This week’s favorites include fun felt hats, eye-catching eco-furniture and a clever boot accessory that will make you kick up your heels.
Hat trick
To amp up your style quotient – or to introduce color to your black outfit – wear a hat. For vintage-inspired hats with a contemporary look, try the Merino wool, hand-felted hats by Wendy Allen of Unionville, N.C. Trained as a milliner before she taught herself to felt, Allen uses traditional millinery techniques to finish her hats. Her attention to detail paid off. While living in San Francisco several years ago, Allen sold her whimsical and wearable hats to upscale stores, such as Le Bon Marche in Paris, Henri Bendel in New York and museum shops in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
To keep her line current, she watches color trends, peruses Tokyo runway magazines and experiments with graphics. This year, she is using rich jewel tones. Allen’s hats range from $62 to $186. The hat in the photo is $166. If hats aren’t for you, Allen makes other accessories, such as mufflers and scarves ($45 to $80), fingerless mittens ($45 to $55) and felted flowers ($20), which can be worn as a pin or hair accessory. Check her website: www.missfitt.com
P.S. Meet Wendy Allen and get an up-close look at her modern classics at the 22nd annual Amercian Craft Council Show on March 11-13 at the Cobb Galleria. For admission and show details, visit www.craftcouncil.org/atlanta.
Green & modern
In his West End warehouse, Joe Manus has stacks of corrugated cardboard, piles of plywood and other wood scraps. From these throwaway materials, Manus and his company, Shiner International, design and make eco-friendly furniture and light fixtures that are elegant, innovative and affordably priced. Manus hasn’t always been a modern furniture designer. But when the real estate market went south and construction projects dried up, Manus, a general contractor, reinvented himself. Instead of designing and building commercial and residential spaces in the Atlanta area, he refocused on furniture. In January 2010, Shiner International won “Best of Show” for visual merchandising at Atlanta’s International Gift & Home Furnishings Market. Other shows followed. And stores lined up to offer his sleek, green designs.
In the photo, the lean Pant Rocker is made of upcycled carbon steel. The woods are a blend of discarded cherry, oak, walnut and maple pieces. The chair measures 32 inches wide by 33 inches high by 34 inches deep. It is available for $849 at Suite Spot, 1465 Chattahoochee Ave. NW, Suite 450, Atlanta, 404-891-1000, www.suitespot.net. The chandelier, made of upcycled cardboard and plywood, is $749. It is also available at Suite Spot, a home boutique. Learn more about Manus, his bold designs and his company at www.shinerinternational.com
Boot Rx
On a recent shopping trip in Buckhead, Haley McCabe of Atlanta discovered “Cuff It,” a comfy, stylish and functional leg wear accessory by Atlanta-based Bootlegz. Cuff It is an adjustable wrap – with a Velcro closure -- worn under your boots to anchor your jeans, cords and leggings and keep you looking chic. An excited McCabe bought several pairs as gifts for her sisters and friends.
That is good news to Bootlegz founder Molly Hennessy, an Atlanta native and a 2009 graduate of the University of Mississippi. The two-inch-wide Cuff It Slim ($20) is the company’s best seller. But the four-inch Cuff It Wide ($25) works well on wider or harder-to-tame pants and thicker boots. With this simple solution to a common women’s wardrobe problem, go ahead and give the boot to rubber bands and socks. Check out the cuffs at www.bootlegzlegwear.com or visit the London Trading Company, 30 E. Andrews Drive, Atlanta (Buckhead), 404-233-1225 or www.londontradingcompany.com.
Share your favorite finds
Do you have favorite finds from around the South that you give as gifts, buy for your home or rave about to friends? If so, please share them with us. Send your suggestion to ljerkins@bellsouth.net. In the subject line, write Southern Made. Please include your name and a contact number.
