Bold Journey Interview
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura Shrewsbury. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Laura , we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Oh, I’m still very much a work in progress! Haha! I think that everything we do in life is an outward manifestation of a facet of our interior world. Of our hearts and souls. From our personal style, to home decor, to the books we choose to read and the food we put into our bodies.
My parents, while being lovely and well-meaning people, were much older. My father was 8 years old when WWI began. He was 20 years old at the beginning on the Great Depression. My mother was a little girl during WWII in Glasgow, Scotland. She ran from the nightly Nazi air raids with her family. They had both experienced extremely traumatic scarcity in their lifetimes, so it’s not surprising that they had a laser-like focus on material gain.
I was actively encouraged to ignore and minimize my artistic skills. I was lectured over and over again not to become “a starving artist.” While everyone else around me marveled at my abilities, I just kept on pushing it down and to the side. According to my parents, it wasn’t good enough. And as my artistic abilities were a reflection of my interior landscape, I quickly understood the rejection of that as I wasn’t good enough. And that really did some damage.
So my process of developing confidence and self-esteem has been actively choosing to deconstruct everything I was taught. To rewrite the script. To challenge everything my family held dear, and to fully stand in my power as an artist and designer-maker. And in doing so, I’ve been set on fire with this overwhelming rush to just create as much as possible. I love it. In coming to this place of understanding that my folks were doing the best they could with the hand that life had dealt them, I’ve been able to release a lot of anger and view their influence with compassion and love.
In the meantime, I just turned 55 and I feel like I’ve just started. I’ve finally arrived. It’s a nice feeling.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I have a love affair with all things darkly glamorous and slightly dangerous, and I direct that passion into everything I make.
Weapon of Choice by Laura Shrewsbury brings you to the sharp edge of fashion. My focus is on creating beautiful, hand-made accessories and jewelry with symbolic or spiritual meaning, rather than the empty pursuit of the latest trends. Slow fashion. Craftsmanship. And lots of love.
It’s my hope that your purchase of wearable art helps you express your individuality and personal aesthetic. If what we wear and choose to adorn ourselves with helps us feel more truly ourselves, then it’s my honor to help you look great, and feel confident and happy being the truest version of yourself!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Empty your cup! Don’t approach life with an attitude of “I already know everything.” Leave all that outside the door when you go to work everyday. I don’t care how long you’ve been doing something, there is always an opportunity to learn something new. I’ve been sewing professionally for 30+ years now, and I’m constantly reminded of how much I don’t know! Once you can learn to embrace how much the mundane can become a new daily adventure, you’re in the right mindset for the really exciting stuff to start happening.
Follow Bruce Lee’s advice! He once said, ““If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.” I am a chronic over-thinker. This helps me to just go for it.
If you are a young artist, designer, or aspiring to work in any aspect of art or decor, feed your brain! Rather than focusing on your own tiny corner of the world, become curious about the macro. Learn every possible thing you can….really dig in and experiment with your chosen mediums. Look at the history of art and decor throughout the centuries, across a variety of cultures. Understand why and how things happened, shifted, and changed. Because in doing so, you will be effectively building an internal database that will serve as a foundation for the rest of your life.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’d love to collaborate with established and upcoming fashion designers and create jewelry and accessory collections for their lines. I’m a big believer in the positive transformational power of fashion, music, and spirituality, and it would be glorious to be part of a creative team who share my values and worldview!
The best way to reach me is through my website, www.WeaponofChoicebyLauraShrewsbury.com, or via email at wocLauraShrewsbury@gmail.com
Contact Info:
Instagram: weaponofchoice_laurashrewsbury
Image Credits
Titus Childers Photography and Brian Spenser Photography for Weapon of Choice by Laura Shrewsbury
Weapon Of Choice Interview with Vampyre Magazine
Interview with Laura Shrewsbury, creator of Weapon of Choice New Orleans*, By Rachel Clinesmith.
(*Edited for brevity. To read the full interview, click Here)
VM: Okay, so tell me how you got started in clothing, jewelry and accessory design.
WoCNO: By Accident! My background is in theatrical design. I have a BFA in costume design, and I worked in New York City for many years in live theatre, NYC Ballet, and Broadway, primarily as a wardrobe professional. I sew and know how to do professional alterations, so in addition to dressing actors during performances, I would come to the theatre in the morning or afternoon to check and maintain the ‘wardrobe’ of costumes for that show.
I was lucky enough to have my eyes and my hands on a great number of Broadway costumes, and they’re unbelievably magnificent. They are built to last through eight shows a week…singing, acting, dancing, and multiple quick changes. All under hot lights. It was a tremendous education. I would go in every single day, and I would steam, iron, and check through these gorgeous, insanely expensive, professionally made costumes.
I was very fortunate to be able to have hands-on experience with the work of great masters. I learned so much from that. In my seven years at New York City Ballet, being able see the work of Barbara Karinska first-hand… And not only what it looks like, but to be able to understand why it looks like that. To learn how she chose the fabrics, and created the structure, and layered those outfits…that was amazing. It was a masterclass, working there.
As NYCB has courted the world of high fashion by inviting famous couture designers to design the costumes for the opening night gala events, I was part of a very small team that directly handled those garments. And I’ll tell you, when Valentino shows up with the gowns for the principal ballerina, I pay attention to how things are made! I looked closely at the choices governing his design. It's just incredible. To me, it's just always so interesting to see the diversity and variety of artistry, and how you can take something like dance and essentially change the way it's presented.
VM: So how did you end up in New Orleans?
WoCNO: Chasing future happiness! New York was home for 25 years. I loved it, but I have a theory: if all you need to get into the club is money, it doesn't make it a cool club. It just means they’ll let in anyone with money.
That's how New York was starting to feel. It was just expensive. All the cool kids were getting squeezed out. At the time, I was making a very decent middle-class income in New York City. I was working all the time on Broadway; however, I am not a Broadway person.
I very much respect the talent, drive and discipline that goes into the production of any musical theater. To sing, act, and dance, and expend that level of talent and energy eight shows a week is phenomenal, but it's just not me. I’m a rock and roll person. I was simply no longer interested in spending 6 days and night a week in that milieu.
Friends of mine had moved down to New Orleans. I came down to visit, and of course, I was immediately seduced. The edge, the danger, the grit, and glamour: it felt right.
VM: So, that’s how it started?
WoCNO: There wasn't one, singular, crystallizing moment. Things started small and just grew organically. I love jewelry. I've always enjoyed how jewelry and accessories very much individualize an outfit.
Covid+ Lock down afforded me the time and stability to really dig in and play. To purely just experiment as a designer-maker. In all my years in NYC, I honestly never had the luxury of time before. For my first few years in New Orleans, I was usually working 2-3 jobs. Then suddenly…. loads of time. I threw every waking moment into creating.
I didn't operate from a profit-driven perspective. I operated from a perspective of “is this something that would broadcast a message to a potential mate, or to a potential group of people that might want to be my friend if they see me wearing this?”
Does this draw the eye? Not just aesthetically--are there layers of symbols and meanings? Will this resonate with its owner? How does this piece empower someone to be their authentic self? What I want is to allow someone to have an opportunity, a vehicle, to communicate who they are to the world. Especially straight men!
That's important for me because men are so constricted in Western society, and especially in America. You're allowed to wear this, but not this. You can talk about this, but not that. Mainstream culture in America is so stifling for men. Deviations from the “norm” (as defined by other straight men in the immediate environment) results in a great deal of unpleasantness and even danger. Things are getting better, of course, but I have always felt that men deserved more accessory options. That’s why I created the Chestplate.
A Chestplate is like a big necklace, essentially, that goes either over or under the collar of a button down shirt. It’s a new neckwear alternative. It's not a bow tie. It's not a regular tie. It's not an ascot. It's not a bolo. It’s re-embroidered lace that's layered with multiple different other pieces of embroidery or brocade fabric, topped with a jeweled medallion.
It was important for me to make glamour easy because I love glamour. I love it. I'm a maximalist, not a minimalist. People are constantly time-strapped, constantly rushing around. I decided to make glamourous, transformative pieces that fit into a sandwich bag. Put it in your purse, your briefcase or glovebox, and put it on after work. And that’s it. You’re dressed for the evening.
There’s a lot of visual dazzle to my work, but you can choose to wear a piece because a) you just like the look of it, and think it will match your outfit, or b) because I plant a lot of symbols—early and Medieval Christian, symbols from the tarot, alchemical symbols, etc. –into my work, and however those symbols resonate with you, use them to feel fully yourself. To feel powerful, to feel beautiful, to feel seen. Let those symbols serve as a warning sign! Let them serve as a mating call. However you choose to interpret my work and incorporate it into your own wardrobe is up to you.
Hey Rachel-can we talk about Nosferotica? Because that is my vampire collection and you’re Vampyre Magazine! I gave myself the challenge of creating a collection of jewelry and accessories that I thought would encapsulate the things that I've always loved and admired about vampire lore and legends. I don't like cute. I've always gone for hardcore glamour, antiques, and things that have history. I'm not bashing Hot Topic, but a lot of their jewelry and accessories tend to be very youthful.
VM: Their target market is preteens and teenagers.
WoCNO: Exactly. I prefer adults. The challenge was how can I take on genre-specific tropes, like coffins and bats, and breathe some new life into them? How can I make it fresh? I found some jet-black enameled metal coffin charms. They're tiny, elegant, and I use them in almost every item in Nosferotica. Blood -as food, as the source of immortality- would be a revered substance, and so red Czech glass “blood drops” and red metal jewelry components featured prominently in the collection.
My concept was an immortal, living for centuries, would not necessarily consign themselves to a colorless wardrobe or all-silver jewelry (especially since in some vampire myths, silver is harmful to the undead). I’m all about historically influenced opulence. And while even some contemporary humans can get “stuck,” style-wise, in certain eras (or hairstyles!), I wanted the Nosferotica collection to be fashion. Not people dressed up in Victorian-esque costumes with ruffled shirts and top hats.
While Nosferotica is a single collection among several created by Weapon of Choice New Orleans, in my own little way, I’m creating and adding to the vampire mythos. How great is that?