I’m Janet. I live in the picturesque historic town of Lewes in East Sussex, but I was born and brought up in the industrial Midlands, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

I learned to sew from my Mum when I was a teenager, and loved it. I didn’t go into Fashion though  – I read History at Sidney Sussex Cambridge and had a whole career as a management trainer. Alongside that, I developed a passion for country music, and was a longtime contributor to Country Music People magazine. In 2009, I returned to study. University of Brighton’s MA History of Design and Material Culture allowed me to bring together my three enthusiasms – History, clothes, and country music – and I wrote my dissertation about country singers’ clothes. I went on to complete a PhD, also at University of Brighton, where I look at the work of three great cowboy tailors – Nudie Cohn, Manuel Cuevas and Nathan Turk – and how their work became part of country music tradition. I became what I think of as a ‘Dr of Spanglosophy’ in 2020.

Back in 2010, I decided I wanted to master some of the techniques of western wear that I was writing about, especially the curved, piped ‘smile’ pockets and fancy cuffs you find on western shirts, so I bought myself some vintage men’s shirt patterns that I could learn from. I used up some scraps of Liberty tana lawn, left over from a dress, to make the piping… and the first Dandy & Rose shirt was born! I have continued to make my shirts in beautiful prints by Liberty of London, creating a fusion between this iconic brand, so representative of British heritage style, and the quintessentially American traditions of western styling.

I’ve made unique shirts for lots of people and had the thrill of seeing many of them onstage. Follow my blog on this site as I’m inspired and commissioned to make more shirts – I’ll be talking sewing, western wear, country music and whatever else takes my fancy! To browse my etsy.com shop, click the button on the right, or for more information on how I work with customers, click the SHOP tab at the top of the page.