Esaie Couture Design School, Brooklyn

Each era has its own distinct style, whether it's the flapper fashions of the Roaring Twenties or the bell-bottomed disco inferno of the 1970s. Yet, as colorful, irreverent, and chest-hair friendly as certain fashions have been over time, they all originated from a humble needle and thread. "Sewing," as co-owner and co-founder of Esaie Couture Design School Wanda Bruno says, "is totally creative, but practical. It's one of those skills that you have for a lifetime."

Wanda's first foray into the fashion world was as a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she studied tailoring and menswear. The specificity and accuracy tailoring required established a firm foundation for her skills, which she used to land roles on design teams at Calvin Klein, Brooks Brothers, and Ralph Lauren, where she worked during the launch of Polo Sport in the early 1990s. No matter her place of employment, her style philosophy remained timeless: "Ill-fitting clothes throughout the ages will never look good. A good fit is tremendously important."

Wanda now shares her tailoring talents with the homemakers, hobbyists, and aspiring designers who populate her school. There, instructors reveal sewing basics during intensive single-day workshops and teach new skills. During long-term workshops ranging from four or six weeks to three or six months, students build skills that help them construct career paths in the fashion industry or to start their own businesses.