It is written in "The Great Gatsby" that the best thing a girl can be is a "beautiful little fool." Seeking higher education means you're out of luck on the fool front, but when it comes to beautiful look no further than Windy Freda.
Windy Freda is a headband line designed by Susannah Lipsey. It is flapper fabulous, and fitting of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Great Gatsby meets Grand Canyon: featuring earthy feathers, ribbon and lace it has a texture of high-low contrast. The designs, like Lipsey herself, are little bit country and little bit rock 'n' roll.
Lipsey, 27, who attended three colleges (Baylor, A Musical Conservatory and Parson's New School) named Windy Freda after her first cabbage patch doll, Wendy, and her grandmother, Freda.
"Wendy became Windy because it makes me think of 'wind in your hair'" Lipsey said. Besides the obvious parallels to something literally being in your hair, "windy" also evokes a feeling. "It's a free spirited way of approaching life."
A former resident of New York, Lipsey now finds herself approaching life in Marfa, Texas. Both of these locations are reflected in her current collections. Collection number one has urban uptown feel, and collection number two is more rural and extravagant.
Both collections also reflect Lipsey. Lipsey designs for herself, first and foremost, and this was the impetus to start her company. "Everything I make I say, 'would I wear this?' That's how it all started. I test it and see if people respond and if they do I make it for them." Wearing her designs is what got her noticed by magazines like Fader.
The rural location of Marfa, a town Lipsey calls "a little art community," has hindered her following of the mainstream trends, instead leading her to creating them. "Windy Freda is purely me and my surroundings."
She is greatly influenced by the people of Marfa, and they have aided in Windy Freda's creation in more ways than one. "Though most of my feathers are bought, I had a friend that would ride his motorcycle around and bring me feathers from the side of the road!"
Susannah Lipsey is a city girl in a country world, so it's no surprise the first word that comes to mind when describing Windy Freda is fusion. "It started as a reflection of my life at the time - I lived in New York and was moving to a tiny town in West Texas. I said 'I want to wear something flamboyant!'"
She designs for women like herself: daring and unafraid. "Sometimes I think maybe I should make these more generic, something more people want to buy. But, I have someone in mind who takes risks; someone who wants to show where they are going in life and can rock something like that."
The line gives women the chance to wear something that is unique, and personal. "At the end of the day you don't want to look like anyone else - look like yourself."
With Windy Freda, that self may have a hint of Pocahontas or Daisy from "The Great Gatsby," or both.
