The Beautiful Story of Madeline Marie’s Made-To-Order Dresses

Photo: @madeline__marie_

Last year, when Madeline Manning was moving out of her childhood home, she found notebooks filled with sketches she’d drawn as a little girl. All over the pages were written the words, “By Madeline Marie.” Young Madeline had dreamed of being a fashion designer. And as fate would have it, I met her just last week at an NYFW pop-up in SoHo where hanging in a beautiful display, was the first collection from her made-to-order brand, “Madeline Marie”. 

Madeline came from a maternal lineage of seamstresses. The beauty of meaningful garments- it seems- is in her blood. Growing up, her mother would take her on trips to Joann’s to shop for patterns and never fail to come up with something beautiful. After attending college for merchandising followed by a year of design, the designer moved to New York City to work a corporate fashion job. “We just need to get to New York,” she recalls telling herself, “and I can find my way.”

Photo: @madeline__marie_

But the universe had other ideas. The calendar year flipped to 2020. And when the pandemic hit, Madeline packed a suitcase and went back to her family home in Texas where she lived for seven months. Furloughed from her job and feeling (like so many of us did) quite bored, the designer turned to her Dad’s newspapers for entertainment. But not for reading– instead, Madeleine used the clippings to make dress patterns in her living room. 

A frustration with puff-sleeve dresses not seeming puffy enough made way for that first Madeline Marie pattern. “I don't like my arms, and I don't really like tight-fitting things,” Madeline shared with me on an unseasonably warm day in the backyard of a Lower East Side cafe, “it was the perfect pattern because it fit my chest and I covered my arms and then the rest was flowy.” So Madeline made her dream dress… and it fit her perfectly. Like so many of us, Madeline had trouble with standard store sizing, wittily identifying her size as “medium-and-a-half”.  But there, in her family home, she had made something in a size-Madeline. 

Naturally, her friends wanted a Madeline Marie dress too (they have that effect). Madeleine asked each of them for their measurements– if she was going to make dresses for her friends, they were going to fit them perfectly too.

The designer was stubborn about getting fit right from the beginning. She’d not only experienced sizing frustration firsthand but watched her loved ones deal with it. “My sister is plus-sized,” Madeline explained, “I made her dresses because she really struggles to find clothes. So she was able to wear dresses that fit her perfectly too. That part is really rewarding.”

Photo: @madeline__marie_

Having mistaken obstacles for opportunities back home, Madeline was eventually able to move back to NYC. By then, Instagram had done what Instagram does: What were once requests from friends, quickly became requests from friends-of-friends, long-lost acquaintances, and even strangers. What’s more, Madeline’s dress-making “side hustle” had managed to take hold of her heart.

Fast forward to this past January, and a sea of fabrics took over Madeline’s apartment where she worked hours on end creating a collection for the fashion week showcase. Among the extremely fast, saturated, and exclusive world of New York Fashion Week, the Madeline Marie brand stood out for its slowness, intimacy, and inclusivity. While for the young designer, it was hard not to get swept up in comparison, it was clear from the outside that her commitment to creating unique garments is exactly what would continue drawing people in.

Over our coffee the following week, I asked Madeline if she’d ever considered changing her process to scale in an easier way. “I know there's a way that I can produce these dresses so that I can make more money and more inventory,” she said, “I've just never wanted to take that leap. Because to me, what's special about my collection and my dresses is that I get to work with [customers]...That's the joy that I find in making these dresses. I would never want to give up that intimate relationship.”

And to give you a sense of just how “intimate” it is, here’s how you get a custom dress made to adorn your totally unique body and spirit: It starts with ‘hello’. Wearers reach out through the Madeline Marie order form and find inspiration in a style. There are many to browse, and from them, you can get a little creative: an added rouche here, a lower hemline there… you get the picture. Madeline will help by asking which silhouettes you love on your body or what colors seem to make your skin glow. She’ll also introduce you to her collection of vintage fabrics or go shopping in Manhattan’s garment district with you in mind. With your measurements and a fabric you decide on together, your dress comes to life. It’s yours to love, lifetime alterations included. Because-believe it or not-bodies change, but your custom Madeline Marie is here to stay. 

In the world we live in today, it’s almost hard to believe that when we buy clothes, they should fit our body just right, forever. Talking to Madeline, a part of me felt there was something almost radical in the nature of the brand. I wondered if perhaps Madeline’s mother and her seamstressing had gifted her with the possibility of clothes that fit, last, and meant something. 

It was then that the designer shared that her mother passed away in 2018. “The very last day before I came out to New York for an internship, she hemmed a jumpsuit for me,” she remembered, “It was the last day that I saw her before she passed away. She's been a big influence. She was a power mom. She would be all over this dress business. She would be so into it. One of my favorite dresses is called The Roxy and her name is Roxanne, so it's very special to me.” 

Madeline went on to tell me what amazing cheerleaders her dad and sister have been, reminding her how unbelievably proud her mom would be. And the thing is… you just know that somewhere, she is. Hell, I just met the girl and I’m proud of her. It’s easy to be proud of how dedicated she is to helping people feel beautiful, comfortable, and seen. And her dreams of opening an atelier-style boutique. And the way she operates in the fashion industry with such gratitude, grace, and integrity. 

“Everything I do, I try to do the right thing,”  Madeline told me humbly, “With everything in my life, but especially in my dresses. I always had to do it right and not fast. Because people will wear dresses forever, they're not going anywhere... [I remind myself:] You're here to make people that wear your dresses feel beautiful at the end of the day. That's what you started for and what you'll always want to do.”

if you’re in NYC, find them IRL at SORA Boutique in the Lower East Side.

Reach out– Madeline is here to make you something you love!