BURNT LEATHER VEST by Yeti Voom

The time had come… I had been waiting for almost 2 years and now it was finally time to go. We had been talking about it many times and it felt so strange but there I was, calling Jeela to say… “Guess what I got in my hand?” Jeela was busy with making something in Photoshop and I said “Concentrate! You know this”. She stopped for a second and then said… “Sounds like paper… Hmmm… OMG!!! IT’S A PLANE TICKET!!!!!” Yes! I held the ticket for San Francisco in my hand. I was going to meet Jeela in RL!

Now you think, wasn’t this blog about fashion? Yes it is but this leather vest story started in San Fran. If you are interested in reading about when Jeela and I met you can read all about in my blog http://yetivoom.blogspot.com/2009/02/yeti-is-back-alive-and-kickin.html

I think I walked all over SF! My eyes rolled in my head every evening when I went to bed. I really wanted to see how Jeela did when she made our clothes and I was looking for something special to show her that she could make as a memory from this trip. I can’t do sketches so I had to find something that I could photograph. One day I found these boots. Jeela knows how much I hate leopard texture! Only women over 40 wear it in Sweden. We call them “The Jurassic league”! Hahaha! Yes I know I’m 43 and?























Well one rainy day we strolled up on Haight Ashbury. I wanted to see the old hippie district and I can tell you I wasn’t disappointed. I wanted to buy a t-shirt with a psychedelic rainbow like batik pattern and my hubby looked at me and said “When are you going to use that… IN SWEDEN?” He was right of cos so I put it back and swore to buy a touristic t-shirt at the airport with a huge printing of San Francisco, for him! We passed many stores and suddenly there it was the new Boingo vest. I immediately saw this in our burnt leather and how good Yeti would look in it. I took a picture and hoped Jeela would like it too.






















Later that evening I told her how much I wanted to see her work and showed her the vest. She liked it and after dinner we started. She opened a template, put the texture on and there it was. She made a dark line here and a brighter there and made some clicking and then we had a trim and wrinkles. Then she started on the cool patterns and seams. She opened another window and started making the back. Finally I could see and ask all those questions I wanted to ask for months. She drew some lines and then some more and when I thought we were done she added even more and it looked better and better for every little dot she added. When she was happy I asked her for the buttons. “Oh I forgot those” she said. She made a circle and filled it with bronze, put a dark colour on and finished with a white line. She put it on the vest and it looked like it had been there for ages. “We need a press stud” (is this the proper word for it?) “I never made one before” she said. I called my hubby to come and look and he was just as surprised as I was. How could some dots and lines be a button? I looked at her and my eyes were filled with tears when I gently took her hand and kissed it, afraid to hurt her tool. For the first time I really understood what an amazing gift she has and how blessed I am to work with such an artist.

So for all of you who buy this… This vest has a story and it’s mine and Jeela’s gift for you from our first meeting in RL. It’s made out of an amazing journey towards a very special friendship. We hope you like it as much as we do!

Please take a moment to look at the details.

//Yeti, with flowers in her hair...