Local woman invents fashion accessory that will never go out of style

By MINDY TATE, Editor
mtate@williamsonherald.com

It is the busy holiday season and it is easy to reach into the closet and pull out that favorite Christmas sweater or that old reliable dress or sports coat that everyone says looks so good on you.

But are people remembering you for what you wear or for what you wear too often?

That’s the idea behind a Franklin woman’s new business venture, Memory Clothes Planner, which is designed to help you “Know When to Wear it and When You’ve Worn It.”

Pam Palmer, who had a busy life as wife of local dentist Dr. Lee Palmer as well as mother of two children, is the brains behind Memory Clothes Planner, featured this past week on HGTV after host Nancy Glass saw Palmer’s invention at AmericasMart in Atlanta earlier this year.

Designed to track when garments have been worn, at what event the outfit appeared, even who saw the article of clothing and what accessories make it truly shine, the Memory Clothes Planner started with Palmer trying to help her mother broaden her fashion horizons.

“I was with my mother and we were going through her closet and I said you are wearing this too much,” Palmer said. “She told me I was wrong, but I put an index card on the hanger as a reminder. She called up and said you are right.”

Fast forward a couple of years through Palmer’s busy schedule of parenting, helping husband Lee manage his rental properties and attending every sporting event of her two active sons and she found herself thinking — and praying — about her future.

She describes it as “praying for a purpose,” and she said the idea of organizing her mother’s closet and then hers returned to her mind, as did several other ideas.

“I thought this was a good idea, but you don’t see the value in it really until you have it,” she said. As she set up her business, she said more than one person she talked with told her how useful the product would be with one husband asking for a set for his wife so he could stop being asked, “Did I wear this last Sunday?”

A complete Memory Clothes Planner gift set includes five padded hangers, five Memory Clothes Planner tracking sheets and a memo marker all inside a two-pocket, two-handled 16-by-13-inch clear vinyl carrying bag. The Memory Clothes Planner is also available in a single pack containing five Memory Clothes Planner tracking cards and a memo marker.

The all important card is designed to fit over any type hanger, not just those included in the Memory Clothes Planner gift set, Palmer said. Designed currently in a muted blue and green shade, Palmer intends to add different colors and different uses to future products.

Taking the product from just an idea to the reality it is today required months and months of work. After deciding to move forward, Palmer first joined the Inventors Association of Middle Tennessee and began reading books and resolving she was going to bring the Memory Clothes Planner to fruition.

“You draw a line in the sand,” she said. “You say, ‘Once you do this, there is no turning back.’”

She met with a patent attorney and just recently received her important design and utility patents for the product. While she is personally filling orders now, she has a warehouse of her products and is dealing mostly with wholesalers and retailers who sell her product.
Locally it is available Ivy on Franklin’s Main Street and Hot Pink in Brentwood. You may also order online at www.memoryclothesplanner.com.

“It has been an amazing adventure learning about customs, duties, tariffs, even drawing the specs for a little piece of paper,” Palmer said. Her goal is to get the product licensed by a large company after continuing to build the business by identifying more retailers, wholesalers and others who might want to feature the product in their store. 

Posted on: 11/29/2007