We’re looking forward to introducing you to Savannah Cole & Summer Cole. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Savannah & Summer , thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
In 2023 we created a community photobooth for our hometown. It is modeled after the vintage Paper Moon photo booths that were popular in the early 1900s. Photographers often traveled with carnivals and fairs and set up these booths so that people could have the opportunity to get their photographs taken. This was very exciting for people before everyone had a cell phone/camera in their pocket. The photo booth was purely a just for fun project for us. This is the third Fall we have had it in the park, and people are starting to share their photos with us. It makes us so excited when we get to see everyone in our community having fun and making memories together.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
We are Summer and Savannah Cole. We are twin sisters and co-owners of our small business, The Wilted Tulip Costumes. Our love of sewing began at the age of seven when our mother taught us the basics as part of our home-schooling curriculum. Attending reenactments and the local Renaissance faire steered our crafting interests towards costumes and historical dress. A few years after graduating from Freed-Hardeman University, we decided to turn our hobby into a career. We officially started our business in 2017 and have been fully self-employed since 2018. Most of our work is freelance; often creating custom garments for the private Individual. However, we have worked with companies, schools, and museums to create custom pieces for events and exhibits. Our costumes have even appeared on national television in ABC’s Beauty and the Beast: A 30th celebration. In 2022 we expanded our business by teaching group and private sewing lessons at our local art guild. Our goal is to provide anyone with the desire to sew, the space and opportunity to learn.
Our business is unique in that we have reverted back to the old-fashioned way of doing business. It’s just us. We do all of the designing, patterning, and construction ourselves. We genuinely care about every aspect that the client cares about. We want our costumes to fit, be well made with quality materials, be functional for the exact purpose it is intended (not just pretty), and to be beautiful.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
We were typical homeschool kids, and what an amazing childhood that was. And to be honest, being homeschooled somewhat delayed the world telling us who we had to be. Our parents encouraged us to try anything we held interest in- as long as we could afford it. If we couldn’t afford it, we would find a homemade alternative. There was no judgement on what we wore, what sports we played, or hobbies we took up. We had just ourselves, and a younger brother, so essentially peer pressure did not exist. And by time we entered team sports and public school, we already had a strong sense of self-identity. We very much carry our younger selves into our adult lives today. While we have lost some of that childlike naivete that adult responsibilities and experiences can wear out of you, we still have that childlike audacity of believing we can do anything and of being whoever we want.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
The first three months of this year (2025) were the hardest in our business thus far. The political climate had people scared to buy things, and costumes are definitely not anyone’s top priority purchase. We had very few orders for the entirety of those three months. And while we are used to saving, as our business is often inconsistent and feast or famine in nature, we had not been that low in sales since the very start of our business. Luckily for us, we did have regular sewing students, which is what kept us afloat. The whole first quarter of this year we kept asking ourselves if we should just go get a ‘real’ job and do this for fun again. It really made us question if we had just been wasting our time for eight years. But at the same time, we had been working so hard for all those years to get where we are now. That time of struggle really made us focus on a passion project. We are hoping to reveal it in December. But for now, all we will say, is that it is our longest project yet, currently stacking up to over 1600 hours.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
We were so tempted to text our best friend but felt like that might be cheating. I think our friends would tell you that our business is very important to us. They would also probably tell you that we try really hard to do a good job, and that we judge ourselves a bit harshly at times. We are also heavily involved at our local art guild. We volunteer and serve on the executive board, so our friends and family would probably tell you that that work is important to us as well. We don’t have a huge friend base, but they would hopefully tell you that we would come to help any of them at the drop of a hat if they ever needed us.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
It is our hope to someday be as inspiring as the people who inspired us. The main examples we can think of are the greats like Bob Ross, Jim Henson, and Mr. Rogers. We can remember specifically watching films like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth on VHS. If you watched past the credits, you could see all of the behind-the-scenes footage of the work that all departments did on those movies. We thought that was the coolest thing when we were growing up. We want to fill people with wonder like that. Hopefully to empower them to make that wonder for themselves like Bob Ross taught, and to be kind to themselves and others like Mr. Rogers lead. The saying that people won’t remember what you did, but how you made them feel is true, and we want to leave people feeling good. We don’t know in what capacity that will be yet, but for now its making peoples’ costume dreams come true and teaching the superpower of sewing.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Peter Romine, Shasta Bell Photographie, Brian Van Akker, Rachel Sparks
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
