Supporting Independent Makers: Why Wear Grit and I Believe Style Should Mean Something

One of the best parts of running a small brand is learning to trust your instincts.

You start to recognise when something feels right — when another brand is operating from the same place you are. Care over noise. Meaning over momentum.

That’s how this began with Wear Grit.

When they asked me to write about the return of the tie, it didn’t feel like a “collaboration” in the modern sense. It felt like a conversation. The kind that happens when two independent makers are asking similar questions, just in different categories.

This piece is the first in a series I’m calling Supporting Independent Makers. It’s a way of acknowledging the brands I genuinely respect — the ones making thoughtful choices, quietly, without chasing attention.

Wear Grit felt like the right place to start.

Why Wear Grit resonated with me

There’s a certain honesty to brands built from the ground up. You can feel when something has been shaped by lived experience rather than a marketing plan.

Wear Grit’s clothing is simple, but not empty. Pieces like the Be the Author of Your Own Story Graphic Tee, and the Goal Digger - Sweatshirt for Achiever speak to intention in very different but complementary ways. Each item carries a message — not because it’s catchy, but because it’s meant to shape how you show up in your day.

I’ve always believed clothing and accessories should support you, not perform for you. That applies just as much to a mindset tee or a journal as it does to a tie.

At Arsenic & Old Lace, I design accessories to be used — softened over time, worn slightly imperfectly, made personal. A tie doesn’t need ceremony to justify itself. Like Wear Grit’s pieces, it just needs intention.

Why I wrote about the tie

The article I wrote for Wear Grit, The Tie Is Back: How to Wear It Casually Without Trying Too Hard, came from years of conversations with customers who wanted to look considered without feeling constrained.

The tie has spent too long boxed into formality. But worn casually — with knitwear, denim, workwear — it becomes something else entirely. Personal. Expressive. Easy.

That way of thinking aligns closely with Wear Grit’s approach to clothing: no rules, no performance, just showing up with purpose.

You can read the full article here:The Tie Is Back: How to Wear It Casually Without Trying Too Hard

Edale Sage Green and Peach Watercolour Neck Tie

£40.00

Buy Now

What connects us isn’t product overlap — it’s perspective.

Wear Grit makes pieces that reinforce mindset and support everyday goals. I make accessories that allow people to express who they already are. Both come from the same place: a belief that style should feel grounding, not prescriptive.

Supporting independent makers matters because there’s nowhere to hide. Every decision shows. Every collaboration says something.

I’m proud to include Wear Grit as the first feature in this series.

Because the things we choose to wear — when they’re made with care — tend to stay with us longer than trends ever do.

With Love

xx

Emma and the team