I just met Jennifer a few weeks ago actually… after to doing a custom order for her husband. It’s funny because this has only happened a handful of times. Usually it’s the other way around. Our actual designing session didn’t take all that long because Jennifer knew exactly what she wanted. As she is a mom of a precious little girl, she knew that her bag had to be a crossbody in order to give her a hands free lifestyle to help with her little one. She is also a registered nurse and has devoted her life to helping and taking care of others. It’s one of the neatest things about my job that I get to meet all different types of women and they are all strong, independent, hard working women. She disclosed to us that her husband was a local firefighter and that he was gone 10-15 nights a week. So being able to throw her bag on her shoulder and head in the grocery store or her errands for her family was very important.
Before anyone graces my workshop they must first in fact know about my brand in order to know we exist at 606 Davidson St. in Thomasville. We do have some clients that are just curious and come in and see what’s going on and we love those unexpected but welcomed visitors. But, for the most of time, people know about Blythe Leonard LLC when they come to do a custom bag. So, I asked Jennifer what drew her to get her own custom bag. She said that the fact that they are “handmade and made locally” draws her to the store, and the knowledge of knowing that she can design her own custom handmade leather handbag is a rarity.
First thing that I always ask when doing a custom bag is what do you carry in your bag and what size do you like? Is it a shoulder bag, tote, crossbody, or backpack? Jennifer’s day as a nurse and a mom by night needed a bag that can carry her essentials but not too big that she throws everything in it and it becomes just a bag of “trash” as she says. She loved the idea of a bucket bag with a flap on the front for the look and a hanging tassel that ends just at the bottom of the bag. As far as functionality went, she loved having the option of a zippered top closure in case she was in a situation that needed to close her bag completely. The color was the last thing that we discussed. She wanted something that would go with most everything so we went for the classic brown combinations, a light tan with a dark brown contrast. She chose a light tan, very soft and subtle cowhide leather and a dark chocolate buffalo hide for the tassel. Apparently it smelled really good too, but I unfortunately am nose blind to them all unless I leave work for over a week, which is very rare.
There is only one like Jennifer’s bag, a crossbody bucket bag with a flap and tassel on the front. However, we do have an adapted version of Jennifer’s custom bag that she designed in our store and we honorably named it the “Jennifer” after this hardworking mom. So next time you are in our store be sure to check out the Jennifers and remember to tell your local nurses thank you for all of their dedicated time to take care of others.
