If you were at Black Rock City JCC Shabbat services at Burning Man, you couldn’t miss Santa Cruz entrepreneur Jude Marks.
Attending Burning Man in Black Rock Desert, Nev., for her third summer in a row, Marks showed up in one of her signature handmade bustiers. It wasn’t, however, the notorious “Spin My Dreidel” — that one’s for sale only, Marks says.
Woven with light blue beads and metallic ribbon, “Spin My Dreidel” even has a Star of David sewn smack in the middle of … well, you know.
“Think Victoria’s Secret meets John Waters” is how Curve magazine described the bustiers when it featured Marks’ business, Sparkle Plenty Creations, in its June issue. (The name of the mother-daughter company was inspired by a “Sparkle Plenty” doll Marks had as a little girl.)
“No two are exactly alike,” says Marks, who’s a member of Temple Beth El in Aptos and attends a regular Torah study group there. She works with “adventurous women of all ages and sizes who are looking for sexy, glamorous and outrageous bustiers to wear to parties, clubs and other events.”
A bustier at Purim, anyone?
But if you think this might be too racy for the local Jewish community, you’ve got it wrong.
“Rabbi Rick” Litvak from Temple Beth El is one of Marks’ biggest fans. Her friend and fellow synagogue member Marilyn Rigler showed off “The Sweetheart” bustier — complete with pink lace and roses — for her birthday party.
“Marilyn said it was her gift to herself for her 80th birthday, and that it is important for her to live life to the fullest and to be open to new experiences,” Marks says. “She said wearing a bustier was out of character for her … and she was pleased that she had gone beyond herself in being able to do that.”
Marks arrives at Fat Apples in Berkeley in a prominent red denim jacket, and her passion is infectious. She explains that she started her business to “bring out the goddess in every woman.”
When Marks pulls her bustiers from a bag and drapes them across the table, the waitress comes by. She stares and points at the “Marrakesh Woman” teal bustier on the table. She says, “Madonna can wear that!”
Marks says that she was inspired by her seamstress grandmother, who came to the United States from Ukraine. “When I started the business and was sitting at my sewing machine in the afternoons I felt like I was following in her footsteps,” she says.
Marks, who’s also part of Chadeish Yameinu, the Jewish Renewal community in Santa Cruz, worked for decades as an instructional designer at both Apple and Lockheed, while raising her now 24-year-old daughter, Gabriana, as a single mom.
She was a regular reader of Jewish Bulletin (now j.) columnist Ari Davidow, who wrote about technology and Judaism, which she says inspired her early dreams to start her own business.
“I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” notes Marks, who took her first bustier workshop in San Francisco in the summer of 2004.
“The workshop leader opened up this whole sparkly world to me,” she says.
Before taking off for Burning Man at the end of August, Marks ran an ad on Craigslist to advertise her bustiers:
“Bring the girls in style to Burning Man 2006! Feature them in ribbons, beads, jewels, appliqués, metallic charms, chains, sequins, fuzzies and other lovely embellishments in a one-of-a-kind, handmade bustier.”
The emails poured in, and business is booming.
One of Marks’ clients was so thrilled when she tried on her bustier, she emailed the designer right away: “You’ve awakened the playful side in me.”
Today Marks’ daughter, Gabriana, who just started working in the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation’s campaign department, is the designer of Sparkle Plenty Creations’ “Pink Collection.”
That’s because Marks loves “other colors, and Gabriana said, ‘But Mom, you don’t have any pink.'”
At Sparkle Plenty Creations, the bustiers really do sparkle. Marks scours the Internet and garment districts of San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles to look for new shiny adornments. She refers to the jewels in the middle of each breast as “the focal point.”
Marks loves designing bustiers for women of every size, and women who are otherwise shy and reserved. “That’s been the joy in all of this, to see the change in them” after they put one of her creations on, she says.
Prices range from $59 to $189, and every bustier comes with a tag that reads “Made with love.”
And life after Burning Man?
Marks will be busy custom-designing bustiers for her customers’ upcoming parties — so order now for Purim!
For more information, visit www.sparkleplentycreations.com.