Fox 26 meteorologist sews up a storm
Whether on the air or on the town, Lisa Vaughn designs and sports her own fun looks
Sure, she’s a brainiac with degrees in statistics and math and can talk for hours about the weather.
But ask Fox 26 meteorologist Lisa Vaughn about the rhinestone, flesh-colored jumpsuit she sewed herself for Britney Spears’ Las Vegas concert in 2015, and she turns schoolgirl giddy.
“I went to see Britney in Las Vegas in 2014, but the next year I decided I needed a costume. I wanted to have the whole experience. I wanted her to see me and pick me out,” Vaughn says.
The jumpsuit is patterned after the one Spears wore in her “Toxic” video — a daring, nearnude sequined look. Vaughn kept hers G-rated. She says it was cheap to make with fabric from Wal-Mart.
The Houston native’s long blond extensions even add to her Britney-esque look. In a world of fast fashion, Vaughn, 30, is a rarity. That’s because she sews a lot of her clothes, especially the ones she wears on camera.
“I started making clothes in college because I was broke. Then I kept making them for TV because I needed a lot of clothes. Everyone watches you and knows if you wear something twice in a week.”
In her “woman’s den” (aka sewing room) in the townhome she shares with her husband, Colin Elliott, Vaughn creates her looks with a Brother sewing machine and a serger, which is used to finish fabric edges quickly. The couple, who met at a Midtown bar, married in 2015. She wore a $600 wedding dress she made from a Vogue pattern.
Vaughn has boxes and boxes of patterns and gets a lot of her fabric from High Fashion Fabrics in Midtown. She sews nearly every day and recently made three dresses in one week.
“Sometimes I make it from scratch, or I’ll buy something on sale that’s too big and redo it. I’ll add lace or a peplum.”
Her long-sleeve cloud-print dress, which cost $24 to make, recently captured the national spotlight when a Yahoo.com article featured her Instagram (@WeatherLisa) selfies wearing the dress. It took her only four hours to make.
Each dress has Vaughn’s signature tag label, “Lisa Couture.” She says her sewing skills are far from perfect, though.
“My stuff on the outside looks great, but don’t look on the inside,” she says. “I’m not the best sewer, but I get it done. I don’t like making pants. I hate zippers and buttons. I will glue down a button and cut a hole before I try to make a real button hole. I like to sew quick and dirty. It’s really utilitarian.”
Such a functional approach to sewing may be partly the result of her analytical brain.
Vaughn holds a bachelor’s degree in math and a master’s in statistics from Rice University. She finished coursework for a PhD in statistics at Rice before switching gears to get a master’s degree in geoscience from Mississippi State University with a new goal of becoming a TV meteorologist.
Her advanced-degree studies took nine years.
“I was always good in math and science, but people didn’t encourage girls into those areas. I knew it was what I wanted to study. I’ve also always been interested in studying weather.”
Her first job was the weekend meteorologist in Jackson, Miss., then she joined the NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Fla. Last March, she started as a freelancer for Fox 26 and was working full time by summer.
Her first on-air design was a wrap dress that cost $3 to make.
“I don’t wear any of my TV dresses outside of work. Most of my dresses are solid colors because TV people like that. But I really like prints,” she says.
Vaughn learned to sew as a teen. Today, she finds sewing not only relaxing but rewarding.
“When our parents sewed, they did it out of necessity. I know it’s sometimes cheaper to buy it, but I like creating something.”
However, she doesn’t sew for others.
“I hate sewing for other people. They are so demanding, and if they only wear it once, I’m like, ‘Do you know how long it took me to make?’ ”
The one exception is her sister, Leah, 25, who has a rare chromosome disorder. Vaughn made the jumpsuit that Leah wore at Vaughn’s wedding.
Changing up her look is part of her style, which is why she went from a short blond bob to a longer style with extensions.
“I changed my hair because I wanted to look like the Stephanie Zinone character from ‘Grease 2’ for Halloween. I didn’t know everyone thought it was a bad movie. I loved it, and I kept the hair because I like it.”
Come October, Vaughn will be back in Vegas for Spears’ concert for a third time.
“I’m thinking a white Elvis jumpsuit with tons of rhinestones,” Vaughn says, like the one Spears wore on the cover of her 2002 “Live From Las Vegas” DVD.
“That’s perfect. I’ve got to get started!”