03/09/2026
Friends, we are pretty upset and frustrated.
We don’t admit that lightly, because for the most part it isn’t useful and doesn’t achieve much, but in this moment, we do want to be open in hopes folks might learn something.
Fast fashion has been hurting makers and artists. Cheap leather work and purses that undercut leather workers years of effort to perfect their craft, cheap cinches made out of literal plastic that legitimately sore horses, and stolen artwork put on $5 tee shirts that people buy for $50, with no credit or permission from the artist. THIS ISN’T OK.
We didn’t give permission for our patterns to be digitized or used/sold in any way. Four of these six designs were plucked from our social media (watermarked) photos, slapped on some clothes, and someone else profited.
WHERE is the creativity in that?
Just because something is available on Faire (or wherever) to purchase wholesale, it doesn’t mean the person you’re purchasing from has ethically sourced whatever they are selling. Are there a lot of ethical sellers on there? Yes! Are there also folks who are perpetuating the problem by cranking out designs that aren’t their original work? Also yes. And our frustration is with the latter. We’ve seen too many maker and artist friends ripped off over the years, and honestly it just felt like time to say something.
As long as people are buying this stuff, and aren’t supporting and seeking out the stores and boutiques that DO support artists and makers, this will continue be a problem.
Do you want to be part of the solution? When you buy something from a boutique or store, ask a couple questions… Where is it made? Who is the artist? If they can’t answer that, might be a red flag…
This feels like a good time to say that we LOVE when stores/boutiques and artists/makers collaborate on designs/items. It is a win win. The seller has something high quality to sell to a customer, and the originator of the idea/item is being fairly compensated. Sounds fair, doesn’t it? This isn’t us saying people can’t work together to create and sell fun shirts etc, this is us saying it’s not ok for someone to sit behind a computer, take someone else’s work, and then profit by mass producing and calling it
So buck the trend- ask questions when you buy something. The people who are passionate about what they sell and who they work with will be happy to chat about it.
If you have suggestions for boutiques and stores that DO support western makers, please tag them below- we’d love to support the ones who do truly support the western lifestyle!
And to all of you here who have supported us makers past and present, you truly do keep us going and we couldn’t be more grateful!
