FASHION IS HER CALLING
Tijuana Harvey is not only the marketing manager at Saks Fifth Avenue Galleria, she sews many of her own pieces and once auditioned for ‘America’s Next Top Model.’
Fashion is a major part of Tijuana Harvey’s life as marketing manager at Saks Fifth Avenue Galleria. That’s by design.
Becoming a fashion editor was her dream when she graduated from Texas State University with a degree in fashion merchandising.
She hoped she’d move to New York and become a “nicer” version of Miranda Priestly from “The Devil Wears Prada.”
But first Harvey had to meet her mother’s demand — that she find a job before she moved.
“I would email editors every week until someone finally got tired of me and said, ‘yes,’ ” Harvey said.
She landed an internship at Glamour magazine and packed up her Nissan Sentra bound for New York. She later freelanced for In Style magazine.
At 5 feet 9 inches tall, Harvey also snagged several modeling jobs and even auditioned for “America’s Next Top Model” in 2005.
“I was obsessed with the show,” she said. “There were thousands of women in line. I remember exactly what I had on: purple, suede boots, denim culottes, a chunky sweater, and my hair was a pixie — blondish color. I was so excited.”
Harvey, who is a size 8, was deemed ‘plus-size’ by the casting judges and made it to the one-on-one interviews but didn’t make the final cut.
“I didn’t get a call back, but it makes a good story,” she said with a laugh.
Advancing in the fashion-publishing world was tough. Harvey took a job as an assistant buyer at G&G Rave and later worked as a consultant at a wedding atelier.
She moved back to Houston in 2007 and went to work at the Hilton Americas Hotel in special events. Three years later she joined Saks’ marketing department.
A graduate of Elkins High School, Harvey says she grew up a tomboy who preferred Cross Colours jackets and Girbaud jeans to almost anything frilly. But she learned to sew from her mother and started making tops and skirts on weekends.
(Her parents, Fernando and Bonita, met as students at the University of Mississippi. Though neither has Spanish roots, they named their only child Tijuana.)
Harvey learned about “ladylike” dressing from her mother, who “taught me that dressing conservative can still be alluring and sexy.”
Even today, Harvey sews a number of her pieces. Her style evolved since her New York days.
“I used to think everyone was more stylish in New York, but the reality is I had more style than I gave myself credit for,” she said.
Harvey, who sings and acts, has a new dream these days: acting. She’s taken acting classes at Page Parkes Center of Modeling and Acting.
“I would love to see this evolve and maybe do some commercials. I used to want to be an actress. We’ll see.”