Cheryl’s Etsy shop, Hot Tin Roof New Orleans, shares a name with Tennessee Williams’ infamous play. Her bags are perfect for the modern southern belle, even though she’s a Canadian transplant.
You’re obviously influenced by the south and I love your shop’s name. How does
I came up with the name before I moved here. I was still working in Toronto New Orleans
You’ve worked in theater, movies, and television and have a degree in fine arts. How does your background effect your handbag line?
I think it affects all of the work that I do profoundly, for better or for worse. I’ve been conditioned to think architecturally and mechanically. This is only one way to think and really, it’s kind of stuck in the post-modern, form-follows-function genre. I am truly happiest when I can make something that is visually appealing but also practical. There is a certain poetry in that for me. Secondly, I think a sound background in Liberal Arts gives one an inkling of movements in history, certainly a sense of the evolution of style and the link that exists between the way we think and the way we dress ourselves.
You mentioned to me that you’ve slowed down your work load to focus on your craft. Was this something you’ve been trying to do for a while?
Certainly it’s been a fantasy! I’ve worked creatively all my life but always for someone else. Now it’s on me! Thanks to entities like Etsy, online boutiques and blogs like this one, craft has become a viable way of life for a lot of talented people. That having been said, I’ve never worked harder in my life!
What other hobbies do you enjoy when you’re not designing?
This is going to sound crazy but…I really love to sew. My dear friend Laura is a costume designer, the brains behind “Royal Rags” in the French Quarter. She generously lets me sew for her. She does all the design and cutting and I am free to just sit and joyfully sew along without a care in the world! Bliss. I am also a pathological knitter and am going to add some little knitted items in luxury yarns to my shop this fall. I love classic films. I am completely devoted to Turner Classic Movies (Miss Laura calls it “the costume channel). It’s on in the workroom all day and all night.
Define southern style
Ooooh! What a vexed question! As a Canadian, I’m not even sure I’m qualified to answer but I do have a few observations. There is an element of gentility to southern style, a sort of antique gentility that comes from being unabashedly feminine, even when it comes to t-shirts and jeans.
I think glamour is still very much alive here in New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans
Pick up your own bag at Hot Tin Roof New Orleans.
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