Her faith has inspired her fashion

A Waterbury native’s religious calling led her to Altered Destiny.
Altered Destiny is the new clothing line launched last month by Ngareischa “Nori J” Williams.
Press materials for Altered Destiny explain, “The clothing line is inspired by Nori J’s faith and her personal journey with understanding God’s will for her life and her body. Through her creations, she hopes to demonstrate to women that they can be trendy, look attractive without exposing their bodies as portrayed in today’s media/society.”
The launch for Altered Destiny followed hard on the heels of Nori J’s graduation from Gateway Community College in New Haven, where she received a certificate in entrepreneurial studies. “I wanted to jump right in and get started,”
The key word for Altered Destiny’s fashions is modesty.
“Modesty is important to me because a little over four years ago I decided to become a disciple of Christ and he calls us as his followers to be modest, in heart and dress, and to protect one another from sin,” explained Nori J, who currently lives in Shelton, Conn. “I believe that dressing modestly shows my loves for God and also shows love and respect for my brothers and sisters in the faith.”
Nori J said, “My faith is important to me because I feel like for the first time in my life I have true direction and understanding.”
“A lot of people see the Bible as a bunch of rules and they see God as a warden,” said Nori J, who graduated from Kaynor Techincal High School’s Fashion Design and Merchandising program. “But, honestly having a true, real, emotional relationship with God is nothing like that.”
“God is truly love and yes there are standards and certain things that aren’t acceptable, but God is just like a parent,” said Nori J, who is a member of the Southern Connecticut Church of Christ in Fairfield, Conn.
“He loves you and sets rules. If you don’t follow them then there are consequences, but he doesn’t love you any less. And that’s what I love so much about him. He just makes sense. He’s perfect.”
As far as incorporating her faith into her creations, Nori J said it was important for her because “As a follower of Christ I want every thing in my life to reflect my relationship with God.”
Don’t make a mistake, however. Nori J doesn’t create designs based on nun habits and drab conformity. The pieces are cute and attractive.
“I think that is the biggest misconception about modesty,” said Nori J. “People hear modest and they think boring, old looking and carbon copies. I don’t believe that is what God wants at all.”
“If you think about it, God is creative. He makes everyone so different for a reason,” said Nori J. “The biggest way people express those differences is in how they dress and I don’t believe that dressing modestly should take that away.”
Altered Destiny also reflects real women, with sizes running from 6 to 12.
Nori J said it was important for her to create clothes for the real world and not just the pages of a fashion magazines.
“I’m not the size of an editorial magazine model,” said Nori J. “I believe that dressing modestly means dressing each body uniquely. Not everyone has the same shape and people desire to express their creativity, and they usually use what they wear to do so.”
For Nori J, the woman wearing Altered Destiny is “a woman with a passion for life and fun. She loves God, fashion, travel and dressing up for simple fact that she’s alive.”
Altered Design is custom-made to order by Nori J. For women looking to buy Altered Destiny fashions, Nori J said, “You can view samples on my Instagram, @altered_destiny, and my Facebook page Altered Destiny. We can set-up a consultation… from that I will construct your pattern and garment. I also sell handmade accessories on Etsy.”

To contact Nori J, email Norij.fashion@gmail.com

PHOTOS by MIKE CHAIKEN