“Not much changed,” Jarvis said of her love for creative fashion. “I started buying vintage denim in college and painting it, then began adding fringe, patches, stuff like that and fell in love with it.”
In May, Jarvis launched Georgetown-based Hippie West, turning her lifelong passion into a business. The online and pop-up store offers her signature vintage denim with hand-painted designs and details, handmade jewelry, and other women’s clothing and accessories.
Running her own business was “a long time coming,” Jarvis said, citing her mother as an inspiration.
“She’s the hardest worker I know,” Jarvis said. “She opened her own restaurant 19 years ago and taught me and ins and outs of being your own boss and creating something from the very beginning and succeeding. That’s what I’ve always wanted.”
Jarvis has been working to market her business via social media and has received orders from a variety of places. She is also working to tap into the Central Texas community by selling her products at market days, craft shows and other events.
Even though foot traffic has decreased at fairs due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jarvis said the sales she made at Round Rock’s Junk Hippy event in October, for example, were beyond what she anticipated.
Custom orders are also available. If a shopper sees a piece they like that is not in their size, Jarvis will find vintage denim in the correct size and incorporate the design.
Vintage, high-waisted denim is trendy right now, Jarvis said, adding keeping her prices affordable is important to her so everyone can have access to unique clothes that make them feel beautiful.
“I’m pricing my products at what I would want to buy them at,” she said. “Especially these days—these are hard times for some people, and I definitely take that into consideration.”
Jarvis said she would love to have a physical location in the future. She said though some people do prefer to shop online, she would enjoy decorating a store and letting locals have the opportunity to come in, feel and try on items.
