For the romantics, the wanderers and the wild at heart.
There is something beautiful about an object that has already lived a life.
A worn jacket. A forgotten piece of vintage jewelry. A length of fringe tucked away waiting to become something. A broken clip on earring that may never be worn again, but is far too beautiful to be forgotten.
That idea became the heart of the first Howdy, Sh’awl collection.
Each of the fifteen pieces in this first drop began with an existing garment that I chose because there was already something special about it. Sometimes it was the fabric. Sometimes the embroidery, the tailoring, the color or simply the feeling it gave me. I never wanted to erase what these pieces had been before. I wanted to build upon it.
Made From What Remains
Every piece was reimagined individually by hand.
Fringe was sewn along sweeping shoulders. Vintage buttons became new focal points. Conchos, pearls, beads, lace and remnants of beautiful textiles found their way into unexpected places.
Even broken vintage jewelry was given another life. A pair of damaged clip on earrings became the opalescent shoulder embellishments on Ottoline. An old necklace became the jeweled centerpiece on the back of Ravena. Pieces that had seemingly reached the end of one story became the beginning of another.
There was no formula and no two garments were approached in exactly the same way.
Some transformations were intentionally restrained, like Palomino, where I wanted the original chocolate brown tailoring and gold contrast stitching to remain part of the beauty. Others became something far more dramatic.
And then there is Vespera.
The statement piece of this first collection, Vespera was transformed with eighteen inch black fringe, antique gold trim and flowers that travel across the garment. The floral appliqués along the front were individually sewn by hand, while an embroidered garden blooms across the back. She took hours to create and became everything I wanted this collection to represent.
Something old becoming something entirely its own.
Fifteen Pieces. Fifteen Stories.
Rosamond. Bramble. Matadora. Noisette. Sonora. Vespera. Carmella. Ottoline. Calista. Carmine. Odette. Zafira. Ravena. Solenne. Palomino.
Each has a name because each developed a personality somewhere along the way.
Some are quiet. Some are wild. Some shimmer when the light catches them. Some trail fringe behind you when you walk. Some carry pieces of vintage jewelry, hand painted Czech glass, old lace, embroidery, beads or fabric remnants that might otherwise have disappeared.
They are intentionally imperfect because the materials themselves have histories.
You may find a tiny sign of a garment's former life. A little patina on an old piece of metal. An irregular edge of lace. To me, those things aren't flaws. They are evidence that these materials existed before they found their way here.
The First Drop
There is something surreal about calling this my first designed collection.
What began as an idea became fifteen physical pieces hanging in front of me, each one stitched and assembled by my own hands. There were moments of changing my mind halfway through a design, taking something apart and starting again, searching for exactly the right button, and holding two completely unrelated materials together and suddenly realizing they belonged to each other.
I am incredibly proud of what this collection became.
But more than anything, I hope these pieces go on to be lived in.
I don't want them to be precious things that stay hidden away. I want them at concerts and dinners and late nights. I want fringe moving while someone dances. I want them thrown over shoulders on the way out the door. I want them to collect stories from whoever wears them next.
Because that is really what Howdy, Sh’awl is about.
Taking something that already had a life and believing there is still so much more life left in it.
One of one. Made by hand. Made with heart.