Dianna Armstrong started her business, Make De Run Golf Shop, out of fashion frustration.
She took up golf four years ago, usually playing at Turtle Hill Golf Course at the Fairmont Southampton or the Newstead Belmont Hills Golf Resort and Spa.
“I love it, but I am not very good,” Ms Armstrong said.
What she did not like was the typical golf attire. It was a downer for someone who liked to look good.
“I had a difficult time finding clothes and accessories that I liked, that would fit a curvier person,” Ms Armstrong said.
Sometimes it seemed like golf clothing manufacturers were just churning out the same men’s clothing with a different cut for women.
“That didn’t look cute,” she said. “It made me look like a tomboy. Even when going to the grocery store I try to look nice.”
Her background is in marketing and sales, but she started dabbling with fashion design to create some more attractive, better fitting, golf clothing.
“With this I could be as wild and creative as I want,” she said. “At work I have to stick within the lines. I started working with a few designers before the pandemic. Then, when the health crisis hit, it was a now or never situation.”
She carefully tested different fabrics to find the right ones for her clothing. She wanted something that not only looked nice, but worked in Bermuda’s hot, humid climate. And she didn’t want shorts that rode up, either.
“The most challenging thing was when dealing with suppliers and designers,” she said. “They did not believe that Bermuda was a real place, or they thought it was going to be really expensive to ship to Bermuda. When they met me then they would be surprised that I was real. They thought it was a scam.”
Eventually, she got things ironed out, and launched online, last year.
“I started by selling items like golf balls,” she said. “Then I started bringing in shirts and dresses and different things.”
She recently added eight different dresses to her line-up.
“They are really light and comfortable in the heat,” she said. “You could wear them around the house or at the grocery store.”
She also sells speakers, gloves, sun sleeves, hats, funky socks, tea towels and other items.
In the beginning, it was extremely difficult getting her clothing to Bermuda. At the time there were still long shipping delays caused by Covid-19.
But Ms Armstrong said shipping is getting better.
“Sometimes it is getting here faster, but I have lowered my expectations,” she said. “If suppliers say it will be here in two weeks, I think yeah, three or four weeks is more like it. Then I am surprised if it does arrive in two weeks.”
She has a full-time job, but wakes at 5am to work on Make de Run.
“If a client needs something during the day, someone in my family will deliver it for me,” she said.
She offers clothing for women and men. And so far, the majority of her customers are male. They like the comfort and style of her shirts.
“I knew I would get a lot of men because there are a lot of men who play golf,” she said. “There are a lot of women who play golf as well but they don’t play as often or they stick with certain groups. When I first started to play golf, I joined the Executive Women’s Golf Association. It is now called the Ladies Professional Golf Association amateurs.”
She loves when she is out on the golf course and spots her outfits.
www.makederun.com
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