea.”
Dieroff ’s funky side really shines in her textile work, like the giant pink tropical bow she adds to her outfit or in her line of handmade neckties and pocket squares, all in fun prints, that are available on her web store.
“I was making a pair of wedding bands for a friend and he asked me if I could make him a Star Wars tie for his wedding,” says Dieroff, who is planning a rebranding of her jewelry and textile lines under the name Smith and Tailor, of how she got into making ties. “I posted the Star Wars tie on my personal Facebook page and I sold 17 of them.”
Most eye-catching piece
Probably the giant bows. I do bright colours, I do fun patterns; they can be worn up framing the face; I can tie it a little bit lower so it’s more like a necklace.
Quirkiest wardrobe item
I’m dedicated to fingerless gloves. I wear them all the time. As soon as it starts to cool down, rather than putting on a warm jacket, I have little, short, cashmere ones and I have longer wool fingerless gloves. I knit them all myself and my husband thinks I’m ridiculous because half the time in the winter my fingers are cold. But I hate not being able to do things with my hands in a mitten.
Wardrobe must-have
I like to have a great jacket … something that’s very distinctive. I like the ’40s style of this cropped bolero. Something that is interesting and dramatic like capes, or something that is funky and cool and fitted and stylish in a jacket.
Best purchase
My Fluevogs. I love them … I got them at Miller Shoes.
Regrets buying
I do this and I regret it every time — going bra shopping, which is like hell on Earth. I will get tired and exasperated and I will go with the one that fits the best. Which doesn’t mean that it fits. It just fits the best and I go, ‘Ugh, good enough.’ And then I regret it.
Loves shopping at
Blackbird Studios. Everything in there is fantastic. They have so many different styles and it all looks great.
Ridding her closet of
Fast fashion. I make my own T-shirts. I don’t want to go into a mall and buy another garment for $7 that is going to have holes in it in days and I’m no longer doing that.
Splurges on
I splurge on shoes … always leather or natural fibres. I don’t want to buy cheap plastic nothing shoes anymore. Ten years ago I was in a place where I wasn’t making a lot of money at the time, I was in California visiting my family and I bought this way too expensive pair of heels. But they were amazing and I still wear them and they’re still fantastic. And so I feel like I spend a long time looking. I don’t buy a lot of shoes, but when I buy them, I’m spending money.
Beauty product she can’t live without
Water.