Featuring: Nadia Kaliszewski from Big Hollow Designs

Name: Nadia Kaliszewski

Company name: Big Hollow Designs

What they make: Clothing, jewelry, and accessories using recycled and upcycled materials.

Website: https://www.bighollowdesigns.com

Nadia is one of the creative forces behind Big Hollow Designs, a company selling recycled and repurposed jewelry, clothing, and accessories. Together with her fiancé, Josh, Nadia spends countless hours in her studio, designing creating, and wishing the day was longer so she could bring all the design ideas in her mind to reality. She has been an artist all her life, but only saw her creativity as a money-making endeavor when one night in Encampment, Wyoming, with the music of WhatFest playing in the background, one of her friends noticed that everybody around the bonfire was wearing a funky vest. WhatVest, a collection of party vests inspired by the music festival scene, was born that night and with it, so was Big Hollow Designs.

Some examples of the WhatVest Collection - The Parrot (top, center) is a retro-western style vest inspired by the creations of Manuel Cuevas the famous designer who made outfits for the likes of Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton.

The Burton Double Windsor Hat

The first two years in business Nadia kept her full-time job in energy research at the University of Wyoming, but she would race to her studio as soon as she was home to sew and make jewelry until midnight. She took every class available, like apparel construction and graphic design, which could help her get the skills needed to run her own business. The WhatVest line expanded to hats, skirts, one-piece jumpsuits, tracksuits, cloaks, and other fun costumes. Big Hollow Design sells their products at music and mountain festivals around the region. Josh now travels with Nadia to help sell their collections, as well as his own lines of hats, the Burton Double Windsor Hat, which he creates using vintage ties. It was a win-win plan– they get to be in the scene they love, doing what they love, together. Nadia quit her job last august, and Josh has a seasonal job, which allows them to make products on the slow winter months and travel during the summer.

Jewelry - From the edgy to the rustic, Big Hollow's repurposed earrings are perfect for the true Wyoming mountain girl.

The success and response they have received has kept the company growing: they went from doing 5-7 shows in 2015 to a planned 25+ show schedule for the summer of 2017, both in the region and beyond, in places like California and Oregon. Nadia and Josh enjoy selling to people directly; she thrives in the person-to-person interaction with her customers. But the company also has a website where you can find product pages with photographs and descriptions for her one-of-a-kind inventory.

Nadia chose the name “Big Hollow” as a way to pay tribute to the unique area where she lives and works. The Big Hollow, located just west of the city of Laramie, is the largest wind eroded deflation basin in North America and the second largest in the world. Laramie has been Nadia’s home for the last seven years (before moving here for grad school she spent seven years skiing the Tetons), and its university and unique character influences the company’s design aesthetic.

Vintage polyester skirts - A limited edition line of skirts using some of Nadia's vintage patterned polyester fabric that she has collected over the years. She has added funky applique designs to give them a retro feel.

Big Hollow has recently launched a number of outdoor inspired creations, which Nadia ventures into with a certain comfort, perhaps influenced by her days as a professional skier. She says about the future of Big Hollow: “I wish to do all of this while staying true to my values of using repurposed and recycled materials and making quality one-of-a-kind pieces”.

How to: 5 Spring Wardrobe Tips

Believe it or not, it's that time of the year again when you start dreaming of longer days and warmer activities. A little bit more than a month until spring. And although you still need a thick coat and gloves to venture outside, I know you are already dreaming of stripping it all and give way to tank tops, skirts, and sandals.

Last year I wrote a pretty extensive tutorial on how to revamp your wardrobe and come up with a closet you love for spring, so you could be ready when those sales hit the internet. I hope you followed it and got to enjoy it last spring, and if not, that you will take a day for yourself to get it done this year. Because I am about to give you 5 tips to add to the fabulous wardrobe you already (or are about to) have!

Maybe it is still a bit chilly for skirts, so what to do when you are a bit tired of those jeans, khakis, and cords you've been wearing all winter long? This may be the year for a bit more adventure with your bottoms. Have you heard of "culottes"? They are cropped pants with legs so wide that when standing with your feet together it looks like you have a skirt on! How about "gauchos"? Those loose, mid-calf pants that are as comfortable as yoga pants but a lot more stylish and sophisticated. Find what works for you and upgrade your 2016 wardrobe with one purchase.

What about getting some pieces that may be too summery to wear just yet, but that can be used now with the right complementary pieces? I am envisioning a one-piece swimsuit (I just recently discovered the beauty of this overlooked summer essential!) in my wardrobe, which I will wear with a pair of palazzos (or even the gauchos I'll be getting to upgrade my bottoms). Yes, it will need another layer in Wyoming, but that's allowed (see #3). Another similar alternative would be a minidress that you'll get to wear by itself in the summer months, but that you can get away with wearing as a long top/tunic with either leggings or jeans underneath.

I just bought 4 spring blouses that I can't wait to have a chance to wear on their own. The tricky bit is, they are sleeveless, and that will not go well for a while given our seasons. Or lack thereof. The way I go about circumventing this little issue is by layering. I say goodbye to my winter sweaters and instead I add a chambray half way open and an unbuttoned cardigan over that. A skinny belt keeps the whole ensemble together. Yes, sometimes I need a parka over all that, but when I get to wherever I'm going I can take it off and I am left with a beautifully put together layered look that it's a million light years from those boring sweaters. And if it warms up half-way through the day, like it has lately, I'm covered.

If you are not getting new pieces this spring, don't despair: there is still plenty you can do to uplift your wardrobe, and this tip is one I personally am thankful for every spring: don't forget the jewelry! When the weather starts warming up I transition pretty quickly into shedding layers and showing some skin. However, I seem to have a harder time EVERY YEAR with getting earings and rings back on. I am an avid scarf wearer, which means that it is tricky to rock a necklace in the winter months, and gloves do their part against rings and bracelets. But once they are back in the storage bins, I have to remind myself that I already own plenty of bling to bring back out, it's just a matter of remembering it's there.

Last but not least, there are the trends. Every year, the powers of fashion dictate what's in and what's out, and if you are like me you couldn't care less what they think when planning your wardrobe. However, they are impossible to miss, even in a place like Laramie, when the people who do follow the academy awards and other events start wearing those trends, perhaps without even knowing they are trending. So do you want in? And maybe don't think you can afford it, or you have no idea where to start? Here are 5 trends for this spring that you can jump right on shopping virtually anywhere, including the local thrift store which we know has vintage aplenty: One shoulder tops, specially blouses and dresses; oversized bags, for the farmer's market and a night out in the town; oversized earrings, which I'm sure you already own!; iridescence, specially sequins and specially shades like pink and blue; vibrant stripes, preferably broad and on knit dresses.

And that's all I have for you. Go raid your own closet and get ready for the warmer days that are to come!