Breezy Strand Culbertson
Designer Strandid Clothing
Founder Needles and Pens

Needles and Pens
483 14th street, san francisco CA 94103

Web Site

The story of Breezy Strand Culbertson can be summed up simply in one phrase - necessity is the mother of invention. The youngest of four sisters, she was raised on worn out hand-me-downs and ugly second-hand clothing. As a result, she learned early on that by ripping-up her old thrift-store finds and sewing 'em back together again, she could not only alter her clothing to fit better but also re-style the garments to be a little cooler. This realization left a huge impression on the way Culbertson has viewed clothing ever since. To her, anything can be reconstructed and improved upon, and has been altering clothing ever since. In the year 2002, she got the idea to start a clothing line based on the same principles and Strandid clothing was born.

Each Strandid garment is one-of-a-kind and made entirely by hand from reconstructed vintage clothing and fabrics. Strandid can be found at Breezy's own San Francisco shop Needles & Pens, and other boutiques throughout the city.

Needles & Pens is an emporium of zines, d.i.y. goods, and an art gallery. Located in San Francisco's Mission district, the space aims to provide an affordable place where like minded people from the community can display and sell their own home-made goods, home-published zines, and art work. The items we stock are predominately recycled, silk screened, cut-up, re-sewn, photocopied, hand-made, and hand-published.

History
Needles and Pens was a wouldn't it be great if... idea. The type of dreamy fantasy scenario that two friends discuss over coffee or beers in the park - the type that rarely goes further than conversation. However, Needles & Pens was one rare pipe dream that actually came to fruition. It all began in October of 2002, shortly after completing a year of coordinating Maximum RocknRoll, fanzine enthusiast Andrew Scott (editor of sobstory? zine) joined forces with thrift store junky, seamstress, and Strandid Clothing designer Breezy Culbertson to form a new type of retail space. Their idea was to create a space that embodied both the ethos of the punk do it yourself spirit and the creative aesthetic of SF's art scene. Six months down the roads worth of building and painting, Needles & Pens (a moniker inspired by a Ramones song - pens not pins!) took form in an old store front at 483 14th Street. Today, thanks to an army of volunteers, N+P remains strong as ever and plans to continue it's tradition of monthly art shows/events indefinitely into the future.

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