• Origin
• Company
• Mission
• Values
• Social Responsibility

Chemisettes by Anne [pronounced shem-uh-zet']

Origin

Chemisettes by Anne were born out of a desire to have the benefits of a camisole or tank top without any of the negatives that can come with wearing two layers. We knew if we searched enough we could find dickeys, but that really wasn't what we had in mind. Dickeys only come in two styles, turtleneck and mock turtleneck. Besides, women don't like pulling dickeys over their hair if they decide they need something more after they have done their hair and make-up. If they are already dressed, they have to undress and redress to add a camisole, tank top, or shell. If they are out somewhere, wearing a camisole, and get too hot with two layers, they need go to a ladies room, remove their blouse, remove the camisole, then put the blouse back on, and hope their handbag is large enough to put the camisole inside until they return home. Otherwise, they just have to sweat it out until they return home.

About ten to fifteen years ago we found something that was called a lace dickie. It was one-size fits all and attached to bra straps using plastic garter clips. It didn’t really work very well for us. First of all, women know that one-size cannot possibly fit all women’s chests. It did stretch, but that pulled the bra straps in and caused the lace to look funny. The lace was tall and floppy, so it didn’t always stay up. Not all women like to wear lace anyway. The plastic garter clips didn’t fit well on wider or thicker bra straps. The plastic clips rubbed the skin, so if you wore it for more than a few hours, your skin became red and sore. Eventually the clips broke. Still, the idea was what we had in mind, it just wasn’t ideal.

We worked on a different design and then created a focus group of women who wore our new pretend camisoles and reported back to us what did and didn’t work for them, and what they thought would make them better. After several months of trial and error and feedback, we came to what you see today. While researching lots of different names for our pretend camisole, we came across a garment from the mid-19th century that served a similar purpose. It was called a chemisette. [pronounced shem-uh-zet'] It made sense to us to use the same term.

Women seemed to quickly fall in love with our chemisettes. If you already have a top or blouse on and decide you want or need something more, you don’t have to take your top or blouse off to add a chemisette. Just as easily, if you decide at the last minute that you don’t want the chemisette, you can easily slip it off without taking anything else off. You can wear it to the office and slip it off in the car on your way to a social evening. It is so small and lightweight that it fits in even a small handbag. For women who have a few favorite blouses or sweaters that they wear frequently, a chemisette is an inexpensive way to give them a different look.

Lots of knock-offs have appeared on the market since we began selling our chemisettes more than 3 years ago. Even the lace dickie has reappeared on the market. We have a patent pending that covers several aspects of our design, but you'll see marketing verbiage and efforts that mimic ours. Superior quality and functionality, and excellent customer service, will always be our top priorities. You can read feedback we've received from lots of customers. We will also continue to update and expand the styles of chemisettes that are available. Other women who have tried them have developed a list of reasons why they love their chemisettes. You can watch a video about them here.

We are so sure you will love your chemisette, that we offer a 30-day guarantee. If you don't love it, just return it and tell us why you didn't so we can use that information to continue improving our products. Of course, if you have your own reasons for loving our chemisettes, we would love to hear from you.

Company

After working for many years in management positions for local, national, and international businesses, B. Anne Frey started her own company in 1999, in Indianapolis, Indiana, after finishing her M.A. in Psychology. The focus of her studies was dreams, spiritual life, and research. Through her new company, named The Wisdom of Dreams, she worked as a dream consultant. As a dream specialist, she gave lectures, taught classes, led dream groups, and saw individuals for private consultations. In the meantime, she continued her education to complete a Ph.D. in humanties so she could continue to pursue her passion for dreams and spiritual life.

Several years after she started her company, one of Anne’s uncles passed away. As she drove home from the visitation, she contemplated the hours she had just spent with family and friends of her uncle. Thinking about the stories that she had heard and the poster boards that displayed so many aspects of his life, she realized she had no idea how he had made his living. She had heard nothing about how he made a living. There was nothing on the poster boards about how he made a living. She realized that life for him was not about making a living. It was about making a life – and it was the way she wanted to live her life. At that moment she made the decision to be much more conscious about how she spent her days, and she changed the name of her business to reflect that. Her company became an LLC and took the name Making A Life.

Making A Life LLC now comprises several divisions, all representing Anne’s passions, goals, and worldview. Chemisettes by Anne is the latest division of Making A Life. It was founded in 2007 to manufacture and sell a product that Anne designed. Because of the features provided by its unique design, she filed for a patent.

Since that time many "modesty panel" competitors have entered the market. While aspects of their designs and verbiage and videos of their marketing mimic ours, because of our pending patent, none of those products offer the variety of features and solutions that our chemisettes provide.

We are proud to have established an international reputation for quality craftsmanship and excellent customer service. Our chemisettes are all handcrafted, which means human error does occur from time to time. However, we are diligent about making sure our customers are satisifed with the way issues are resolved.

Join the many thousands of satisfied customers, and give us a chance to provide you with the excellent product and service that we aspire to provide each and every day.

Mission
To produce a quality women's fashion accessory that solves many current clothing problems women face related to clothing budget, fashions (low necklines), physical condition (surgical scars, et. al.), stage of life (menopause), motherhood (nursing mothers), profession (teachers, caregivers and businesswomen), and more, and to offer this product at a reasonable price.

To provide exceptional customer service, and to make sure that profit does not get in the way of doing what is right for our customers.

Values

We value integrity, honesty, and respect of others.

Social Responsibility

We believe that all companies have a social responsibility to not be solely devoted to profit and to make a positive impact on the customers they serve and the companies they do business with. We believe that companies have as much responsibility as individuals to do what they can to take care of our planet.

We live this responsibility by treating others with kindness and respect, and by making decisions and running our business in a manner that is good for others and for the planet.