The lovely Laura Jones is owner/designer of Pigtails and Pirates, retro inspired clothing for women and children handmade in my home town of Newcastle, NSW, I first set eyes on Laura at a rockabilly function early last year where we both entered the best dressed competition. Laura was wearing one of her own designs (the batman swing dress if I remember correctly) and I just thought she looked absolutely stunning, Im a bit socially awkward sometimes...so I didn't introduce myself that night but instead left a comment on her Instagram saying how pretty she looked. Since then Laura has asked me to strut my stuff on the catwalk at a local exhibition, wearing the ever so pretty 'Flamingo Flare' dress and pinup posing my way through Jessie J's Bang Bang (gahh love that song) and also asked to model two new P&P dresses, the 'Into the night' lace dress and the 'Alice in Wonderland' dress (see below).
To get to know a bit more about Pigtails and Pirates and the lovely woman behind it all, I caught up with Laura to ask a few questions about how it all began and what inspires her designs...
Laura Jones- Owner & Designer of Pigtails and Pirates
1. Laura please tell me a bit about yourself and how P&P started?
I was a High School Chemistry Teacher ( a job that I loved!) I left teaching though to have my 2 children. It was when my children were 1 and 3 I needed to do something that was for myself. A friend showed me how to make a simple quilt. I had fabric left over from the quilt so I thought I should make some clothing for my children. I made a few things and someone suggested I should sell them - I came up with the name Pigtails and Pirates (a name that represents my daughter and son) and soon after then my business was born. I decided to start making ladies clothes 1.5 years in as I loved all the prints I was using and wanted to become a more conscious shopper and stop buying mass produced clothing so I started to make myself some things. I first made a ladies skirt and shared it on social media, it received an extremely positive reaction - that was the turning point for me to change direction and start to concentrate on ladies wear more. I now cannot image doing anything else!!
2. Have you always loved vintage/retro clothing?
It was a gradual progression for me. I grew up on a farm in the Central West of NSW Australia - I was never really that into fashion when I was young, I always took pride in my apperance but never really followed fashion trends - Just wore what I though looked great. I have always loved classic feminine styled clothing with great cuts. Im also a strong believer in having less but great quality clothing - thats really what drove me into the direction of 50's inspired fashion- that back then clothing was great quality and was valued by those that bought it - something I want my customers to think about Pigtails and Pirates clothing
3. What inspires your designs?
Style of the 1950's early 60's obviously has a big influence on what I do. I love the timeless style and the feminitiy of the designs of that time. 1950's fashion represents an era of classic timeless styles that even over 60 years on still look fashionable
I also adore what I call Geek Chic such as star wars, superheros, pop culture. My children love these things aswell, my sons face when I made myself a dress with a batman print was priceless - he LOVED it. So obvioulsy my children have a big influence on my items
I am also inspired by nature you also see alot of birds and other wildlife in the prints that I use (maybe this is from my childhood growing up on a farm in the Central West)
4. What has been your favourite P&P creation so far?
Everytime we make something new I say it is my favourite as I generally love everything we make! I always show husband a new dress and say "How great is this!"
I do have a soft spot for our Flamingo Flare dress as it was one of the very first items we made and it was the first ladies dress that we actually sold! (I still remember the customers name!) It will be retired this year
5. What's next for P&P?
We have 3 new dress designs coming out. We will also be adding more circle skirts to the range and as always awesome new prints for our classic styles
Alice in Wonderland Dress
Into The Night Dress
I adored doing this shoot, it had a different feel to it than some of the previous shoots I have done. Also the shoot was set in a beautiful part of Newcastle, which Laura and I only discovered on the day thanks to our lovely photographer, Bec.
Another highlight of the day was asking a stranger if we could steal their dog for the shoot, the poor thing got so scared as it thought its owners were abandoning it.
Laura handpicks only the finest material and everything is handmade to perfection.
Some P & P designs include wonder woman, marvel, star wars, to the more classic designs of swans, flamingos, flowers and birds.
If your looking for a statement outfit, the perfect dress for a special occasion or a custom design..
Laura and the team at Pigtails and Pirates have exactly what you need.!
Check out Pigtails and Pirates NOW..
Much Love
Betté
xx
