I haven’t seen Lindsay Rakestraw Thomas in a long time. She’s been living in Savannah for the last 14 years and I’ve been back and forth between Atlanta and New York City. About a million years ago, we were sorority sisters at The University of Georgia. When I attended her cute clutch purses pop-up party today, I realized she’s the kindest, loveliest soul she was back then. Complete with an unexpected dry sense of humor that can disarm anyone and make you almost spit out your wine.
I’ve been following her career on social media and watching as she began Garland Bags from scratch. This incredible line of elongated, structured clutches has one-of-a-kind or limited-edition textiles. That’s what makes them a favorite among the luxury boutiques around Georgia, the Carolinas and Florida; national influencers like Teggy French; and our mutual friends such as powerhouse publicist Heather Dixon Adams. Who doesn’t love cute clutch purses?
Lindsay worked in fundraising at SCAD and then ran a designer pillow workroom in Savannah. That’s where she learned about textiles and started amassing remnants she couldn’t leave behind. You can tell she loves fabrics in the same way a chef loves a farmers’ market, a gardener loves plant species or I love fonts. It was awesome to watch her today fawn over each print and tell the women at the party the story behind each of the cute clutch purse. You know, I’m always saying southerners are more stylish than anyone thinks.
and Ashley Moore Perkins
What’s terrific about Lindsay is what I see (and admire) in so many entrepreneurs. She was inspired to make a clutch for herself using some of her favorite fabrics. Then she researched various methods and materials before actually constructing one. She posted the final results online and found out others thought it was just as exquisite. “Can you make me one?!” became the rallying cry. And Garland Bags was born.
Today, I snagged myself an emerald green Jess Clutch with a vintage-inspired tiger head on it.
As a storyteller, I dig how she’s given each clutch purse a persona. Check out Dolly, Candi and my fave, Palmer. Palmer “just touched down in the Keys two days ago to attention a destination wedding and this is her first trip in year and a half. Yesterday she drank so many cocktails by the pool that she fell asleep and developed a severe, one-shoulder tan line. She also missed the rehearsal dinner.”
Palmer sounds like my kinda girl.
