Modern takes on timeless staples.
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The duster is the star.
I have been in the fashion industry for 20 years, from styling and sourcing for design teams, to branding and art direction with my own companies, including BOOTLEG Airstream. Clothing is still a pure joy for me. I was lucky enough to have a childhood on a farm, and it’s wonderful to create my own version of that pure experience via a lifestyle brand I can easily believe in. I spend a huge part of my free time digging in bins at antique shops and estate sales. Here I’m wearing my favorite piece of clothing, a very old duster from the 1940s, which I got at a prop shop sale in New York City. I am pleased to recreate clothing from these beautiful eras, and add complementary pieces so we can live our lives with ease, not fuss, frills or pretense.
Dusters were created to cover dress clothing in roadster cars, as well as protect from the elements, while on horseback. Now, women and men are wanting that third key piece that can easily and effortlessly elevate their lives and look, from daylight to dusk. I am bringing to the world the pieces I cannot ever find, but which haunt my mind.
Life is short. Grab a tote. Roll up your Texas Duster. Get in the car or on the plane.
— Founder Sarah Ellison Lewis
New York Fashion Week
One of ten bittersweet years, here clad in Raphael Young platforms, a vintage eel clutch, and the beloved 1940s heavy linen duster, I’ve worn until it’s coming apart.
Now wrapped in muslin, I expect my never-ending search for the perfect linen shall keep me entertained through the decades. #blessings
Each of our limited-run pieces is inspired by the fabrics we source. Sometimes there are 12 vintage yards in an antique shop we must grab. Sometimes we can get 40 yards of another. We make as much as we can with each find.
We also make custom pieces, from our core patterns. We make the pieces we just can’t find, and we take the time to add the right details so they are actually pieces we would want to wear.
All our dusters are handmade in Texas.
We believe in building a business in our own community.
Companies - especially fashion companies - are really into touting their sustainability. This is a moving target, as there are no clear measures yet on what makes a brand sustainable. Sustainability comes down to a lot of common sense and healthy economics. Here are a few examples:
It uses less gasoline and costs less in freight to pick up our dusters from our factory in Texas, and have them delivered back to our studio. Some Texas brands are shipping from Mexico and India, and we get it - those countries are great at manufacturing. But after all the math is done, it’s a better investment to pay local, fair wages, than shipping to places we can’t touch and see when we need to. For the bookworms in the crowd, read more about subsidiarity.
Dollars spent into our local economy come back to us, as a sustained community of people. It really is all about the people - the people making the dusters, and you. Our job is to make them both as happy as we can.
Fabric scraps are always collected as fabric costs a lot of money. Seeing it after cuttings literally hurts. So we keep it all and one day soon will find a way to restitch and format it into new shapes and accessory offerings, for less waste.
Like many great random vintage dusters, we are working on developing new versions which remain classic, quality, and beloved. Here is a great vintage piece which keeps us inspired.
Here I am entering backstage with a client who I dressed for David Letterman. It was so easy to feel cool and ready with just one loose piece with amazing kickpleats. Can’t wait to recreate this vintage treasure.