Upcycled Coats for Our Furry Friends!

Melanie Abdelnour and her French Bulldog, Arnold, modelling their cute matching mask and coat made by Diamond Back Fashion.

  Recently, I became a first-time dog mom to a French Bulldog named Arnold.  He joined our family a few days before Christmas, in the midst of our cold Canadian winter, and Arnold needed a warm coat.  I went second-hand shopping online with the intent to find one gently used on the shopping app Poshmark, when I stumbled upon a shop called Diamond Back Fashion.  It was an adorable, recycled Burberry coat for dogs that caught my attention and ended up being the coat we went with! 

Vintage clothing is unique and often has a story to go with it.  Burberry’s iconic trench coat has a beautiful history behind it.  In 1856, the 21 year old draper, Thomas Burberry, opened a shop where he made Burberry coats out of a tough and tightly woven fabric called gabardine.  Gabardine was made out of woolen which is a special yarn made out of carded wool- a great insulator.  Burberry’s reputation at the time was based on being reliable outerwear- it kept you dry and comfortable.  They were basically the Patagonia of the early 1900’s and Burberry was mostly worn by polar explorers.  In 1911, the gabardine Burberry coat was used by Roald Amundsen who was the first man to reach the South Pole, and in 1924, George Mallory wore Burberry to climb Mount Everest. Burberry made coats for the soldiers and the iconic Burberry “trench coat” got its name from the first world war when Soldiers were wearing them in the trenches.  Burberry coats kept the soldiers comfortable, warm and dry while they fought for our freedom.  It wasn’t until the 1970’s and 1980’s that Burberry began to make more fashion forward clothing such as suits, dresses, purses, shoes and various accessories sporting their classic iconic Burberry check which is seen on my puppy Arnold’s coat in the photo below.

Image Source: A picture of Arnold, modelling his new jacket made by Shelia. Image was featured on her Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/diamondbackfashion/

This was my first experience shopping the world of upcycled clothing, and I’ll definitely do it again as my experience at Diamond Back Fashion was wonderful.  The coat is lovely, and I feel good knowing that fabrics were reused rather than ending up in landfill.  Diamond Back vintage can re-work any vintage clothing item into whatever you’d like- it’s one of their specialties.  If you’d like to re-work your grandmother’s fur coat into something you’d wear or your dog would wear, Diamond Back Fashion has you covered- and they’ll do a great job.

Image: Shelia Jobin and her husband attending an event

I had a chance to virtually interview Sheila Jobin, the founder and owner of Diamond Back Fashion. She’s the seamstress who made Arnold’s coat. See our interview below!

Melanie: Hi Sheila, tell us a bit about you.  How did you get into sewing? When did Diamond Back Fashion open its doors, and what are your main specializations in the shop?

Sheila: How I got into sewing!  I hated school but loved friends and Home Economics (the sewing class) at Don Mills Collegiate.  My teacher failed me in all of my assignments, because, for instance, when making a boring skirt that was assigned to us, I added flairs, shortened it, and went completely off the instructions!  I worked so hard on that skirt, re-working it several times into something I felt was beautiful and unique.  I started making my own clothes from patterns, and I would always adjust and revamp them.

Melanie: It’s clear that you’re very passionate about your work, and one can see that from talking to you as you have a very friendly and cheerful disposition.  What passions inspired you to open your shop?

Shelia: My first passion is horses, so Diamond Back Fashion is equestrian inspired- and of course we love dogs and found a place for them too!  I’m also passionate about helping underprivileged and abused children that end up on the streets, so in 2011, after being the OLDEST person to graduate from George Brown college for fashion, I ran a charity called Fashion For Hope- donating to indigenous native woman’s shelter and my number one charity Yonge Street Mission.  We raised 50K.  I included a link to our fashion for hope video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wopD9ebVv0

Melanie: The Youtube video of this event is incredible and you can tell that so much hard work went into this event.  I can’t believe you raised 50K for underprivileged and abused children, that’s amazing!  Where do you source your vintage and where did you get your eye for vintage fashion? Who are your favorite fashion designers?  I must say your furry clients are looking good!

Sheila: I never follow designers.  I follow passions, and that’s how Angela Demontigny, aboriginal designer and I became friends.  We started our vintage idea by going to the Yonge Street Mission second hand clothing store.  We’d buy clothing second-hand and revamp them.

Melanie: What made you decide to make upcycled dog coats as part of your business?  Do you make upcycled horse gear too? Are the collars at your store made out of recycled leather?   What about your masks, are they made out of upcycled materials?

Shelia: We decided to make upcycled everything because I hated wasting leather from our bags, so we used the scraps to make fringe horse bit necklaces and bracelets, and leather and second hand fur dog coats first.  Then Burberry became so popular that we decided to buy second hand coats to make vintage Burberry dog coats.  In the last 5 months, in the horse world, I have been doing blanket refurbishing and repairs and halter and leather repairs.  My favorite upcycling is transforming peoples ‘clothing (eg: old fur coat from mom) into a dog coat or an upscale new version for the client.  Why waste anything when you can recycle- and it’s fun!

Melanie: Arnold loves his Burberry trench coat.  How did you make it in such a versatile way, where he can use it as a puppy and grow into it as an adult?  For the buyer, this is a great option, as they only need to buy one coat. I also saw on your Instagram page that you make coats with a removable inner lining so they can be worn throughout our different seasons.

Sheila: Arnold’s coat was a challenge because he was a small puppy when you bought it and I didn’t want it to be a waste, so I suggested we make a coat that he’ll grow into.  I researched French bulldogs average full growth measurements, to what he was when you sent in. It was easy to make the neck adjustable, but the belly pad would have to move as he grew, so I made it removable on both sides and adjustable on both sides.  The length was a real dilemma, so I went to my sewing books and figured drawstrings to shorten 3 inches.  I’m not proud of my drawstrings that I made a bit rough. 

Melanie: I have to say that I think you did a fantastic job with the coat and the drawstrings look great!  What’s your best advice for measuring a dog for the upcycled coat?  Arnold thought that being measured was a game and kept trying to bite the measuring tape! 

Sheila: The best way to send measurements is to look at our size chart then email me so we can make sure it’s done correctly and I guess you need an assistant to help as most dogs I measure don’t sit still. 

Melanie: Thanks so much for interviewing with me today! I loved the coat and matching mask so much, and appreciate your mission to use every scrap you can and to re-use vintage materials. Sheila, I hope you don’t mind, but I had to share some photos of you looking absolutely fabulous in some outfits you made, that I took off your Instagram page! Wow!

Image Source: Photos taken from Shelia’s Instagram page. See more of her work here: https://www.instagram.com/diamondbackfashion/