You Oughta Know: L.A.-Based Fashion Brand Elsa Jane

It’s Tuesday, and you know what THAT means. That’s right! We have a BRAND SPANKING NEW You Oughta Know to share with you today. Last week, we shared the gorgeous designs from Australian designer, 17 Sundays. This week, we are keeping the fun in the sun theme going and heading towards the West Coast of the United States. California here we come!

You Oughta Know: Elsa Jane

Elsa Jane is the creative collaboration between husband-and-wife team Meredith Erin and Matthew Snow. They’ve been working in the casual fashion space for about 8-10 years each in varying capacities, and it’s a full-time labor of love since 2011. With Elsa Jane, they wanted to address something they kept seeing at the pop-up shows they’d do on the convention and festival circuit for other brands they worked on — from Ex-Boyfriend to Boredwalk – plus-sized women who LOVED their designs, but felt obligated to purchase unisex tees in lieu of the standard ladies tees, which have a juniors fit and only go up to 2XL.

Meredith and Matthew felt that while some folks genuinely prefer a unisex fit regardless of gender, it was unfortunate that those unisex tees have such a boxy fit that is less flattering to womanly curves. They thought that fun, quality fashion should be accessible to everyone, but were kind of stumped as to how to address this. They wanted to serve a terribly underserved market — women in the 14+ size range and after conducting extensive research with curvy girls sized 12 to 26, Elsa Jane was born in September 2016.

The inspiration behind the name Elsa Jane was manifold, but they wanted something punchy and memorable that wasn’t prone to misspellings (which would make it tough to find them online). They also wanted a brand name that was both overtly feminine and slightly edgy. They loved the young women’s magazine Sassy in the 90s (published by Jane Pratt, who now runs xoJane), as well as the Jane Lane character on late 90s/early 00s cultural touchstone Daria. It was clear to Meredith and Matthew that they should create a brand name that was a subtle tip of the hat to the stuff that informed a lot of their feminist views of the world around them. As someone who loved both Sassy magazine and Daria growing up, I LOVE this!

And what’s the inspiration behind their awesomely quirky designs? Meredith told me it’s wine, mostly (I can dig it!)! But they also draw thematic and aesthetic inspiration from a lot of sources, be it TV, film, graphic design trends of the past & present, nature, or just sitting around with friends, making mental notes when someone says or does something funny (or punny — they adore a good pun!) that would work well as a graphic top.

The ideal Elsa Jane customer is a young (or young-at-heart!) woman who might appear much like the pretty t-shirts and jean type of girl, but she has depth. She’s into self-expression, but balances that with a love of current fashion trends. She loves being current, but not at the expense of comfort, which is why Meredith and Matthew went to such great lengths to source the softest materials they could in a broad range of sizes to be inclusive in their appeal. I love that!!

You can learn more and shop now at ElsaJane.com!

Elsa Jane appeals to my own personal Three C’s of Fashion: Cute, Comfy and Colorful. I love a great comfy graphic tee and it’s so refreshing to find a line that gives me one to hug my curves lovingly. From running errands, a casual date night, or brunch with the squad, Elsa Jane has got you covered with a fun and flirty top to rock. And THAT’S why I think You Oughta Know Elsa Jane.

Check out the store to view the entire Elsa Jane collection of tops, tanks and tees up through sizes 26/28! Let me know which look was YOUR favorite in the comments.

Until next week!!