Our Story

I have been sewing for more than 20 years. I learned how to sew from my mother and her mother, who was a professional seamstress. Before I really learned how to sew, I was already drawing and designing my own clothes. Then I began by sewing clothing and costumes, mostly for myself. I loved the idea of being able to have something that was 100% one-of-a-kind and that no one else in the world would ever have the same thing. I have always loved the retro looks of the late 1940’s, ‘50s, & ‘60s and have made numerous dresses that fit this timeframe. I love making clothes and had been encouraged throughout my life to do so for a living. But I never wanted my love of sewing to be diminished because of the pressure of having to make a living doing it. I thought that sewing professionally would suck the pleasure out of sewing. Finally I got up the courage and I started Vault Vixen Clothing, LLC back in 2013. I intended on selling custom sewn clothing and costumes and I did, from time to time. But it wasn’t enough for me to do full time. Now, you might notice the difference in the Company name. We are registered as Vault Vixen Clothing, LLC, but I realized that might limit my creative options, especially now that I feel like I have found my niche. Maybe we will expand to include clothing and costumes, but for now, we’ll focus on bags.

Vault Vixen, LLC is comprised of myself and my fiancé. When I first began dating my fiancé, we came to realize that we were kindred spirits. We both loved the 1950’s lifestyle, from the clothes to the cars, to the music. We also quickly realized that we were both sewing enthusiasts. My fiancé attended Wyoming Technical Institute where he learned to sew car upholstery on an industrial machine and has been sewing for 21 years. Between the two of us, we have 41+ years of sewing experience and 5 different sewing machines. My fiancé had found a purse once that was clearly inspired by classic cars, but we were unable to purchase it because the company/creator was no longer around. This would become part of the inspiration for me to create our purses.

We began restoring our 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air by completely redoing the interior. As we completed the upholstery on the seats (our first sewing project together), he suggested that I make a purse that matched the car upholstery. I began designing a purse shape/style that I thought would fit the 1950’s time period and the theme of our car using the left over fabric from the actual car upholstery. I created my pattern and began making my own classic-car inspired purse. I found a 1956 Bel Air Dash Script Emblem, the exact same one as on our car, to put on my purse. It turned out beautiful (toot! toot!). So beautifully, that I wanted to make another one with a different color. My first one was the “Bel Air with crest” Infinity Black with White Ice Split, and I used a cotton cherry printed fabric because it felt right (it can be found in the Gallery). So I started buy different colors of the Futura Polaris vinyl. As I began making more purses in the Split style, I realized that I could make a Clutch from the remnant from a Split purse. And so, the Clutch was created. The more purses I made the more ideas I had for more purses. Drawing on classic-car upholstery, I decided to make some purses with Diamond pleat designs, but the Split style was a bit too small to really showcase them. As so opted for a single piece front and back instead of a split, thus creating the Bowler.

Every single bag is hand cut and sewn by us in our home. We draw and sew all of the pleats ourselves. The Split takes almost 2 complete days (without interruptions) to create. The standard Bowler and Clutch take a day to a day and a half to create, respectively. The Diamond pleat design adds to the construction time. We make sure to attach quality emblems that are meant to be attached to actual cars. We use high quality vinyl that is intended for upholstery, therefore it can hold up for longer than other purse fabrics. After making these different purses, my fiancé is constantly telling me that he would have bought me a purse like these in a heartbeat because they matched our style so perfectly. We are proud to be able to create one of a kind purses and want others to be able to have a well-made purse that fits their ‘50’s retro or rockabilly style to take with them and show off at car shows and other events.

I am always looking for inspiration in my love of the retro lifestyle and am constantly working on new patterns and styles for future handbags. If you have an idea or a style of purse that you would to see our take on it, message us and let us know. We want everyone to be able to have the custom purse that they imagine!