
We’re heading out to Fire Island for our annual Fourth of July pilgrimage (and drag invasion), so I will be posting old (but still fabulous) articles for the next week. I think I picked some really good ones, and I hope you enjoy them!
Now, onto today’s lovely subject. Rachel Ellenbogen’s work came to my attention in an unusual way. Someone in my feed posted about the “outrageous” price of the purse above. The artist spends between 15-17 hours designing and creating her artworks, but when she listed it for sale at $990, half the internet went nuts. Happily, the other half came to her aid.
“Some comments are annoyed because it means poor people can’t afford her artwork and art is only accessible for the Rich. As a working class designer who’s often told I should lower my prices so people can afford them, it fucks me off because a lot of you think you’re entitled to these crafts. If you cannot afford the product you want it doesn’t give you the right to demand the maker to labour it for free and that’s the same for all clothing, none of that is made by robots.”
– Designer Veronica Velveteen
You can see all of Rachel Ellenbogen’s amazing beaded creations on her website and on Instagram and TikTok.

June 30, 2023 at 11:23 am
They must take forever.
LikeLiked by 1 person
July 1, 2023 at 8:56 am
I can’t even imagine having that kind of patience (and skill).
LikeLiked by 1 person
July 9, 2023 at 3:59 pm
WoW! Beautiful bead work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
July 9, 2023 at 5:38 pm
It really is lovely!
LikeLike