Swiss-born designer Stina Sayre has fashion in her genes. “I love to design, that’s what I do,” she said recently from her Vineyard Haven studio and store. “I come from a clothing family in Sweden. My grandfather started a clothing company and my uncles took it over. I worked in the business as a kid,” she said. Mrs. Sayre began taking classes and courses in design and technique. It wasn’t until moving to Martha’s Vineyard 20 years ago (after meeting her husband, Nevin, both champion windsurfers) that Mrs. Sayre turned her full attention to the craft.

Last year, Mrs. Sayre opened her own store, Stina Sayre Design, on Beach street extension in Vineyard Haven across from the Black Dog Tavern. “It’s a European style,” she said of the ladies’ coats, skirts, dresses, tops and pants she designs herself. For the first time in her 20-year career, Mrs. Sayre has finally hired an assistant to help with the sewing. “It’s modern and classic, functional clothing. Very elegant.”

Mrs. Sayre visits New York city twice a year to collect fabric left over from high-end designers like Donna Karan. From her studio, Mrs. Sayre designs and produces four new lines each year. She also does custom work. “I use any beautiful fabric,” she said. “French linen satin, voile, many fabrics. And one that I call candy wrapper fabric. It’s so stiff with bits of metal and silk — incredible.”

For an evening out, Mrs. Sayre recommends walking out of her store dressed in a Stina Sayre Design ensemble or simply going with one choice piece, like a bright blue coat to top off a cocktail dress. Prices range from $665 to $1,700. Whatever the occasion, Mrs. Sayre encourages her customers to visit the store and see firsthand where their clothes come from. “For all of us locals here, it’s locally made. We’re not sending this to China. People can come in here and can see the process of making a garment and truly, that’s what I enjoy.”

For more details on Stina Sayre Design, visit her store or see online stinasayre.com.

At L’Atelier, a back-alley store above Che’s Lounge on Main street Vineyard Haven, designer and seamstress Chrysale Parrot offers a little something for everyone. “I offer everything from comfortable, casual sundresses to summer linens,” Ms. Parrot said. She also sells girls’ dresses.

For her inspiration, Ms. Parrot looks to two different historical periods in history. “I draw from the forties and fifties, back when women wore very feminine dresses that were incredibly comfortable and they could do a lot in them,” she said. She also designs clothes with what she calls a modernized Victorian flair. Ms. Parrot uses fabric from Zambia, from across the United States and, when she can, from the Heath Hen, a fabric shop in Tisbury.

For any type of party large or small, casual or elegant, Ms. Parrot recommends a simple cotton dress, $168, which can be worn alone or can be dressed up with a crinoline (an under skirt with tulle) and heels for a more swanky affair. For something extra fancy, Ms. Parrot said her favorite is a linen skirt with a bustle in back, $224, and a blouse, $150.

For those wishing to go truly local from head to toe, Ms. Parrot will re-cover shoes with fabric to match a dress and is trying to get ladies back into old-fashioned undergarments, which she designs, sews and sells at her store. “One of my goals is to get women back into petticoats, they are so comfortable, and pantelettes. They’ve really been catching on,” she said. Ms. Parrot also sells corsets. One source interviewed for this piece claims all this talk of locally-made underwear is superfluous: “Oh, well who wears underwear on the Vineyard?” they said.

An evening out always calls for a fresh face, so before donning local duds, wash with goat’s milk soap made by Emily Fischer of Flat Point Farm in West Tisbury. Available at Morning Glory Farm, Alley’s General Store, the Allen Farm and at Jenni Bick Bookbinding in Vineyard Haven, the soaps contain milk from Ms. Fischer’s own goats, shea butter and oils. They sell for $8 a bar.

And as anyone knows, the right outfit is never complete without the perfect accessories.

For the past 20 years, Susan Handy has made handbags of various sizes from fabric and leather in her Edgartown home. In August, Mrs. Handy and her bags can be found Sundays and Thursdays at the Artisans Festival at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury, a sale of crafts, clothes and jewelry all hand made on Martha’s Vineyard. “I actually sew every single piece myself and that is true for a lot of people up there,” Mrs. Handy said of her fellow artisans. “That is why people like shopping there. They are buying things that are one-of-a-kind in some cases and unique and you meet the person that’s making them, which makes it special. You’re not just going into a store and buying something that anyone out there can go and get.”

Her bags range in price from $60 to $225. A pot of lavender balm, made with local lavender blossoms, fits perfectly inside. The balm, made by Holly Bellebuono of Chilmark, moisturizes lips and other dry body parts and sells for $8 at either the West Tisbury farmers’ market or at vineyardherbs.com.

For jewelry, spring for a necklace, bracelet, earrings or pin made of wampum, shell beads made from quahog shells collected on Vineyard beaches. Many jewelers work in the medium and their items can be found across the Island, from the Gay Head cliffs to Sioux Eagle Designs on Main street Vineyard Haven.

When it comes to footwear, consider yourself lucky to come across a pair of Cakewalk sandals. Designer Valerie Reese stopped making them more than 20 years ago, but she still runs into customers who ask for more. “People still ask me if I make them,” she said. “But, it’s hard to make a living making them in small quantities and really, I didn’t want to be a factory.”

Ms. Reese sold her pastel-colored sandals ($30 to $35) and art shoes ($175 for pairs shaped like bluefish, watermelon and other whimsical designs) at local stores, off-Island shops and in her own gallery.

With August upon us, the evenings will get cooler, so pick up a shawl made from Allen Farm lambswool. “The sheep are sheared in the spring, the wool gets washed in New Hampshire, spun in Maine and is woven here by Clare Ives and Margaret Logue,” said Clarissa Allen who runs the shop on her South Road Chilmark farm where the shawls are available. For the lady in need of something local for her arm candy, the shop, open every afternoon, also sells men’s vests and sweaters made from the wool. Shawls are now available in soft lavender, pink and a natural cream. They cost $135.

And for the forward thinking, jot down the dates of the Columbus Day and Thanksgiving Artisans Festivals, both held at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury. Besty Edge will be there with her fleece jackets — casual and dressy — as well as hats, mittens, faux fur coats and velvet capes perfect for fall.

“I think it’s very important to buy locally-made everything,” said Ms. Edge, who has been making clothing for 40 years. “I think it helps people feel connected. Most people don’t know where our food comes from. We certainly don’t know where our clothes come from, or the art on our walls. If we buy locally, we have a sense of connection that’s important.”

And plus, it just plain looks good.

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