The Devil Made Me Do It Clothing Blog

The Devil Made Me Do It prides itself in
making ecologically-sensitive, sweatshop-free,
wearable art. I believe you can be kind to the
planet, socially conscious, and look fabulous doing
it! So, each one-of-a-kind garment is handmade
from recycled wool, cashmere, angora and other fine
vintage fibers.

The Devil Behind the Designs

For over twenty years I have been designing my own clothes and scouring thriftshops for items to RE-design, ever since I was a teenager and couldn’t find anything I wanted to wear at the mall. It used to drive my mother crazy that I’d look at the high-end fashion magazines, then shop at the Goodwill, coming home with suspenders and oldman pants (you know the story). She didn’t understand how these two things related to each other.

So many people stopped me on the streets to ask about things I’d made that I actually considered (for a brief moment) going to fashion school. Alas, after meeting with the good folks at a couple of fashion schools in New York City, I realized that was not my scene. Not only was it dominated by men, I was also having trouble reconciling the whole consumerism thing. I didn’t want to convince women they didn’t already look fabulous and so NEEDED to buy more clothing. And the idea that people would pay money for Re-vitalized clothing made from Recycled materials was still a long way off.

So, for many years I pursued other creative endeavors, eventually earning my MFA in Creative Writing. But no matter what I was doing, I was always MAKING. Clothes, jewelry, small bits of furniture. Partly this was necessity (it was the only way I could afford really cool, unique stuff), and party for the joy and satisfaction of making something myself.

A couple of years ago, a good friend convinced me to try selling some of my wares at a local market, and The Devil Made Me Do It was born. I was surprised to find that seeing my clothes on other people could be even more fun than wearing them myself. I’d gone from enjoying the attention I was getting when wearing my designs, to sharing that feeling with others.

But I still had some misgivings about engaging the whole Fashion-Consumer machine. That’s where using Recycled materials comes in. Although I still don’t ever want to convince anyone that they aren’t already fabulous, I know that people will always buy new clothing. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have something new and wonderful and still walk lightly on the earth. Now that the whole idea of Recycled clothing is finally “In Fashion”, there’s a place where my love for elegant design, my thrifting, jagged-edge sensibilities, and my concern for the environment can all come together.

Now, my greatest satisfaction comes from hearing that someone loves wearing something I made as much as I loved making it.

Please enjoy these clothes I make.

Sincerely,

Tamara Embrey