"By Her Own Design" chronicles the remarkable journey of Ann Lowe, a resilient Black woman who defied personal hardships and racial prejudices to become a renowned fashion designer for the elite. Told in the first person, with excellent storytelling, we learn a possible scenario of the life of Ann Lowe, an under-recognized but very talented fashion designer to the rich and famous.

Lowe learned the craft of sewing from her mother and grandmother as a very young child. She goes far beyond being a seamstress - she is a self-taught fashion designer. Her mother and grandmother instilled in her an ambition for success and a desire to serve a distinguished clientele. While they instruct her in the way of a Black woman navigating a white world, and she learns well how to navigate that world, she also desires to be seen and acknowledged.

Piper Huguley does a beautiful job of bringing us into Anne Lowe's world. We travel through the trauma of being a child bride and the discomfort of living in a world of condescending people. While this is fictionalized history, and we can't know what happened to who, when, and the factual details, we do get a real sense of being there.

I read this book for our February book club discussion and am looking forward to visiting with others about it. I am not a fashion person or at all fashionable, but that did not keep me from thoroughly enjoying this book. It is often heartbreaking yet quite inspiring.