Meagan Corriveau parted the heavy curtains and stepped out of the dressing room and into Kathy Finnemore’s atelier in Caribou. As she caught her reflection in the three-way mirror, she gasped.

“Oh, Kathy, it looks beautiful,” she said, glowing, as she saw her wedding gown for the first time.

Corriveau, 24, will be married today in an elegant confection of Finnemore’s design. The full, ivory skirt comes from her mother’s wedding gown, while the bodice of French re-embroidered lace is entirely new. A cappuccino-colored silk sash hugs Corriveau’s slender waist, and a vintage brooch ties it all together.

The effect is classic yet modern, nostalgic but not dated. It is, in a word, gorgeous.

And gorgeous is Finnemore’s trademark. Since childhood, she has had a passion for fashion, crafting clothing for her paper dolls, sewing and sketching outfits. As an art student at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, Finnemore’s senior project included a full line of clothing displayed on mannequins.

“My inspiration comes from these little pieces of material,” she said, holding up a swatch card of luminous fabrics. “From the silks and the velvets.”

Finnemore is petite and slim, and, not surprisingly, impeccably dressed. Over the years, she has worn many hats, from sewing teacher to seamstress. She loves working at home because it allows her to be there for her children, Kate, 8, and Luke, 16.

These days, she works exclusively as a couture designer, creating bespoke suits, gowns and special-occasion outfits for northern Maine’s most stylish women. In addition, she has created her own line of jewelry, silk velvet scarves and handbags.

“I’m not a designer who puts what I want on somebody,” Finnemore said, sitting at the desk in her home-based studio. “I’m very good at seeing who a person is and making them look good. Most of the time, it works.”

That’s what keeps clients such as U.S. Sen. Susan Collins coming back. On her wall, Finnemore proudly displays a framed photograph of Collins wearing a velvet dress with a hand-beaded neckline to a Washington holiday gala. In addition, she has created suits for Collins’ speaking engagements, including a burgundy silk-charmeuse dress with a matching jacket.

“Kathy is a talented and creative designer, and I take special pride in the fact that she lives in my hometown of Caribou,” Collins said. “I have counted on her to create stylish apparel for special occasions such as the White House Christmas Ball, and I have always been thrilled with the results.”

So has Finnemore, who says the senator makes it easy to create understatedly beautiful clothing.

“She wears the jewel tones really well,” Finnemore said. “Of course, red is her signature color, but she looks good in blue and emerald green, too.”

Though Collins is one of the designer’s higher-profile clients, each woman she dresses gets the V.I.P. treatment.

“I don’t have a huge range of clients, but I have some very good ones,” Finnemore said.

For Brenda Felch of Cross Lake, Finnemore’s designs have become a family affair. Her daughter, Melissa St. Peter, had tried on dozens of gowns in preparation for her recent wedding. All of them were beautiful, but none really stood out. Then she met Finnemore.

“She finds out what it is you want in a gown and works with your body, works with your personality,” Felch said.

She speaks from experience – Finnemore designed a light wool dress suit for her and accented it with ivory shell buttons. It has since become a go-to outfit for Felch, who works as an assistant superintendent in the area.

“You can wear it all day long,” she said. “It’s not tight through there, you’re not tugging at it here. It just fits. … Usually, I come home after work and change into something comfortable, but if I have a board meeting that evening, I can just wear [that suit] all day long.”

Felch said the price tag is comparable to something she would buy off the rack at Talbot’s – but the perfect fit of a bespoke suit is priceless.

“Of course, Kathy doesn’t make all my clothes, but you have to buy something that’s very, very high-end in order to get the same feeling.”

Finnemore works with the finest fabrics available. She keeps swatches of silk, burnout silk velvet and hand-embroidered laces in her desk drawer, and admits that she gets “lost in the details” while working. For Corriveau’s gown, she spent two days sewing the lace onto the bodice, and she spent several months refining her design to fit the bride’s style.

Though Finnemore doesn’t usually rework existing gowns, she was touched by the fact that Corriveau wanted to use her mother’s dress. Still, it presented a challenge.

“I didn’t think it was really me,” Corriveau explained. “It was 26 years old. It was beautiful, but it just wasn’t really me. … Now, I think the dress just really stands out. It’s different, and I appreciate the uniqueness and the fact that the majority of it was my mom’s. It’s really special.”

Making clients feel special is the name of the game for Finnemore. Like every woman she meets, every outfit she creates is one-of-a-kind. Simple, elegant lines are her signature, but sketches are kept top-secret – even fabrics are hidden from view.

“I don’t even leave scraps,” Finnemore said. “Somebody’s drawings are personal and I keep it that way. I just wouldn’t show it to anybody else. I tell my clients that the thing I design is just for you with all of the elements we can come up with to make it perfect and special.”

For Finnemore, this is more than just a career. It’s her calling and her craft. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“There’s an art to putting things together, combining different fabrics in one fabric, blending them,” she said. “I just love clothes, color and texture.”

Kathy Finnemore’s accessories are available at Morning Star Art and Framing in Presque Isle. To contact Finnemore’s design studio, call 498-6222.