Volita Tucker – The dress that impressed

The orange sheath that got the Best Evening Wear nod from the judges at the recently held Miss St Vincent and the Grenadines pageant was conceived and made right here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by local seamstress and designer Volita Tucker.{{more}}

Tucker, who originally hails from Chateaubelair, told SEARCHLIGHT that she began sewing professionally about fifteen years ago, but before that, she sewed for family members and close friends, along with doing needle work such as knitting, crochet and smocking.

Tucker said that a sketch of the dress was brought to her by Williams’s chaperone and they both sat down and came up with the final design. She also said that Miss SVG 2009 has a very nicely shaped body to which the dress molded easily, and that she wore it with confidence: “We didn’t have to make a lot of adjustments. Everything was just right,” Tucker said.

The orange gown, named “Sunset bliss”, is made from kayana fabric. It is a long sleeved dress giving full body cover except in the mid section where the navel is exposed. All of the materials used in making the gown were sourced in SVG.

No stranger to having her creations in beauty pageants, Tucker said that in 2007, one of her designs worn by her daughter Dieta won the Best Evening Gown category in the Miss North Leeward pageant. Dieta also won the pageant. When Veronique Williams entered the Miss North Leeward pageant last year, she also wore a Volita Tucker creation, but she didn’t win the Best Gown category. However, she placed 2nd runner up over all.

While Tucker has no idea if she will work on Williams’s dress for the Miss Carival Pageant, she said that she is excited about the prospect, “You see, I like to experiment and try new things,” she said.

The down to earth but shy Tucker said that although she doesn’t advertise, she is quite busy with work that comes in when her daughters and other persons are seen wearing her creations. Tucker makes ties for four secondary schools in SVG; she also makes drapes and cushions and is also presently making trousers and tropical jackets for men.