It isn’t unusual for perfect strangers to stop someone wearing one of Nora Patterson Viola’s whimsical, colorful, flirty handmade clothing items to ask where it came from. Nora has a distinctive style that has won her a big following in the area.
“I can’t go anywhere without getting stopped and getting comments on the clothes I wear that are made by Nora,” Cara Brown said. “First of all, it is just different. You won’t find these anywhere else. It makes me feel good to wear her clothing. She goes to a lot of trouble to make the clothes. First, she goes out shopping for sweaters, and then she brings them home, washes them, cuts them up and creates something new from them. To me, that is just really talent. I would invite anyone to go by there and check it out. She always is up to something new.”
Valerie Damon, a local artist with dreadlocks known for wearing colorful clothing, finds Nora’s work inspiring, fun and practical.
“The fact that it is made out of recycled clothes is beyond inspiring,” Valerie said. “Her sense of design and color and coming up with new products makes dressing really fun again.”
For years Nora has sold her Just My Style recycled clothing at local arts and crafts fairs. She had often fantasized about having her own store, and this year has made that dream come true by purchasing a store at 55 Alamo, across from Century 21 on US 62, called Gypsy Leather and Suede. Nora has a partner, Jack Stewart, who makes Native American style flutes and drums, and does custom leather items.
The retail operation has been open since August. Nora also has two tourist lodging units on the property, Peas in a Pod and the Great Spirit Hideaway.
“The lodging is doing really well,” Nora said. “We also have lodging out by our home at Inspiration Point. It is called the Nest at 188.”
Nora and her husband first came to Eureka Springs on their honeymoon. They kept visiting through the years, bought a house here in 2004, and after retirement moved here in 2013 from Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.
“What brought me here is Eureka Springs has my kind of people,” Nora said. “I’m an old hippie. It’s my tribe.”
Nora didn’t retire, but instead launched another career making original, one-of-kind clothing such as dresses, coats, hand warmers and leg warmers from used sweaters. She has been sewing since she was a child.
“When I was a little girl my mother made all my clothes,” Nora said. “She taught me how to sew. I’ve always had a creative spirit, and used to have a wood working business. I sold wooden folkart pieces in the early eighties at shows and flea markets. I just always want to be making things. I just can’t sit still.”
People who don’t want to purchase clothing from a foreign country sweatshop are often delighted to find Nora’s offerings. They particularly like that her clothing is repurposed from used clothing.
“They love the idea,” she said. “Almost all my customers, when they find out it is recycled, think it is a great idea to repurpose things instead of going out to spend money to buy a new item.”
How her style came about was seeing something years ago, clothing with seams on the outside. The outside seams weren’t quite as prominent as hers are, but she took that idea to create something new.
She doesn’t work from patterns, designs are all in her head and every piece is unique. This year she has a new style in leg warmers that have leather and conchos (little pieces of silver jewelry) to give a hippie–bohemian–cowgirl look.
Nora frequents thrift stores, and sometimes sweaters might have a tear or stain that might make them not very marketable, but they work to be cut up. She gets a bunch of sweaters, sorts them into colors, and then starts cutting and putting the clothing articles together.
She tries to be reasonable with prices.
“Sometimes people tell me it’s a little high,” Nora said. “We do offer specials. We have ten percent off now. Now that I have my own store, I plan to have more specials. I try to price them reasonably considering how much work goes into them and that they are custom, handmade, unique and different.”
Nora has found it humbling and very flattering how much Eureka women appreciate her clothing.
The clothing is also sold at Nelson’s downtown and at JustMyStyleRecycled.Etsy.com. Both the clothing and the flutes and drums are for sale at www.gypsyleatherandsuede.com. Jack’s flutes and drums can be found at Facebook.com/eaglespiritflutes/.