Meet Julie Peirce | Sewist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Julie Peirce and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julie, what’s your definition for success?
I define success as personal fulfillment. Growing up, my idea of success was tied to monetary gain – the more I made, the more I possessed, the more successful I’d be. I don’t know when but at some point it stuck me that I was in pursuit of recognition. That silent look that said ‘oh, she made it’. I wanted people to see me and know that I’d done well for myself. I no longer see that as success. Success is having the courage to live in a way that fulfills me – no matter what that looks like to the world outside mine. For me, living authentically is living creatively. It’s handmade bags in lieu of Louis Vuitton. It’s handmade decor and cabinets filled to the brim with fabrics and thrifted bed sheets (that will undoubtedly become a dress of some sort). Success is me living true to that and finding ways that enables that to be the thing that sustains me financially.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I make clothes, mostly for myself. The ethos behind my creative journey on YouTube and Instagram was a lack of inspiration that looked like me. For a while curvy fashion was very one note, curvy handmade fashion (in my humble opinion) wasn’t even noteworthy. I struggled to see how the things I was being inspired by would look on my frame. I wanted to be that image for someone else in the creative community. I also wanted to explore personal style in a way that felt more authentic. I often tell people that fashion these days is almost prescribed to you. Whether it be a store or a Tik Tok trend, someone is telling you that this is the thing and oftentimes people are scared to venture outside of that. I do. I am rarely ever on trend and I don’t seek to be. I make things that I want to see myself in. That may sound ultra simplistic but it’s not because you have to be immune to being constantly influenced. When you find that you have been influenced, you have to be so self aware that you’re able to walk it back far enough to where the influence can be coupled with your personal style – even if it means that all you take away from the inspiration was a color. I am by no means well versed in this yet. Nor am I where I’d like to be in terms of impact but I’ve learned that before I can make an impact – I have to know myself enough to know what kind of impression I want to leave on people. As I am in the building stages of my brand, the impression I want to leave is that style is personal – almost eternal (think CoCo Chanel). And that quality is not just for the elite.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in a relatively small city on the outskirts of the Dallas, Fort Worth area but if a friend were coming into town we’d definitely begin our adventures in Dallas. First breakfast tacos at fuel city tacos, then coffee of course. Afterwards we’d hit up Wherehouse Fabrics and the surrounding shops, because if you’re my people then you’re most certainly interested in a magnificent place like this. After we have fabric shopped all the shops we’d probably be ready for lunch so I’d go with Pecan Lodge in downtown Dallas. You’re not going to come all the way to Texas and not get barbecue, right? And if one was to get barbecue, one must do it right. Pecan Lodge does. With our wallets emptied and our bellies full, I’d head back over to my part of town and end the night with a stroll in my local downtown are which still has all the charm of a small town.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My sisters. My goodness we couldn’t be a more diverse trio but I would literally feel incomplete without their love. Sarah & Juliette, they are the best of what this world has to offer.

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Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thecuratedcurvy