Bandanas have been worn around the neck and used as a face cover for cowboys out in the fields since the foundation of our country. Recently, the bandana has been called back to its roots and used once again as a fashionable face mask.
Although a classic, the bandana is not without its inconveniences. Difficult to adjust, tie, and even more tricky to keep in place.
Texas-based, Driftwood Bandanas has solved this dilemma with their patent-pending nose pocket. By adding a tailored pocket and an adjustable nose piece, the bandana stays on your nose, with no need for constantly adjusting the fabric back into place.
Best friends and Owners of Driftwood Bandanas, Allison Beadle and Katie Marrs, are revitalizing an important piece of Americana history. Katie Marrs spoke with RoundTop.com on their fresh take on the classic textile.
A Piece of Americana in 2021
In what now seems like a lifetime ago, but in reality, was only last year, Katie Marrs and Allison Beadle were in Santa Fe with their families for vacation. They came across some vintage bandanas at a vintage boutique and bought some for their families. Their kids had lots of fun choosing between colors and patterns.
While at the vintage boutique they learned that bandanas made in the United States are a dying art. There’s only one major manufacturer left in the United States, the rest of the manufacturers have long-moved overseas or gone out of business.
“A vintage bandana is kinda like an old piece of Americana history. It’s a textile piece of art. And of course, the older bandanas have more unique patterns, more wear (and therefore softness) . . . just the more character,” Marrs says.
After returning to Texas after their trip, the pandemic hit, and the mask mandate was put in place. In order to get into a restaurant in Fredericksburg, they had to mask up. The bandanas they purchased in Santa Fe, especially for the kids, were not comfortable. In order to tie it tight enough to stay on it would squish their noses. Their husbands folded the bandana in half over a pipe cleaner and that was where the idea for the technology behind Driftwood Bandanas came to be.
Not long after, Allison and Katie worked with a tailor and created a pocket to hold a metal nose piece, completely modernizing the way we wear bandanas all the while keeping the vintage textile intact.
For glasses wearers, this is particularly important as the nose piece helps keep glasses from fogging up.
“It was just one of the things that kinda came out of this because the nose piece forms over your nose. The hot air doesn’t escape out of it so it doesn’t fog your glasses,” Marrs says.
A Multitasking Fashion Statement
Each bandana is a unique and vintage treasure that was made in the United States and can be loved for years to come. With a thoughtful design that looks towards the future, Driftwood Bandanas created the nose piece pocket so that is easy to remove. This pocket can be removed with a seam ripper; and after a wash, the holes created from the stitching close up.
Marrs explains, “the seam rip was one of the things that was very important to us. We wanted the bandana masks to be able to return to a classic bandana when this is all over.”
However, the women of Driftwood Bandanas have found that some of their customers plan to keep the nose piece in as it helps in professions that have to wear a bandana or face-covering. People also love them for outdoor concerts (where the air is often dusty) or even housework like mowing the lawn.
Each bandana has the company’s “D” logo chain stitched on the corner – a little design touch added by Marrs’ best friend from college, an avid monogrammer.
Driftwood Bandanas will be at Round Top during the Spring Antiques Show available for purchase in-store at Curate by Stash.
On Sunday, March 28, Driftwood Bandanas is having a special “pop-up” event at Curate by Stash where Marrs and Beadle will be selling bandana masks onsite and debuting a selection of premium vintage bandanas, some of which date back to the 1940s. At this pop-up event, Driftwood Bandanas will also be taking orders for monogramming to customize any of their bandana masks or vintage bandanas.