Going Local: Elizabeth Yarborough Gets to Know the Sheep Behind the Yarn
For Elizabeth Yarborough, who makes awesome bangles like these under the name Yarbie, a key inspiration hub is also a place of production: She visits a close-to-SF farm to spin yarn and meet the animals she has to thank for it. Amazing, right? Dive on in…
“Wind Rush Farm is near Petaluma, California, just an hour’s drive from my home in San Francisco. Pictured here is a beautiful barn and courtyard where I spin sheep’s wool into yarn and then dye it using all-natural materials like onion skins and annatto seeds. My teachers are Mimi and Marlie, master yarn-spinners and lovely ladies, and classes always start with a visit to the pastures! Mimi invites people to learn more about yarn-making and farm life on her blog, too.” —elizabeth
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Jesse Kamm’s Designer Pals
She has worked with some of our favorites, and she has stories to prove it.
Jesse’s portrait in Alyson’s book, A Shade of Red. [Ed.: More on that here.]
Alyson Fox
“After my son Julien was born, I decided we needed to move to the woods, because I really wanted to focus on learning about this new guy in my life. So we rented this cabin just outside of Austin, Texas, and lived there for eight months. While there, I met this girl who owns an amazing boutique called Spartan, and I saw this Alyson Fox tea towel in there one day. I thought, ‘Hey, I remember that girl. We were in the same issue of Nylon a long time ago!’ A week later, she came by and photographed me for her book. We became instant fans of each other’s work. When I started the spring 2011 collection, it was obvious to get Alyson involved in the jewelry design.”
The yarn whiz and textile guru wearing each other’s pieces at their La Pietra Project opening at Pulp Lab in Seattle.
Elizabeth Yarborough
“Elizabeth and I are old friends. At the time we were introduced, I was doing illustrations based on buttons and bows, and Elizabeth was making button jewelry. One day, a Vogue editor who knew both our work said to me, ‘You gotta meet Elizabeth Yarborough.’ It turns out many of the buttons I was drawing were ones Elizabeth was using in her pieces. It was just this weird coincidence. I ended up using a lot of her jewelry for L.A. Bloom—a film I was making for my spring 2008 collection, featuring L.A. girls who inspired me. We went on to collaborate on a project a year later—Elizabeth made bangles based on the fabric of my dresses, the print of which was originally inspired by all this marble I saw in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.”
Jesse sporting a Clare Vivier creation.
Clare Vivier
“Clare and I met through my friend Heather Taylor, who co-owns Taylor De Cardoba, a gallery here in Los Angeles where she organized this group show that Clare and I were both part of. That’s where we first met, but Clare actually wore one of my designs to the event. Nowadays, I stop by Clare’s store frequently—we swap a lot of bags for dresses. Clare took this picture—I love how you can see her in the reflection of the frame—of me wearing her bags and Elizabeth’s bangles.”
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Of a Kind
Sweater season is upon us, and don’t make your wrist feel like it’s missing out on the party. This bangle from Elizabeth Yarborough’s line Yarbie brings together silky black cashmere, fluffy red angora, and nubby brown tweed for a trifecta as stunning and kick-ass as Charlie’s Angels (version one, two, or three). —erica
Read more about Elizabeth:
+ On the most colorful spots in San Francisco.
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Elizabeth Wears Our Bangle Like a Pro
It probably helps that she piles on up to ten of these guys a day.
According to Elizabeth Yarborough, it’s possible to develop a bangle problem, wherein you want to stack on so many bracelets at once that you run out of arm room (and possibly lose interest in owning long-sleeve shirts). Of course, the version she made for us—incorporating rich black cashmere, earthy brown tweed, and tomato-red angora—can also be worn all by itself to great effect, too. Here, she shows us how it’s done.
Try it at home. Score one of her ridiculously cozy creations—exclusive to Of a Kind!—here.
“Worn doubled-up or tripled up, these bangles create a cool, Rubik’s Cube look.”
“This graphic cream and black top is a great backdrop. I love a neutral color palette with a single bright pop of color.”
“The bangle’s red patch livens up this classic nautical look. And I like all the lines and angles—the way the stripes intersect with the stacked bangles.”
“Color-blocking with neon makes a high-energy statement—and honestly, just makes me happy.”
“Here is the bangle dressed down. This casual flannel shirt brings out the earth tones for an outdoorsy look.”
“…And here is the bangle dressed up. It is timeless and ultra-feminine worn with a full brocade skirt and a sweet Peter Pan collar.”
“Capes and shawls free up the forearms—perfect for bangle-stacking.”
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Elizabeth Hits the Books
The designer’s paperback collection looks as good as it reads.
Before Elizabeth Yarborough took up full-time jewelry making, she worked in publishing in NYC and, no surprise, has stacks and stacks of books threatening to overtake her San Francisco apartment. Though we’ve all been told it’s the insides that count, Elizabeth has a soft spot for killer covers, too, and these are works that she thinks deliver a one-two punch.
“These are a few of my favorite vintage paperbacks. As much as I treasure my books, I beat them up pretty badly, turning them inside out and scribbling all over the margins.”
“Super Sad True Love Story was my favorite read of 2010, and I’m also crazy about the cover. It was designed by the amazing Rodrigo Corral, who also designed the cover for A Million Little Pieces and the Chuck Palahniuk novels, among many others. I saw him give a lecture when I was 23 and have followed his work ever since.”
“Edna St. Vincent Millay has been my favorite poet since I was 15, when I first read “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why.” This early edition from 1934 belonged to my grandmother, whom I never knew. She was exactly my age the year it was published. I discovered it among her things this past summer, and I love imagining her reading it and loving it as I do now.”
“I love the art of book-binding, and this is one of many treasures that I found at the Strand in New York. It’s a little book of antique endpapers, which are the colorful papers that appear on the insides of hardcover books. These patterns go back to the 1500s and were hand-stenciled in fantastic colors or stamped with wood blocks or engravings. They are a true lost art.”
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Elizabeth Takes Us on a Color Tour of SF
One of her biggest inspirations: the flashes of mystifying hues she encounters every day.
Elizabeth Yarborough, the woman behind the woven-yarn bangles of Yarbie, thinks that color is, well, nothing short of magical. “I’m all about the interplay of colors and how emotionally we connect to that. And that never gets old to me,” the charming San Francisco dweller with a Southern drawl explains. “I’ve been doing this now for years, and colors never fail to dazzle me every single day.” Bonus: This is one source material that it’s pretty hard not to encounter everywhere. Here’s what made an impact over the course of one Saturday.
“All of my Saturdays begin at the historic Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. It’s an explosion of color, and the Bay Area farmers handle their produce like works of art.”
“The Blue Bottle Coffee stand there is always a mob scene, but it’s worth the wait. It’s the best coffee in the world, and I adore the bright blue logo.”
“Long walks are another Saturday tradition. This is a favorite perch in my neighborhood where I’m always sure to find a flock of the legendary wild parrots of San Francisco [photographed here by Ingrid Taylar]. They are a riot this time of year.”
“I am in love with primary colors. Mondrian used them to reflect the basic order of the world, and they are a great starting point when I’m designing something new. This edible art is from the rooftop café at the SFMOMA.”
“Finally, my favorite stretch of waterfront. The Golden Gate Bridge is such an icon, but when it’s just outside your window, it’s an especially friendly sight.”
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Yarbie
Elizabeth Yarborough had a path—or so she thought. She earned a masters degree in writing and, following that, was lucky/talented enough to land a coveted job in book publishing. “I thought I was doing my dream, and then I realized that the corporate world was just so stifling to me,” she explains. “I had a sort of creative job, but it didn’t satisfy me at all. I was so starved creatively.”
What could have been a quarter life crisis led her, instead, to fall into her new career almost immediately. “I spent a month wondering and wondering what to do. Then one day I woke up and took myself to the jewelry district in New York and bought all these supplies. I already knew on that very first day that I was going to turn it into a business. I couldn’t sleep for three full nights. It was the weirdest experience of my life,” Elizabeth recalls.
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Of a Kind
Yarborough Jewelry is quirky and adorable without being cloying. It feels like it has a smart (if a little weird) sense of humor. It is the jewelry version of Miranda July, perhaps.
Jewelry designer Elizabeth Yarborough is a former book editor and she incorporates everything from spools of thread to broken dishes into her themed collections. I think it is so damn cool. I really love the broken china necklace and the leather button pieces.
