Nashville designer and owner of Sew-Savoir-faire, Bonita describes herself as an eclectic designer. She loves and enjoys all the challenges of creating whatever is requested of her. To many, she is known for her custom bridal gowns and many stage designs for Rock‘n’Roll legendary icon and personal friend, the late “Little Richard.”

Sewing since childhood, Bonita got her fashion design start creating costumes and original designs for herself, family and friends. These garments served as silent advertising and as her fame spread, fashion connoisseurs sought out “Bonita Originals.”  In July 2018, Bonita created vintage costumes for the stage play, “A Walk Through Time – The African-American Experience,” written and produced by Nashville playwright, Alan Nettles. She was the Wardrobe Director and Costumer for Spiritually Trained and Renewed S.T.A.R Productions which released the music video, “Our God” starring psalmist Everett Miller, produced and directed by Max Désir of Nashville.

In 2000, Designs by Sew Savoir-faire replicated four of the costumes worn in the famous painting of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Bonita’s uncanny ability to envision a garment was showcased by her designing the costumes solely from studying the photograph.  The costumes helped to bring to life the story of the Singers in Barry Scott’s “A Joyful Noise - A Theatrical Concert Depicting the Original Fisk Jubilee Singers with Narration in One Act.”

Mrs. Parker’s fashions were also featured in the 2011 Project Funway fashion show hosted by the Fifty-Forward organization, raising awareness of the needs of senior citizens. In 2016 her custom designs were shown by Noteably Nashville’s Sonya Hairston.

Bonita believes that fashion is for everybody – young, old, tall, short, thin, full figured, people with disabilities as well as those labeled “normal.” “It’s all about attitude!” she declares. The fashion designer she most admires is Coco Chanel (of “Little Black Dress” fame).

In her lifetime, she has been care-giver for her late husband Joseph Scott (who was paralyzed for 18 years before his passing), her late father Dr. Charles Dudley Sr. (blind from complications of diabetes and kidney disease), her late mother Etta Maycock Dudley (a victim of dementia), and (as of 2023) her 102-year old aunt Lucille Dudley Sneed (who suffers with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis). Bonita has close friends and family – some with MS, breast cancer, lung cancer, chronic heart disease, Parkinson’s Desease, and some who lost their lives to domestic violence. So many issues – so many causes, which were her inspiration for her collection, “Ribbon Colors for Causes” (with a French flair of elegance), featured in the 2016 and 2018 Spring Into Fashion shows sponsored by the Elegant Ladies Foundation of Nashville (Krista Davis, founder).

Continuing her theme of awareness colors, her 2018-2019 collection was simply “Colors of the Rainbow,” with the featured colors being, red – representing (among other causes) heart disease; orange – representing racial tolerance; yellow – representing suicide prevention; green – representing mental illness awareness; blue – representing diabetes and prostate cancer; indigo – representing arthritis in its many forms; and violet (purple) – representing Alzheimer’s disease and domestic violence awareness. Other colors presented in that collection were black (that ‘Little Black Dress’), pink (for breast cancer), and a finale in white.

In 2020, Bonita’s friend and sewing colleague Joy Jennings Campbell passed away, and Joy’s husband, Dr. Ronald Campbell, gifted Bonita with bolts of fabric from Joy’s inventory of white fabric. Using that fabric, Bonita was inspired to design a Sew Savoir-faire mini collection she entitled, “Purely Joyous,” named for her friend Joy, which she presented at a SWIFT (Southern Women In Film & Television) fundraiser in March 2022.

“It Only Took 100 Years” was the theme in the fashion show sponsored by the Edessa School of Fashion Design in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which featured an eclectic collection from Bonita’s Sew Savoir-faire in September of 2022.

Bonita has been awarded the Certificate of Recognition for inclusion in Metropolitan Who’s Who, an award limited to “individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership or achievement in their occupation, industry or profession.” In 2018, she was awarded “Mogul of the Year” by Atlanta-based MogulCon, a corporation operated by founder, CEO, and master business strategist Dr. Felicia Philips, whose goal is to transform and inspire thousands of women-owned businesses “to achieve more when it comes to life and business.” Bonita is currently the executive secretary for the Charles and Etta Dudley Foundation, a 501-c3 organization for furthering Christian education.

Bonita is married to Fred W. Parker Jr.

Although a bit modest and unassuming, Bonita’s clients and supporters describe her as passionate and meticulous about her craft. She continues to thank God for trusting her with this talent.