FORMER CAPE RESIDENT DESIGNS CLOTHING LINE

Charlotte Elizabeth Young Slinkard wanted to be a fashion designer but opted instead for teaching.

"When I was going to Southeast Missouri State University in the late 1950s, teaching was the logical thing for women to do," said Slinkard. "Things have changed now and women can do anything."

Things have changed for Slinkard, too. She is now a clothing designer who has her own line of women's clothing, Elizabeth Young Resort Wear, which can be found primarily in shops in North and South Carolina and Florida.

The line includes loungewear, caftans, kimonos, nightshirts and some beach wear, all with a tropical flavor.

The Elizabeth Young line can also be found in downtown Cape Girardeau: at Madder Rose, a women's specialty shop operated by Evelyn Boardman, Slinkard's sister.

Slinkard and her husband, Bill Slinkard, equipment superintendent for Potashnick Construction Inc. of Cape Girardeau, moved to the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area more than a decade ago. They return to the Cape Girardeau area a couple of times a year to visit with friends and relatives.

"We have strong ties in Cape Girardeau," Slinkard said during a visit to Cape Girardeau over the holidays. "My parents, James and Mary Young, live in Chateau Girardeau here; my husband's folks, Marvin and Mariam Slinkard, live in Cape Girardeau; and my two sisters, Evelyn Boardman and Ruth Lang, live here."

Slinkard, who was an art teacher in the Cape Girardeau public schools before moving to Florida in 1980, renewed her interest in clothing design when she met Sylvia Blumenthal at the Fort Lauderdale Racquet Club.

"Mr. Blumenthal had operated a dress shop in New York," said Slinkard. "When he retired they moved to Fort Lauderdale and Sylvia continued to be involved in clothing by working at a Miami wholesale market.

"I didn't really want to get back into teaching in Florida," said Slinkard. "I started going to the Miami show, did some work there, and did some modeling.

"I did this for several years, and finally decided to produce my own products for the show," she said. "I've always been able to sew I made wedding dresses for my two sisters, a sister-in-law and myself. I figured if other people could do it so could I."

A year and a half ago she introduced her Elizabeth Young line at the Miami Market and Show.

"I used my middle and maiden name for the line," she said.

"I do my own patterns and make the samples for the show," she explained. "Miami was a great place to start my business. There are numerous small factories there."

Slinkard contacted three factories and utilizes each of them.

Slinkard uses 100 percent cotton fabric for her line.

"Things were tough for a new manufacturer," she said. "Retail sales were soft at the time, and getting into clothing manufacturing was no easy task. It is a tough market."

Slinkard's first big sale was to a shop in the world class Breaker's Hotel in Palm Beach.

The Elizabeth Young line is now shown in big clothing and market shows in Miami five times a year and in Charlotte, Orlando and Atlanta.

"We have a sales representative working the Florida market and another one working the eastern coast of North and South Carolina," she said.

"My husband is very supportive of the business," said Slinkard. "He also does my bookkeeping."

Slinkard said she still has time for occasional tennis matches with Blumenthal.