A quick herstory and behind the scenes of Calysta Estari
To explain where I am currently, I definitely need to show you the past! Although this is my first post to my blog, and also the first post in the new year, I’m going to take a moment to look into what steps have brought me to this moment.
In 2023 when I graduated high school, I promised myself that I wouldn’t make my sewing a career. I didn’t want the daily stresses of the business world overshadowing my love for creation. I escaped the “plan” that I felt others had prepared me for and became a Dude Ranch Wrangler. ‘What’s that?’ You might be asking yourself. Being a Dude Ranch Wrangler means that I am the trail guide, the ranch activity coordinator, and a historian & entertainer all rolled into one. I was up when the Sun Rose, and asleep well after the last shouldering coal in the campfire went out.
A year later, I was convinced to move back to reality and go to school. In this endeavor, I also needed a job. To all others in my generation, I believe that you are familiar with the disheartening rejection after rejection of applications. In 2024 alone, I believe that I applied to over 50 “open” jobs. I heard back from 2, and was granted an interview to one. JoAnn Fabrics.
Fabric stores are a place throughout my life that I have sought out. I have found tiny quilt shops in the mountain towns of Montana, and plundered through vintage home décor shops that feel like they’ve been around since the cowboys roamed the plains in Arizona. Each one of these shops has its own heartbeat and lifeblood. And, each one has cost me hundreds of dollars just to walk into. Smh.
So, I say all of this to explain to you what JoAnn’s was to me. It was both a job, but a starting fount for me to discover my love for creation and business. In the last two year’s of its operations, I worked at two of its locations. I met many good friends (shoutout to my ongoing group chat of JoAnns coworkers) and I had many interactions with customers – both good and bad.
With working two different store closings, I accumulated, let’s say….. an extra sieve fabric stash – on top of my stash from cowboying out west, and the stash that was handed down to me from my grandmother. In many ways, I have taken over my parent’s house many times over. With this extensive amount of fabric and notions, I decided to start making pearl snap shirts.
A pearl snap shirt is a quintessential item in any cowpoke’s wardrobe. It originated in the 1940’s as a functional upgrade to the buttons of the time, allowing a “quick release” if needed when one got caught up in a fence or bull…. Eventually it has evolved into a fashion staple thanks to the Hollywood glamorization of the Wild West.
My take on this wardrobe staple begun with a perceived lack of novelty or original-ness in modern pearl snaps. I am totally in love with vintage designs, but I want to wear something that represents what I like to do or even have a wider range of colors available to suit my interests. In this, I found a business idea and a call to action. I started with twenty-five pearl snap shirts at my first market in Canton, TX in March 2025. Each one was unique, different yokes were sewn on the backs, and different fabrics were used for each shirt. Every single detail was handmade by me!
I had very high hopes for my first market. I printed signs and designed a booth and tried to think through and plan for every single detail the I could possibly need. Alas, I sold three candles. Not the handmade shirts that I had spent weeks designing and working on, not the skirts that I had stayed up the previous 48 hours to complete, and not the jewelry that I had made for a previous market that I had participated in while a high school student. This disappointment, right off of the bat felt like a slap in the face. The vendors who surrounded me encouraged me not to let this define who I am as a business, that the month that I started was a very hard month to be there due to rainstorms, and that my location may not the the right place to get people to see what I’m selling.
I took their feedback with a lump of salt, but endeavored to not let this experience define me. I started researching markets and the groups that organize them. Since I sell western apparel, I decided to apply for a rodeo in June. I started working on new products, more skirts, better stands to display my items, and more things to show off and sell. I stayed up for 72 hours before this rodeo. It’s not a fact that I am specifically proud of, but it is something for any other young businessperson to consider when starting out. The organizers of this event didn’t market their event to a group of people that showed up. And, on the opening weekend of the rodeo, they were giving away tickets. Neither of these factors contributed to sales, and I was left more disheartened than before.
It took me about three weeks to recover from the disappointment of two back to back market fails. I swore up and down that this was happening because I didn’t it enough, and that I had promised that I wouldn’t turn my passion into a company. Nevertheless, I decided to throw my name into the hat once more. I bought an 8x16 canopy tent and drove out to Canton, TX once more – this time setting up in the outdoor lots near the trade center.
I brought fabric from JoAnns, ready to cut out and sell by the yard, I had made fat quarters that I sold individually or in bundles. I had also made witch hats out of some of the old quilts that I had in my closet. Those are the first item that I ever sold out of. I took 14 with me and sold 16! I made two extremely special witch hats custom for two different customers, and I was HOOKED on making things out of recycled quilts. The next market, I took a quilted coat that I had made for myself a year before, and offered to make people custom ‘quilt jackets’ out of the same pattern. IT WORKED! And I sold 2 at that market.
Around this time, I received a DM from a company in France. In my bio, I listed myself as a Fashion Designer. And they invited me to go to their Young Creators shows in Cannes and Paris – more on this in a later post, I just wanted to let you know the timeline!
The next market was on the weekend of Thanksgiving, and my whole family was going to be out of town. I was so super thankful that my boyfriend agreed to come down and help me with the market. For this market, I had stayed up late – my Achilles heel – to make five Duster to show off at Canton. This is when I decided to use the name “quilt dusters” for my creations!
The whole weekend was incredibly cold and rainy, and as a very anti-cold person, I was not happy in the slightest. I ended up bundled in three sweatshirts and one of my dusters trying to stay warm under my heating blanket. Eventually, my boyfriend caved and tried on a Duster too to stay warm. And, damnnn…. He looked good! I decided that since I hadn’t posted ANYTHING about the market all weekend, that I would post about us wearing the Dusters in the cold.
Honestly, I had almost given up on myself for a third time, expecting that my video wouldn’t reach far past my normal crowd, but surprisingly, here we are! I’m planning out new items to launch, and making a crazy amount of Dusters a month, and I’m loving this craziness that I have created.
Is this what I have expected my life to be so far? No, not really! But this was an amazing wrap up of this year and a great promise into what 2026 can hold!
