From fabulous home to functional fashion
Stephanie Brakefield and her daughter are on a mission to make fashion accessible to all.
Mixing things up
Stephanie loves mixing patterns. She's been doing it ever since she was a little girl, and I’m thinking it might be her trademark. Now she's incorporating that same approach into her new fashion business, and the results are fabulous.
“Not sure when or how I learned to mix patterns. I can remember doing it with my clothes as a young kid. I just love color and pattern, so naturally I like to put them all together.”
She is always looking for new ways to mix things up, and she knows that you can never have too much of a good thing!
I don’t think I need to say much here — look at these photos of her home. She’s incredibly gifted, not only with interior design but she’s also an artist as well.
Home is where they gather
Stephanie and I have known each other since our kids were in middle school together. She and her husband, Pat, have four children and more than a few grandchildren: Hendrix and Logan Brakefield and their baby Bobby Grace are in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Anna Claire and Cameron Britton are in Rochester, Minnesota with their 18-month-old daughter, Mary Turner, and a new baby due any day; Braxton and Brueck Brakefield are in Seattle, Washington; and Mary Cayten is here in Nashville.
When you walk into Stephanie’s home, it is easy to see that she loves being a mother and grandmother. Her creativity and kindness are everywhere! You can only imagine how fun it must be when the family gathers there together.
“Nothing gives me more joy than family.”
Stephanie’s tips for adding interest to your decor
Stephanie has an eye for not only mixing patterns and textiles but she also has an eye for mixing new and vintage furniture. Her house is eclectic, interesting and yet super comfortable.
“There really are no rules when it comes to home decor. Do what makes you happy and it will look great (at least to you).”
Vary pattern, scale and type like stripes, florals, paisleys and checks rather than only using florals.
Don’t match everything. Mixing and matching adds interest.
Find a color palette then throw in one or two things from the opposite side of the color wheel for contrast.
Use texture as a color.
Stylish clothes for everyone
In the last few years Stephanie and her youngest daughter, Mary Cayten co-founded Brakefields, a fashion design studio and online store.
Stephanie has always longed for comfortable clothes that were more stylish than the usual workout attire. Mary Cayten, who was diagnosed with a genetic condition that changed her own ability levels, discovered she wanted stylish yet adaptive clothes.
From there the goal for the pair was to design clothes for everyone.
With disabilities and abilities alike in mind, they strive to design fashion that can easily fit any need or desire — even those with limited mobility!
Through their extensive research they found what traditional clothing lacks — make dressing independently a reality. For some, universal design is a necessity, and for others it’s a desire to wear comfortable clothes. But, the bottom line is that we all benefit when our clothes are designed with function and not just fashion in mind.
Designing Women
Stephanie and Mary Cayten learned how to sew at a young age and grew up dressing dolls, and later themselves, in colorful, one-of-a-kind creations.
We love all things fun and colorful.
We stand behind the importance of fashion AND function.
We are dedicated to making pieces that are beautiful, comfortable and accessible.
Brakefields wants you to look and feel great regardless of what your day throws your way!
Stephanie considered going into fashion design but her other passion for teaching children won out in her twenties. Her favorite part of teaching was helping children solve problems and overcome obstacles on their road to independence. Later Stephanie embarked on her favorite job of all — raising her own children.
Mary Cayten went to college as a student-athlete to study fashion business. She loved having a foot in each of her favorite worlds. While in school, she participated in a program that worked closely with a number of adaptive sport organizations and was repeatedly told by the athletes how frustrating it was to try to find clothing they liked.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and sent Mary Cayten back home, the two women got to work on their plans to launch a label that was equally as fashionable as it was functional.
They personally wanted clothes that were colorful, stylish, easy to get on and off, and comfortable enough to do cartwheels in. Mary Cayten and Stephanie used what they had gathered to design solutions to the problems created by so much of the clothing in our closets today.
Stephanie the artist
The colors of Stephanie's paintings are so vibrant and eye-catching, they're clearly a reflection of who she is as an artist. Now she’s incorporating her fine arts skills into Brakefield’s fabric designs. What’s next? Perhaps a line of home decor. I can only hope.
Art in the ordinary world
I love discovering new music. This album was playing in the background as I was writing this newsletter. “Elephant is marked as the new Dutch indiepop band that just might make a difference in the coming years.”
We’re all seeing orange here in Tennessee after that absolutely fantastic game yesterday in Neyland Stadium as The University of Tennessee Volunteers took on the undefeated University of Alabama Crimson Tide and won with literally a few seconds. Read about it HERE.
My friends Lisa, Andrea and I went to Oak Nations VIP night a week ago to shop vintage. Make sure you make it to their next event.
My little boy turned 26 on October 12th..
Update on my car accident: I bought a new car (ugh). The big shake-up is almost over… except I haven’t been able to drive through that intersection yet.
What’s coming next?
A last-minute girl’s trip to Columbia, a home and Halloween street party in the Belmont neighborhood and Nashville producers and engineers. Hope to see you next time.
Such a cute house! Would love to see her clothes.