Sarah Rochford - Creative with clothes

Have you ever found yourself looking for something new to wear on Saturday night but wishing you had more money for a better wardrobe? Sarah Rochford has invented the solution - the $100 Challenge at H&M! Sarah heads over to H&M with $100 in her wallet ... and walks out with a complete outfit for a night on the town.

Sarah is an artist in Brooklyn, New York who's been creative with clothes since she was in high school in Hallsville, Texas. As a teenager she used to swap clothes with her aunt in Dallas, because the choice of clothes in her aunt's sophisticated city was more varied than in Sarah's small town. Sarah and her aunt swapped clothing, jewelry, shoes and accessories. Then Sarah moved to Mesa, Arizona and discovered thrift shops! She learned to sew after she bought clothes at Buffalo Exchange and decided to adjust them to fit her.

Sarah combined her love of clothes with an interest in theater when she went to Texas State University-San Marcos. While she was at college she started to design costumes for children's shows. The first actors she made costumes for were cast as Clydesdale horses. Sarah put them in body suits with feathers, boas, leather ribbons and chaps! Children's theater has remained Sarah's favorite kind of theater ever since.

When Sarah moved to New York in 2001 she designed costumes for readings of Dance Around the Sun, a play by Danny Rocket based on a freak show at Coney Island. After that she was a dresser for several Broadway shows, including Rock & Roll by Tom Stoppard, Spamalot by John Du Prez, Eric Idle, and Neil Innes, The Light in the Piazza by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas, and Wonderful Town by Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

Sarah also worked for a time on The Big Gay Sketch Show on TV, where she was an assistant to dresser and styist Bobby Pierce. One of Sarah's most memorable moments was when she answered Bobby's phone and Bette Midler was on the other end of the line!

As a dresser, Sarah not only helped actors in and out of their costumes, she also maintained the look of the costumes and did any necessary laundering and repairs. Her most recent work was at the Public Theater in New York, where she was a props artisan and shopper.

Sarah continues to enjoy putting together her own look. She keeps a mannequin in her apartment that she dresses with a variety of outfits to see what looks good on her. She usually starts with the shoes, although sometimes she starts with the earrings - her relative Ma has fabulous costume jewelry that she shares with Sarah, and Sarah's grandmother also sends her jewelry from her collection.

Sarah likes well-made clothes, although she feels labels and brands focus too much on making money. Two of her favorite fashion designers are Betsy Johnson and Valentino. If you're looking for clothes in New York, Sarah recommends Darling, a dress shop in Greenwich Village at the corner of Horatio Street and 8th Avenue (map).

Sarah would like to return to school to expand her creative horizons. She's considering programs in fashion, art and design, or industrial design. Whatever she studies, she wants to be in a workshop that promotes "green" processes and techniques and where she can continue to express her creative nature.